Education and Vocational Training

Adult Education

Connecticut Talent Assistance Cooperative- Educational Opportunity Center (CONNTAC-EOC)

Norwalk/Stamford & Surrounding Towns

Norwalk Community College

DeShayla Shelley, Assistant Director

188 Richards Avenue, Room West 117

Norwalk, CT 06854

Phone: (203) 857-7109

Email: DShelley@conntacinc.org

Free educational counseling and career planning services for individuals in Connecticut, including the formerly incarcerated.

CT Adult Virtual High School

Phone: 860-832-3891; Fax:860-666-5828

Website: www.ctvhs.org

Email: ghayden@ctdlc.org

Adults ED students enrolled in a CT Adult Credit Diploma program can earn credits towards their diploma online. A full course scheduled is available over a four-term academic calendar, along with a smaller course schedule for summer. Also offers an online GED preparation course.

Stamford Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education
Adult Education (Classes)
175 Atlantic St.
Old Town Hall
Stamford,  CT 06902

Phone: (203) 977-4209
Website: https://www.stamfordadulted.org/Default.asp

Stamford’s Adult Education program offers a high school credit diploma program, GED test preparation, ESL and family literacy as well as the following:

  • Ed2Go-Stamford – online classes
    • Over 250 six-week online courses to choose from covering a variety of subjects; e.g., accounting, computer programs, languages, arts, writing, business, finance, health and personal development.
    • Learn more at Ed2Go-Stamford.   
  • Stamford English Language Academy (SELA)
    • The newest offering under the Continuing Education program is the Stamford English Language Academy (SELA). This is an academically oriented program which offers courses from beginner to advanced levels of English language skills for those for whom English proficiency is a professional necessity, an improvement for job advancement, or necessary for the pursuit of higher education.
  • GED Testing in Connecticut:

Building One Community

ESL and Adult Literacy

75 Selleck Street

Stamford, CT 06902

Phone: (203) 674-8585

Hours: Monday – Saturday from 7:30am to 8pm; Sunday from 8am to 6pm

Website: https://building1community.org/educate/#not-set:all

This organization focuses on the immigrant community but also provides adult literacy classes, legal services and workforce development.

Vocational and Job Training

Connecticut Apprenticeship System

Phone: 860-263-6085

Web: http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/progsupt/appren/appren.htm

Email: dol.apprenticeship@ct.gov.

Administers Apprenticeship programs publishes a list of all apprenticeship sponsors. Contact Sponsors directly to learn more details about a particular apprenticeship.

Connecticut Bureau of Rehabilitation Services

414 Chapel Street, Suite 301, New Haven, CT 06511

Phone: 203-974-3000 or 800-537-2549

Website: https://portal.ct.gov/rehabilitationservices/?language=en_US

Costs: None

Population Served: For individuals with significant physical and/or mental disabilities.

Restrictions: You must (1) have a physical or mental impairment which poses a substantial barrier to employment AND (2) require VR services to prepare for, enter info, engage in or retain gainful employment in the competitive labor force.

Referral/ Drop In: Contact the office to set up an intake.

Can You Apply Before You Leave Prison? N/A

The Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) provides vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to assist Connecticut residents with significant disabilities to find and keep employment. Contact the services to learn what services are available and what you must do if you are eligible for services. If you are eligible, a counselor will help you develop an employment plan based on your needs and their abilities and will help you arrange whatever services are needed to achieve your employment goal.

Construction Education Center

35 Robert Jackson Way

Plainville, Connecticut 06062

Phone: 860-529-5886

Website: http://www.thinkconstruction.org

The mission of the Construction Education Center is to provide standardized training in order to prepare individuals for gainful employment and long term opportunities in the construction industry. Provides training and apprenticeships in carpentry, HVAC, plumbing and sheet metal.

J.M. Wright Technical High School

120 Bridge Street

Stamford, CT 06905

Phone:203.324.7363

Website: http://wright.cttech.org/index.html

Eligibility:  Students in grades 9-12

Wright Tech offers students ten different Career and Technical Education Programs listed below. Each program has a specific three and a half year program of study that outlines all academic and technical coursework required of each student.

  • Automotive Technology
  • Carpentry
  • Culinary Arts
  • Digital Media
  • Electrical
  • Facilities Management
  • Health Technology
  • Information Systems Technology
  • Plumbing and Heating
  • Tourism, Hospitality and Guest Services Management

Northeastern Medical Institute

135 Bedford Street, Stamford, CT 2nd Floor

Phone: (203) 391-6766

Website: https://northeastmedicalinstitute.com/

The mission of Northeast Medical Institute is to provide students with the highest quality, hands-on education, and prepare them for a successful healthcare career. Courses include training for Certified Nurses Aid, Phlebotomy, EKG and CPR.

Union Building Trades Apprenticeship Coordinators

CT Department of Labor

Office of Apprenticeship Training

200 Folly Brook Boulevard,

Wethersfield, CT 06109

Phone: 860-263-6085

Contact:  Todd Berch

Website:

http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/progsupt/appren/JATDCC%20Directory%20Rev.%20012010.pdf

Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) programs offer apprenticeships in trades that may lead to full-time union employment. Contact individual program about applying.

People Reentering Into Doing Entrepreneurship (PRIDE)

Contact:  Barry Diamond

Phone:203-767-4090

Email: theprideprogram@gmail.com

Website:http://reentrysurvivors.com/p-r-i-d-e-program.html

People Reentering Into Doing Entrepreneurship(P.R.I.D.E) is a training and support program for current inmates, released inmates & people with a criminal background to learn how to start their own business.  P.R.I.D.E. is a copyrighted 16-week course taught once a week for 2.5 hours in the evening. It covers Legal, Accounting, Banking, Insurance, Business Plan Development, Marketing, Sales, Quickbooks, Positive Mental Attitude, Soft Skills (Life Lessons). Local experts teach each session & then a Mentor is assigned. Once a month for 6 months after graduation the students meet to go over their progress to make sure everyone is on track to start their business.

Online Learning

Coursera.org: Partners with universities and organizations around the world. This brings a wide variety of topics and perspectives to one searchable database. Coursera is a powerful tool for free online education, and includes courses from many top universities, museums and trusts. This gives the site a wide range of in-depth courses. Coursera is especially useful if you’re looking to study many different topics, or want courses from different schools and groups.

Khan Academy: Partnering with many post secondary schools, Khan Academy offers a useable, well organized interface. Also curating many courses from around the web, Khan Academy offers depth on many different subjects.

Open Culture Online Courses: Over 1000 lectures, videos and podcasts from universities around the world. The site features material found only on universities private sites, all in easy to browse categories. This means you can find hundreds of university courses, without having to visit and search each university’s own site. Open Culture’s list features courses from England, Australia, Wales and many state universities around the United States. A helpful resource for finding many courses in one area of study.

Udemy: Udemy’s free courses allows users to build custom courses from lessons. Working with many top professors and schools, the site mixes the customizable platform of other sites with a heavy emphasis on top quality content. This site mixes free and paid content.

Academic Earth: Courses from many different schools and focuses on offering a wide variety of subjects. Academic Earth lists courses by subject and school.

edX: Brings together courses from many different schools.  The site has quality information and covers a range of topics.