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stamford public school system

"The city that works". You probably have seen those signs too, but that relates to the people who live there, and does not apply to their public schools. Take a careful look at the public schools before you settle down in any one district, and/or consider sending your children to private schools.

Thinking about moving to get your child into a different school? The information in this section can help you make an informed decision. Bear in mind though that the Board of Education redistricts schools periodically. The last redistricting happened in 2008 and is effective for the 2009/2010 school year! Your loved ones may not end up going to the school you wanted them to go to.

Looking at test scores

Most parents use the Connecticut Mastery Test or other standardized test scores to gauge school performance, and rightly so. A good school will produce students that achieve high scores. But the average test scores of a school may not be the right thing to look at. Schools with a larger percentage of minority students tend to have lower average test scores, but that may be mostly for demographic reasons rather than the quality of the curriculum and teaching. It makes more sense to look at the subgroup your child belongs to, and go to a school where that subgroup is performing well.

We like to compare raw math scores since reading scores are more influenced by the fraction of non-native English speakers which also varies from school to school.

For more information on Stamford schools click on the following links:

General Information about Stamford Public Schools

School Data Comparison

Budget Information

Have a look at the Connecticut State Department of Education's web site, and see how Stamford fares in comparison to it's neighbors Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Wilton, Weston, Westport or Fairfield. If you look at this map of school districts, you can see that these school districts are viable alternatives, since they still offer reasonable access to the city by rail, provided you have the money to afford a house there.

Districts in Connecticut are divided into 9 groups called DRGs. Reference groups are based on socioeconomic status, need and enrollment data. Stamford is grouped in DRG H together with: Ansonia, Danbury, Derby, East Hartford, Meriden, Norwalk, Norwich, West Haven.

 

CMT, ACT and SAT Test Information and Scores

Finding the Right Public School

Finding the Right Private School
Private schools in our area and how to choose them.