For Immediate Release

August 20, 2009

 

TWELVE CONNECTICUT HIGH SCHOOLS JOIN CBIA’S PROJECT OPENING DOORS

Increased teacher training and expanding AP programs will prepare Connecticut students for the future

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) today announced that 12 Connecticut high schools have joined the organization’s Project Opening Doors Program. The program increases the number of rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) math, English, and science classes in Connecticut schools and the number of underrepresented students enrolled in those classes.

Project Opening Doors began in Connecticut in 2008, with nine high schools participating. Judith K. Resnick, CBIA’s director of workforce development and training, and executive director of its Education Foundation, is encouraged by the program’s results and interest from other schools.

“In one year, the program has had tremendous success,” says Resnick. “Enrollment of minority and underrepresented students in AP classes increased in these first nine high schools and is now above the state average. We are pleased that a dozen other high schools across the state are joining the initiative to help better prepare our students for the future and help close Connecticut’s achievement gap, providing all students, especially those in underserved minority groups, the opportunity to be successful participants in the future workforce.”

The 12 high schools joining the program are:

• The Academy of Engineering and Green Technology, Hartford
• Bacon High School, Colchester
• Bloomfield High School
• Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School, New Haven
• Hill Regional Career High School, New Haven
• Bassick High School, Bridgeport
• Parish Hill High School, Chaplin
• Plainville High School
• Wilbur Cross High School, New Haven
• Windham High School, Willimantic
• Windsor High School
• Windsor Locks High School

These dozen schools join the first nine schools already participating in Project Opening Doors: Ansonia High, Bulkeley High, Hartford; Coventry High; East Hartford High; New Britain High; New London High; Putnam High; Westhill High, Stamford; and Wilby High, Waterbury.

“Project Opening Doors addresses Connecticut’s need for more-rigorous coursework so that high school graduates have the knowledge and skills to be successful in college and in future careers,” says Dr. Cam Vautour, president of CBIA’s Project Opening Doors.

Studies by the U.S. Department of Education show that students who complete more-rigorous classes in high school are more successful in college and the workplace than those who simply meet minimum graduation requirements.

CBIA, in partnership with the state, was awarded a grant for the program from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), a nonprofit organization designed to help the U.S. maintain its global leadership position in technological innovation.

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CBIA is the state’s largest business organization, with 10,000 members.

For more information contact Nancy Andrews, CBIA media relations manager, at 860-244-1957 or andrewsn@cbia.com.

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