Teachers take over Elm City high school

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Teachers are typically thought of in front of the classroom, but now a group of teachers is running one New Haven high school.

You could say the principal has left the building, leaving teachers running the High School in the Community in New Haven.
    
One parent predicts the change will mean more creativity in the classrooms.

"I'm excited about it," said parent Melissa Johnston. "I think it's fantastic they can write their own curriculum, that's massive."

Just this year, the High School in the Community was labeled a Tier 3, or failing school. Now a turnaround plan has been announced with the teachers' union managing 250 students and 29 teachers.
    
There will be no administrators and no principal, instead a board of teachers and a facilitator in charge who is still accountable to the superintendent.

"I imagine the parents are going to be confused for a while about the new chain of command and how there are going to be different people to talk to," said Erik Good, the school's Facilitator.

As part of the reform, teachers had to reapply for their jobs. It turns out not all of them made the cut to stay in the classroom.

"They will see some new faces, that is for sure," said David Cicarella, the President of the New Haven Federation of Teachers. "Many of staff have been retained as well, but they are also going to see a different curriculum."
    
The school is also getting a new grading system and theme, the focus is law and social justice.

"I think they are on the right course," Johnston said.

The school is seeking up to $1 million in state dollars to implement the changes.