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Bridgeport Briefing
During the 2013-14 school year, AF Bridgeport Academy is serving 800 students in grades K-3 and 5-11.
Ninth through 11th-grade students attend AF Amistad High in New Haven.
PRIMARY TALKING POINTS: RESULTS
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“AF Bridgeport Academy students are outperforming their local and statewide peers and are
performing on par with nearby Greenwich, one of the state’s most affluent communities, in some
grades and subjects.”
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FACT: In some grades and subjects, student performance has now surpassed the gap-closing
standards of the highest-performing and most affluent suburban districts, a better measure
of college readiness than the statewide average. In eighth-grade math, 81 percent of
Achievement First students achieved at goal on the 2013 Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT),
as did their peers in Greenwich.
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FACT: On the 2013 CMT, our oldest middle school students—eighth graders—outperformed
their statewide peers by7 percentage points at goal in an average of reading, writing and
math.
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FACT: Even in their first year at Achievement First, AF Bridgeport Academy Elementary
students are achieving gap-closing results. Although many students enter the school
performing behind grade-level even in the earliest grades, 93 percent of kindergarten
students scored at or above the 50th percentile and 87 percent scored at or above the 75th
percentile on the nationally normed TerraNova math test. In kindergarten reading, 92
percent of students achieved at or above proficiency and 48 percent tested at least one year
ahead of grade level on the Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment.
“AF Bridgeport Academy Middle students have made greater academic gains than their statewide
peers, including achieving the highest year-to-year growth for students in the state in 2012.”
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FACT: From 2011 to 2012, AF Bridgeport Academy Middle achieved the greatest
achievement gains in the state with a 19 percentage point increase in students at goal on
the CMT.
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FACT: Our students are also achieving gap-closing gains throughout their four years at our
middle school. Seventy-three percent of AF Bridgeport Academy’s eighth-grade students
scored at or above goal on the 2012 CMT, representing a 51 percentage point improvement
from their pre-Achievement First scores in fourth grade. During the same four-year period,
the achievement of their statewide peers only grew by 9 percentage points at goal.
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FACT: AF Bridgeport Academy was recognized as one of Connecticut’s “Schools of
Distinction” for earning top state marks for student progress.
Achievement First Talking Points | Bridgeport
Do Not Use After 9/1/2014
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PRIMARY TALKING POINTS: HIGHLIGHTS
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“Achievement First is committed to improving performance for all Connecticut students—not only
the students we directly serve. Therefore, we are partnering with Bridgeport Public Schools to share
best practices and increase our collective impact. We are also discussing the opening of more
Achievement First schools.”
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FACT: For the first time during the 2012-13 school year, Achievement First is partnering with
Bridgeport Public Schools through the Residency Program for School Leadership. This
program was piloted in New Haven to recruit, train and support future leaders who commit
to serving for at least two years as a school leader in the district following the program’s
completion.
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FACT: We recently submitted a charter application to open another elementary and middle
school in Bridgeport that would enable us to serve twice as many Bridgeport children, and
we are in positive discussions with Mayor Bill Finch and Superintendent Paul Vallas about
the possibility of opening these additional schools.
“Like all Achievement First schools, AF Bridgeport Academy partners closely with parents and
community leaders.”
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FACT: According to our 2011-12 Achievement First Parent Survey, 99 percent of elementary
school parents and 93 percent of middle school parents agreed that AF Bridgeport Academy
Elementary has very high academic standards and a rigorous curriculum.
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FACT: In the fall of 2012, the elementary school worked with other neighborhood schools,
community leaders and KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization that builds playgrounds in urban
areas, to build a neighborhood play space. Constructed on a previously vacant lot, this play
space is now used by AF Bridgeport Academy Elementary students, as well as other children
in the community.
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FACT: For the past three years, AF Bridgeport Academy Elementary has offered a fathers’
group that meets monthly to discuss parenting. Recently, the school also founded a moms’
book club where moms and other female figures in students’ lives come together.
“Achievement First Bridgeport Academy Elementary is piloting a digital learning program that uses
technology in the classroom to drive student achievement.”
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FACT: Students use computers each day in both a dedicated computer class and in subjectspecific classes. Starting in kindergarten, they learn a variety of computer skills including
navigating the computer and typing proficiency. In addition, computers are an important
tool in reading classes, where software matches high-interest non-fiction texts to each
student’s reading level.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Achievement First Talking Points | Bridgeport
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For support, email marketing@achievementfirst.org
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Demographics*
Number/Percentage
Number of students**
721
Percent African-American/Latino**
96%
FRL**
81%
SPED**
7%
ELL**
14%
*Values are for the 2013-14 school year.
** Values exclude high school students (9th through 11th-grade students)
Achievement First Talking Points | Bridgeport
Do Not Use After 9/1/2014
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For support, email marketing@achievementfirst.org