Interim Superintendent Dr. Winnie Hamilton utilizes Naviance

Chase grant makes tool available to all 5,000 high school students in Stamford with expansion to 2,500 middle school students

July 09, 2012

Stamford, CT – Superintendent Dr. Winnie Hamilton announced today that the Stamford Public School district saved over $86,000 during the last school year by partnering with the Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) to transition to a college and career readiness solution to facilitate online college applications at Stamford’s three public high schools.

Chase has provided $70,000 to SPEF over the last two years to help Dr. Hamilton lead the district’s initiative to make Naviance available to all 5,000 high school students, their parents and their guidance counselors. The bank announced today that it is providing an additional $35,000 grant to SPEF, which will allow Dr. Hamilton and the district to maintain the momentum at the high school level and introduce Naviance Family Connection to middle school students in the coming year.

Matt McSpedon, president of middle market banking in Connecticut, summed up the impact of the Chase donations. “We started working with SPEF and the Stamford Public Schools a couple of years ago to help them make the transition from high school to higher education smoother and more accessible to students in the public schools. Our grants have proven to be a strategic, effective and practical way to work with district personnel to impact students and families.”

This year 95% of Stamford seniors have used the Naviance Family Connection portal to research colleges and over 75% of the students had successfully submitted their college applications electronically by the end of the school year. “We are excited to have set a base- line on which to build in future years,” Dr. Hamilton said.

By using the Naviance eDocs solution to send more than 20,500 documents electronically in 2011-2012, the district has realized savings of $58,000 in paper, postage and staff time. In addition, SPS received further benefits from SPEF in the amount of $16,000 in consulting services and $12,000 in renewal fees.In keeping with the district’s mission to prepare every student for success in the 21st Century, Naviance, which is developed by education solutions provider Hobsons, gives students a tool they can use to start preparing for college as freshmen, and allows school counselors to monitor progress to enhance collaboration with students and families. In their sophomore year, they can use Naviance Family Connection to compare their grade point average and SAT and ACT scores against college acceptance information to show how their scores compare to others who have applied from their school.

“It’s a tremendous resource. It helps our students know whether a school is within their reach and it provides their guidance counselors with a transparent vehicle to ensure their students are meeting application deadlines,” Dr. Hamilton said. “And we love the fact that there is no chance of documents and packages getting lost when we send them electronically.”

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