The Commissioner of Education heard about the changes and growth at Bassick High in Bridgeport, a CommPACT school, today.
“I see a spirit of collaboration, achievement and possibilities,” said State Department of Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor during his visit to Bassick High School in Bridgeport today, where he saw innovative school reform in action.
Bassick, is a CommPACT school. The CommPACT model, which stands for Community, Parents, Administrators, Children, and Teachers, is implemented within the local public school system and is having much success.
“I am very pleased with the CAPT score growth,” said Pryor. “It’s the right trend and what’s happened is incredible progress.”
During his two-hour visit, Pryor toured the school, visited classrooms and participated in a round-table discussion, where he heard about the school’s successes from students, parents and teachers.
Jim Shannon, who has worked in the school system for 42 years and is now a climate specialist, says he’s proud to be part of CommPACT.
“The change we’ve seen is systemic,” he said. “While no school is perfect, Bassick has its perfect moments.”
Teachers talked about the impressive academic improvements throughout the school and the increased parental and community involvement.
“All of us have seen growth in our classrooms,” said English teacher Walter Brackett. “I am so glad we got CommPACT at Bassick. I am so much more enthusiastic and hopeful since we implemented it.”
Parents said they were concerned at first, but are pleased with what’s happening at Bassick.
“Change is good. It’s working and the future looks great,” said Dan Comeau, the father of twins and a newly elected member of the school’s governance council.
Toy Levy is a Bassick senior who helped give the commissioner the tour of the school. She told him that all the bad things people say about Bassick aren’t true. “Bassick is the finest urban high school in Connecticut,” she said.
Pryor said he hopes to return to Bassick for updates on the school’s continuous progress.
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