New School Plan Approved By North Haven Board

NORTH HAVEN, CT — A plan to build a private school at 5100 Ridge Road in North Haven gained the approval of the town’s Inland Wetlands Commission on Wednesday night, according to the New Haven Register.

The Register reports the approval comes following a public hearing that stretched over three months of meetings and amid concerns over possible environmental impacts on the Slate School’s plan to build a 7-12 school at the site.

The project, which still needs approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission, calls for the school to be built adjacent to wetlands that mostly lie across the town line in Hamden, according to the Register.

Slate School currently has a K-6 school constructed at 124 Mansfield Rd. in North Haven where it maintains a 25-acre campus and nature conservancy. The school opened in 2018 with kindergarten and first grade.

The school’s 2020-21 academic year includes 32 students in kindergarten through third grade. Slate School plans on reaching Grade 6 in 2023 with a total enrollment of about 70 students, according to the school’s website.

The proposed “Upper School” for grades 7 through 12 would open in the fall of 2024 with 15 students in seventh grade with full capacity of 90 students in Grade 7-12 reached in 2029, according to the website.

“Slate School will improve the ecological health of the property while educating and inspiring the next generation of innovators, curious thinkers, and responsible stewards of the environment,” reads a post, in part, on the Slate School’s Facebook page after gaining the approval of the Inland Wetlands Commission. “We are heartened by the genuine interest and enthusiasm for Slate Upper School's plans, including the more than 200 people who devoted a lot of effort to writing beautiful, heartfelt letters of support to the Town of North Haven.”

A virtual public hearing on the proposal is scheduled to take place on April 5 before the Planning & Zoning Commission’s meeting, according to the Register.

Read more at the New Haven Register here.

For more information about the Slate School, visit its website here.