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CT Has a New Milken Educator ... Manuel Zaldivar!

 

 

Still in shock, first-grade teacher Manuel "Manny" Zaldivar checks with Smalley Academy Principal Elsa Saavedra to make sure he understands what just happened: Dr. Jane Foley, senior vice president of the Milken Educator Awards, has named him Connecticut's 2016-17 Milken Educator Award recipient! Zaldivar's students, 80% of whom speak no English, are thriving: The first-graders showed a 21% increase in those reading at or above grade level in recent assessments. The English language learners in Zaldivar's class often exit ELD classes entirely after just one year with him.