A new type of school is emerging and attracting lots of attention recently: Schools specifically designed for students who identify as LGBTQ+.
Inside this century-old building, a new school is taking shape.
“Proud Academy will be Connecticut, and actually New England’s first school for LGBTQ youth and their allies,” said Patty Nicolari, founder of Proud Academy.
Nicolari spent more than three decades in education as both a teacher and a principal.
“Students would shout things, derogatory comments, and leave notes on my desk asking if I was gay, and scratching derogatory comments in my car,” Nicolari said. “And I thought, ‘This is not okay.’ I’m the adult and it’s not feeling safe here. So, I can’t imagine how my students are feeling.”
Nicolari said when Ellen DeGeneres came out in the 1990s, she felt inspired to do the same. It all eventually led Nicolari to start Proud Academy, with a planned fall opening for two dozen students in grades 7 and 8, inside a Boys & Girls Club building in Ansonia, Connecticut.