Vision to Reality by Dave Canavan

Our vision of ACE is that it is like a family or a community. Each of us has something worthwhile to offer. Each of us can be of service to all of us. Each of us should be pursuing excellence which is simply making a commitment to improve personally and academically. These are abilities that everyone at ACE has. We believe that ACE is a place where students can become more confident, caring and capable. We also believe that negativity blocks, slows down or damages both individuals and our community.

Relationships: The relationships between teachers, parents, students and the Danbury community have been and
will continue to be the foundation of the program. Because of the dedication and caring of the staff for students and our size, ACE is the school that offers the most concern and support for all of our students.

Relevance: As ACE students meet their needs through experiential, project-based opportunities they become more engaged and alive in their learning. Camping trips, the Haunted House, the Thanksgiving Feast, Breakfast with Santa, Future Teachers, the Coffee House and community service contributions have led to increases in student participation, ownership and leadership. Through relevance students become engaged, buyin builds and academic performance prospers.

Rigor: The name change to the Alternative Center for Excellence and the Blue Chip Technology Grant award reflect the increased emphasis and commitment to improving teaching and learning. As students experience success through their hard work to meet standards, industriousness becomes an essential value for reaching their
important goals.

Our belief is that the integration of relationships, relevance and rigor will mean that our vision will become our
reality.