ECMS graduate Emery Thomas: ECMS has “played such an important role in who I am today.” A full house at Monday’s board meeting. After hearing an hour of public testimony about Elm City Montessori School’s inclusive community, rigorous hands-on curriculum, and “life-saving” social and emotional development, New Haven’s school board unanimously voted in support of the school’s charter renewal. That local vote was the first step in a charter-renewal process that now heads to the Connecticut Board of Education for review. Elm City Montessori School (ECMS) is the state’s only local charter school. That means that the PreK-8 school receives funding from and requires certain approvals from the city’s Board of Education, while still operating with a certain level of independence from the city’s public school district. Dozens of speakers testified Monday evening during the Board of Education’s meeting at King/Robinson School with at least 80 people filling the room. The duration of the charter renewal is ultimately up to the state Board of Education, which is scheduled to take a vote on this matter in March. New Haven’s Board of Education last voted in support of ECMS’ charter renewal in January 2023. ECMS families, current and former students, and staffers urged New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) to sign off on the charter renewal. ECMS Principal Julia Webb also presented to the board about school’s progress, approaches, and partnerships with NHPS since its founding in 2014.  ECMS serves 320 students for the 2026-27 school year at its 495 Blake St. campus. On Monday, the school’s supporters turned out in green t-shirts and sweaters sporting the ECMS name and logo. Webb’s presentation detailed that 99 percent of ECMS’ student body is made up of New Haveners. Its chronic absenteeism rates averaged 14 percent between 2024 and 2026. The presentation showed that 42 percent of the school’s third- through eighth-grade students tested this year as proficient in English Language Arts, and 27 percent tested as proficient in math. People who testified on Monday detailed not just the academic work ECMS does but also the school’s dedication to help students develop their character and leadership skills through community partnerships and learning. Former ECMS student and current Wilbur Cross High School junior Emery Thomas said that many of the lessons she learned at ECMS remain useful to her beyond the classroom. Thomas said that ECMS “played such an important role in who I am today.” She told the board that ECMS teachers and staff “did much more than just teach us academic materials.” They also created an environment where students were encouraged to become independent, compassionate, and competent leaders. Thomas said that the leadership skills she developed at ECMS motivated her to become the captain of her high school’s volleyball team. “I hope you all allow future generations of students to get experience, the same encouragement, opportunities, and sense of belonging that I did,” Thomas said. ECMS Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Coordinator Emily Sorensen, who lives in Hartford, said the foundation of social and emotional learning at ECMS plays a huge role in the experiences that staff, students, and families have on a daily basis.  She described ECMS’ SEL work as “not simply a curriculum, or a response to challenging behavior, but it’s a commitment to how we see our children, understand them, and how we build our community.” The school focuses on supporting students’ emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and repairing community harm. She said that that aims to make young people better members of communities as they grow up. Their work also helps students develop the skills to listen, express their needs, take accountability, work through disagreements, and be mentors for others. “Through practices like conscious discipline, and restorative approaches, children are learning skills about how to work together, how to assert boundaries, and how to build community,” Sorensen said. “When students learn these skills early on, they carry them throughout their time at ECMS and in their life, beyond their school.” Christina Sanchez, the parent of a second-grade student at ECMS, added that she is often learning life skills from her daughter. She said that one time she thought her daughter was eating grass, and her daughter showed her she was actually eating an edible plant called red clover, which she learned about during her weekly hikes at ECMS. Sanchez said she has long admired ECMS’ outdoor learning curriculum and how integral it is to students’ overall learning.  Sanchez said she often hears parents say that they wish their child’s school taught more life skills, or taught students how to be better citizens, or had more outdoor learning opportunities. She said she doesn’t have to wish for those things because they are already happening at ECMS. “Every time I hear those types of conversations, I have to bite my tongue as to not brag about how Elm City Montessori has that, and it does that, and it gives our students opportunity that so many people don’t have and I’m so grateful for that,” she said. Sanchez concluded that she hopes the school’s charter will be renewed so that more New Haven families have the opportunity to experience all that ECMS has to offer.  The city’s Board of Education held a brief discussion on Monday before voting in support of EMCS’ charter renewal. Board members celebrated the success ECMS has had over the years with a model that teaches peer-to-peer mentorship, life skills, and social-emotional development.  “What you see on that campus is you see people of all different kinds of persuasions, orientations, mindsets, that sacrifice whatever their personal issues are, for the benefit of the children,” Board of Education Secretary Edward Joyner said. “It is one of the most phenomenal educational institutions in my lifetime.” ECMS BOE Presentation 9NOV2026Download The post Ed Board Votes In Support Of Elm City Montessori’s Charter Renewal appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less