United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut's Full-Service Community School invited Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) to its school on Monday to highlight the positive impacts of a five-year grant they received. The future of the grant funding is in jeopardy, because school officials said it is "zeroed-out" in next year's budget.

During his visit, Himes spoke with staff, parents and students to learn more about their personal experience since the grant took effect. he Full-Service Community School, also known as Rippowam Middle School, is facilitated by Stamford Cradle to Career, and is benefiting from the grant alongside Dolan Middle School, also located in Stamford.

The schools are in their third year of a five-year grant. To date, school culture and discipline rates have shown improvement. According to the schools, in-school suspensions have decreased by 69% for the three student populations most likely to receive them.

"Having kids enjoy their middle school years, having it be a place where they thrive rather than just survive, which is how I think it used to feel, just sets them on the proper trajectory for success moving forward into high school and then hopefully college and career," said Joseph Claps, principal of Dolan Middle School. Students who spoke with Himes said they see the school as a community where they can help each other while getting an education.

"It's cool that kids help each other, because it's easier to talk to them than other teachers and stuff," Matthew Possidento, an eighth grader at Rippowam said.

Partnering with United Way and several other organizations in the community has also introduced a food and clothing pantry to the school, a resource that wasn't available before.

"Stamford Public Schools provides us with a lot, but for middle schoolers, sometimes it's just not enough. They need a lot of extra care and wraparound services, so the fact that Mr. Himes actually came out today and was inside of our schools and got to hear from our students and from some of our staff just shows that it's important to him and he's going to go ahead and defend us in Washington," Claps said.

Rebecca Petersen is a parent who was there for the visit. Her youngest daughter is enrolled at Dolan. Her oldest graduated from Dolan years ago, before the grant was awarded.

"The whole vibe of the school has completely changed. It's much more welcoming, more positive, from the administration down to the teachers. They're all very motivated and excited to be there. And you don't hear about fights and things that are happening in the hallways. So, that's a definite positive," Petersen said.

In the meantime, school officials and United Way will work with the school district to see if there is any additional funding they can give.They will also work with the Stamford mayor and the city to look for funding on the local and state levels.