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(Hartford, CT) Three students represented CREC’s Academy of Aerospace and Engineering on March 1 at the 2015 Congressional App Challenge in Washington, D.C.The Congressional App Challenge is a competition that encourages high school students throughout the United States to learn how to code by creating their own applications for smartphones, tablets, and computers. It highlights the value of computer science and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education with the hope of attracting students to these fields.While they did not place in the competition, 17-year-old Sara Banach of Enfield, 16-year-old Gary Collier of Hartford, and 16-year-old Donovan Vilchek of Bristol were able to show members of Congress “Zotis”, a study application they created to help organize STEM resources and websites. “We wanted to create something that helps students and everyone else in our school,” said Banach, who wants to study software engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The three students are enrolled in a CREC Academy of Aerospace and Engineering class called “College Board computer science principles”, a pilot for a new Advanced Placement course that will launch next school year. “This course has transformed and continues to transform students’ lives,” said Chinma Uche, who teaches the class. “It should be offered to all students, even students who have traditionally not taken AP courses, because it allows students to express their creativity and understand their rapidly changing world.”Although the Congressional App Challenge is over, Uche’s students will continue to work on Zotis. They hope to solicit a company to further develop the app, and they want to further develop it so that other schools can customize the app. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966 and is celebrating 50 years of academic excellence. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 18 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) Magnet Schools of America, a national association for magnet and theme-based schools, has named four CREC schools as 2016 Schools of Excellence and four CREC schools as 2016 Schools of Distinction.Magnet Schools of America gives out annual merit awards to schools that commit to high academic standards. Schools are also recognized for their curriculum innovation, school diversity and integration, specialized teaching staffs, and parent and community engagement. This year, 371 schools applied for the merit awards, and 258 schools from 19 states were recognized. Winning schools will be recognized during a national conference in May.The highest ranked magnet schools in the “Excellence” category are eligible to receive monetary awards. At the ceremony, they could also be named the top elementary, secondary, or new and emerging magnet school in the United States. One school of excellence will also win $5,000 for the Dr. Ronald P. Simpson Distinguished Merit Award—Magnet Schools of America’s most prestigious award. CREC’s Academy of Aerospace and Engineering, CREC’s Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts High School, CREC Two Rivers Magnet High School, and the CREC Discovery Academy were named Schools of Excellence. The following schools were named Schools of Distinction: CREC Montessori Magnet School; CREC Reggio Magnet School of the Arts; CREC Museum Academy, and CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School.“CREC takes great pride in all 18 of its magnet schools,” said CREC Executive Director Greg Florio. “We always strive to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education, and we are pleased to see many of our schools recognized for their accomplishments.”###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings nearly five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changing needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 19 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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(Hartford, CT) Approximately 100 school, mental health, and community leaders from across the state gathered at the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 to discuss childhood trauma and the impact it can have on a child’s education, as well as possible strategies for responding to children who have experienced trauma or have behavioral health issues. The event, “Symposium on Trauma-Informed School Mental Health,” was the result of collaboration between the Capitol Region Education Council, the state Department of Education, the University of Connecticut Collaboratory on School and Child Health and Neag School of Education, the Ana Grace Project, Clifford Beers Clinic, and the Child Health Development Institute. The symposium’s main goals were to increase awareness among participants of important issues in childhood trauma, discuss creation of a common framework for addressing trauma, violence and mental health needs among children, and to stimulate the development of a trauma-informed school mental health plan.“We are excited to have this collaborative effort on behalf of students and families in Connecticut. This is our first united approach to determine how to best meet the needs of students with mental health needs and those impacted by trauma. We know that our school districts are anxious to become part of this initiative and to be at the table. Hopefully this is the first step in this process,” said Deborah Richards, CREC Director of Student Services.When asked about the value of hosting this type of event, Dr. Sandra Chafouleas, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Neag School and Co-Director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, indicated that “we are excited to facilitate important conversations about the what and how of a trauma-informed lens in our school systems. Collaborative efforts such as this symposium form an essential piece of moving toward why it might be important to how do we collectively work together to make it happen.”Following opening remarks by Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell and a kick-off discussion hosted by the Child Health and Development Institute’s Jeff Vanderploeg and Alice Forrester of the Clifford Beers Clinic, participants broke into groups, with each breakout session using a similar set of questions to focus on issues pertaining to a different topic in school mental health: workforce development; financing school mental health and accountability systems; promotion, prevention, and early identification; and interventions that bridge schools, families and communities. Participants later re-convened to summarize the big ideas, with plans to integrate the discussions into a document to drive next steps in facilitating a statewide framework for trauma-informed school mental health. CREC will continue its collaboration with the co-sponsoring agencies in order to continue this work across the state. ###The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC brings nearly five decades of experience in education, regional collaboration, and operations to provide innovative strategies and products that address the changings needs of school districts and their students, corporations, non-profits, and individual professions. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 17 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC and CREC’s award-winning schools is available at www.crec.org....

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