Trailblazers Academy is a public school of choice for 170 students in grades six, seven, and eight. These students have not been successful in traditional school environments and need a different learning environment to reach their full potential. A rigorous academic focus, paired with a comprehensive human development model and small classes of 14 students per classroom, allows students to excel academically and build critical social and emotional skills needed for success in high school and beyond. Private funds are raised to fund critical needs which cannot be addressed with the state and city funding we receive.
Thanks to a variety of private investors, we now have four literacy specialists that enable our students, who typically enter the school reading at least two or three grades below level, to greatly increase their reading skills. Highly-effective reading instruction occurs throughout the day thanks to the specialized teacher training and advice they provide, and the vital one-on-one instruction they give students continues our model of individualized instruction to build on student strengths and hone in on areas of challenge.
Family advocates are employed to work with students and families around nonacademic issues, helping remove all external barriers to learning. When families struggle with major illnesses, poverty, death, substance abuse, and other traumas, focusing on school work becomes next to impossible. Our family advocates help children and families address these challenges so school-day learning doesn’t take a back seat to life’s troubles.
This approach to learning continues to yield significant results, with individual student growth on the 2008/2009 CMTs that outpaced that of all other Connecticut charter and Stamford middle schools, the middle school average for the Stamford Public Schools, and the State middle school average (see chart here).Our students may come to us a little or a lot behind, but they don’t intend to stay there.
The Lion’s Den, the school’s before- and after-school program, enables students to meet with certified teachers on homework challenges as well as provides enrichment and academic activities in literacy, team sports, and the arts.
Created in 1999, Trailblazers Academy is located in a former City school building, thanks to the City of Stamford. Trailblazers Academy is a partnership among Domus, the Stamford Public Schools, and the City of Stamford. The school board provides an annual grant to enable us to pay teachers a competitive wage, and the mayor of Stamford helps us secure space for the school.
Photographs by Richard Freeda www.richardfreeda.com
Trailblazers Academy Charter Middle School
Trailblazers Academy Pledge:
As a Trailblazer, I pledge to myself, my family, my Trailblazers Academy peers, and my community to be the best that I can be. I will respect myself, those around me, and my environment as I work to embody the best attributes of a leader: honesty, courage, perseverance, innovation, motivation, leadership, fortitude, dedication, respect, responsibility, confidence, and integrity. Together, we will blaze a trail towards excellence.
83 Lockwood Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902 P: 203.324.4277 F: 203.324.2990 E: info@domuskids.org Privacy Policy Sitemap
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