| Footebridge: a thumbnail sketch |
| Footebridge is a collaboration between Foote School and the New Haven Public Schools combining a comprehensive summer program for public school kindergartners and first graders with teacher training in curriculum development, classroom management, and all aspects of literacy instruction. Children are chosen by lottery and invited to spend two six-week summer sessions in Footebridge. There is no cost for participants. The curriculum includes reading, writing, math, science, art, singing, dramatic play, library visits, field trips, cooking, and plenty of outdoor exploration. Families are invited to see the classroom and their children's work and come to a breakfast reception at the end of the summer. A Parent Liaison helps facilitate communication. Teaching Fellows receive a week of training before the students come to the Foote campus and then team-teach, rotating through the gamut of the mixed-age group's skill levels and activities. Their seven weeks are supported by a stipend. High School Interns are an integral part of the Footebridge staff. These students attend the training week, and they, too, rotate among the various reading groups and activities. Their work is also supported by a stipend. We have been fortunate to have had a Yale Public Service Fellow helping us each summer since Footebridge began in 1996. Footebridge is an ideal lab model, with a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:3. Reading group work is carefully paced and focussed over an hour-and-a-half period; teachers work on a variety of tasks with their small groups including oral language, decoding, phonics, writing, comprehension. Children receive a great deal of teacher attention and encouragement in an engaging setting. Social skills are taught through group lessons and are referred to by students and teachers as the day progresses. Our students have made strong progress in both these areas. Researchers from the Yale Child Study Center have documented significant reading gains by the children who have attended the Footebridge summer program. The student mixed-age group model will continue during the summers, and new students for each current lottery will come primarily from Lincoln-Bassett School. Teachers from any school in the district are invited to apply for teaching fellowships; they are chosen in consultation with school principals and the Footebridge advisory board. Researchers at Yale Child Study Center will also continue to assess the children's progress. Most recently, Footebridge has received funding from the Smart Family Foundation, the Cameron Baird Foundation, and individual contributors. If you have questions about Footebridge, please contact: Laura Altshul and Saylor Heidmann, Co-Founders and Co-Consultants tel: 203-777-3464 fax: 203-777-2809 Co-directors:Adam Solomon and Chris Elmore |