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:
- Eligibility: To register for the GED® test, you must:
- be a resident of Connecticut;
- be 17 years of age or older and officially withdrawn from school for at least six months;
- not be enrolled in school; and
- not have graduated from high school
- Website: https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Adult-Ed/GED/Getting-a-GED-in-Connecticut
- The GED test is only available online. For more information on the test and how to register, please see the website referenced above and this list of FAQs: https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Adult-Ed/GED/Getting-a-GED-in-Connecticut/FAQ.
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.