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Hartford's Jumoke Academy Awarded $100,000 Federal Grant For Milner School Partnership

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE

October 02, 2012

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $100,000 grant to Jumoke Academy to assist the charter school's management partnership with Milner School in Hartford.

Jumoke Academy is one of five charter schools in the country to receive the funding under the federal "Collaboration Awards" program, which encourages charters and traditional public schools to share best practices and resources.

"I know this funding will go towards helping our younger generations receive the education they deserve," U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, said in a statement Tuesday.

Andrea Comer, senior director of strategic planning for Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), the Hartford charter organization that includes Jumoke Academy, said the money will be used to support staff at Milner and to inform parents on the Common Core State Standards.

Previously known as Milner Core Knowledge Academy, the Hartford public school has been renamed Jumoke Academy at Milner and now features the charter's philosophy and instructional model.

In August, the state Board of Education approved Jumoke's affiliation with Milner as part of the new Commissioner's Network that seeks to improve low-performing public schools in Connecticut.

Milner and three other Connecticut schools will each receive between $1 million and $1.5 million in state funding this fiscal year to implement turnaround plans as part of the network, state officials said. They must also commit to at least three years of state intervention.

Other recipients of the federal grant are Boston Collegiate Charter School in Boston; Community Day Charter Public School in Lawrence, Mass.; Highlander Charter School in Providence, R.I.; and the Arts & College Preparatory Academy in Columbus, Ohio.