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Domus Gets New Domus

by Melissa Bailey | Jun 16, 2010 11:08 am

(3) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Schools, School Reform

Thomas MacMillan Photo When a Stamford-based charter school group takes over a troubled city school in the fall, students will get not just a new set of rules, but a new home.

Domus, a social services agency that runs two charter schools in Stamford, is set to take over New Haven’s Urban Youth Middle School in the fall as part of the city’s school reform drive. Domus is planning a host of changes, including uniforms and a longer school day—click here and here to learn more.

From the start, Domus officials were unenthused about the building they were set to inherit (pictured), a dilapidated concrete bunker at 580 Dixwell Ave. The school, built in 1968, is dark inside and has few windows. As Mayor John DeStefano’s carried out a massive, $1.5 billion school rebuilding initiative, Urban Youth was one of the few not to be rebuilt.

Domus director Mike Duggan said when he first saw the building, his reaction was, “You’re kidding me, right?”

Since Domus was tapped in March to take over Urban Youth, it has been negotiating with the school system on a new domus (Latin for “home”) for the kids.

The search is now over: The district has found a new home for the school, according to Will Clark, the school district’s chief operations officer. He declined to say where it is. He said the district is still finalizing a contract with Domus on the new school, which will be called Domus Middle School.

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posted by: dave coon on June 16, 2010  4:47pm

Nicely composed photo.

posted by: Threefifths on June 16, 2010  5:35pm

Domus director Mike Duggan said when he first saw the building, his reaction was, “You’re kidding me, right?”

If domus does not like the school building,Then maye they should not sign the contract.You mean to tell me that domus didn’t know what the building look like before sign the contract?


The district has found a new home for the school, according to Will Clark, the school district’s chief operations officer. He declined to say where it is. He said the district is still finalizing a contract with Domus on the new school, which will be called Domus Middle School.

Will clark says he will not say where this new home school is.Give me a break.I smell Mackerel
on this whole deal.

posted by: anon on June 17, 2010  3:47pm

Great photo.

Based on my conversations with residents and young persons in this area, I can’t help thinking that if you asked the residents in this photo what they thought about City Hall, they’d break into a long speech about how the bike lanes promised for Dixwell Avenue 10 years ago were never built. 

This is also near where there have been demonstrations against the police ticketing kids for riding on the sidewalks (even though Dixwell is not a viable alternative, due to the insane traffic speeds).

Maybe this school would be better off if the city actually listened to real community members—most of whom do not own cars and do not participate in “community” meetings—and provided access to transportation to schools, homes and workplaces (a basic human right). 

It seems that the vast majority of resources are instead spent by “Downtown people” trying to coordinate new policies (e.g., charter schools), which may or may not have any impact on our neighborhood as a whole.

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