DAE Offers Local High School Students Full Scholarships through Partnership with New Haven Public Schools and CareerConneCT

DAE, a Connecticut nonprofit democratizing access to 21st century digital career and life skills for underrepresented youth, has announced 40 full scholarships are available for their 12-month immersive software engineering program in New Haven. The scholarships, each valued at $10,600, are made possible through partnerships with the New Haven Public Schools and CareerConneCT.

Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, DAE’s programming is designed to both rapidly increase the mastery of technology skills and develop the personal and interpersonal skills required to form healthy and humane communities and workplaces. Scholarship award criteria don’t bias towards students at the top of the class, those who are the best speakers, or those who are the most social – but rather toward those who, even if they’re not clear about exactly how, are committed to having a positive impact in the world and curious about how computer science can not only be a fulfilling career, but a powerful skillset for being an agent of positive change. With a 91% retention rate, the nonprofit is giving students the tools and support needed to shape their own future... and our collective future as a State and a nation.

“It’s not just about the tech skills at DAE, the tech skills are the content. But the context, the container, for the program is the understanding that life is a team sport and in order to develop the personal and collective futures we hope for, we must equip young people with the inter- and intrapersonal capabilities to form healthy and humane communities. We understand that to grow and succeed, all of our students' needs – social, emotional, nutritional – must be met and, for that, we must work in partnership with city, State, and local school district stakeholders,” said a.m. bhatt, the nonprofit’s founder and CEO. “We are extremely grateful to both the New Haven Public Schools and CareerConneCT for their support and commitment to our shared vision for the next generation.”

The New Haven Public Schools and CareerConneCT are each funding 20 full scholarships in 2023. For the school district, their renewed support comes after witnessing firsthand the positive impact DAE has had on their students in the past year.

“The partnership with NHPS and DAE provides our students with the opportunity to acquire 21st Century technology skills, specializing in website design and coding,” said Keisha Redd-Hannans, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, New Haven Public Schools. “Students are afforded the opportunity to work collaboratively with industry experts as they hone their skills. The partnership with DAE strengthens our program offerings for students as we expand our career connected pathways.”

Governor Lamont and the Connecticut General Assembly created CareerConneCT to help Connecticut residents access and participate in training programs to earn industry-recognized credentials and find entry-level employment or further training in a high-quality career pathway. This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP0128 awarded to the State of Connecticut by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

 

DAE’s project-based curriculum teaches the mindsets, skills, and interpersonal capabilities needed to be successful upon graduation and engage productively in the digital-era higher education programs and eventually the workplace. Students, the vast majority of whom have never coded before, develop a variety of web platforms and products that demonstrate the rapid and highly individual-centric approach the nonprofit takes to developing young, values-driven tech professionals.

DAE is located at 770 Chapel Street in New Haven. To learn more or submit a scholarship application, call (203) 401-8768 or visit myDAE.org. For the latest news and updates, follow @DistrictArtsEdu on Facebook and @dae_nhv on Instagram.

 

About DAE

Connecticut nonprofit DAE uses education as a vehicle for social justice, nurturing underrepresented high school students and young adults with no-cost tech programs and access to digital career and life skills. Headquartered in New Haven with an additional location at Synchrony Skills Academy in Stamford, the nonprofit’s youth programs emphasize learn-by-doing development in a collaborative, nurturing environment, while the adult program offers a four-month immersion in software engineering. Balancing both the content and the context of learning, DAE strives to develop human beings who are highly technology-fluent and deeply humanity-centric. For more information, visit myDAE.org.