The Rome Commons Ballroom at UConn’s Storrs campus was filled on Saturday evening with Neag School of Education Alumni Board members; Neag School faculty, staff, and administrators; friends of the University; and guests honoring seven distinguished Neag School alumni at the School’s annual Alumni Awards Celebration.

U.S. News & World Report has issued its 2020 rankings of the best graduate schools of education in the nation, with the Neag School of Education ranking among the top 20 public graduate schools of education in the United States for the fourth consecutive year.

Thanks to a newly announced investment of $240,000 from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, the Neag School will be able to support further efforts to diversify the teacher workforce of tomorrow.

Alumna Jessica Stargardter ’16 (ED), ’17 MA has been named by the Neag School of Education as the recipient of the 2019 Rogers Educational Innovation Fund award. Stargardter serves as a gifted and talented educator for Norwalk (Conn.) Public Schools.

The Neag School of Education and its Alumni Board are proud to announce the 2019 Neag School Alumni Awards honorees. Seven outstanding Neag School graduates will be recognized at the School’s 21st annual Alumni Awards Celebration on Saturday, March 16, 2019.

Seventy years ago this week, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris. “All anniversaries provide a moment to reflect and take stock,” says Glenn Mitoma, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the Neag School. “The UDHR was written in the aftermath of World War II, a catastrophic moment in history that has important lessons for us today. We can use this anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on and rededicate ourselves to the goal of a more just, equitable, and inclusive world.”

Olivia Singer, 22, of South Windsor, is a master’s student in the Elementary Education Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program at the University of Connecticut in the Neag School of Education. Originally published in the Hartford Courant.

Taylor Hudak, 22, of Guilford, Conn., is a master’s student in the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program at University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. She graduated with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and secondary mathematics education from UConn in May. She wrote this commentary, which was published in the Hartford Courant.

The influence of having a black teacher can make a monumental difference in a black student’s life, and the effect begins early in an education.

Having just one black teacher in elementary school not only makes children more like to graduate high school – it also makes them significantly more likely to enroll in college.

Alumni, students, faculty, and administrators from the Neag School of Education joined education professionals from across Connecticut last week for an evening of networking, followed by a panel discussion, at Hartford’s Spotlight Theatre. It was the fourth annual Educational Leadership Forum.