As someone who is not familiar with the Connecticut School Systems, I found many challenges while gathering the data to compare the quality of education for Hartford and the surrounding towns. I grew up in Chicago and attended public schools all of my life. My husband and I both have the desire for our kids to grow up in the city and attend public schools as well. With our recent relocation to Hartford, we wanted to ensure that our children would continue to receive quality education as they did in their neighborhood school in Chicago (we have visited Hartford numerous times before for short business trips so we are have a feel for the city even though it is not in depth).
Initially, we looked at places both in Hartford and the other surrounding towns that worked within our limited budget, but ultimately decided to find a place in Hartford. After considering numerous factors such as access to public transportation, affordability and our desire to live in the city, we felt that living in Hartford would be the best fit for our family.
As I researched the Hartford Public School system, I learned that they operate on an Open Choice system. In the beginning, I did not quite understand what that meant, but after conducting more research, I thought that it was a pretty good and unique system. For one, the fact that our children can attend school anywhere in Hartford is appealing to us because we can find a place that we can afford and not have to worry about squeezing into a tiny apartment to ensure that our children attend a good school as we did when we lived in Chicago. Furthermore, the potential for my children to attend suburban schools gives me added hope for their futures. Growing up, I always heard that suburban schools are better in terms of funding, which in turn allows more resources and better learning opportunities. In Hartford it is nice to know that my children can experience the city lifestyle and potentially get the benefit of attending suburban schools.
The results:
We chose to rent an apartment in school zone 3 for $800. We applied to schools based on their tests gain percentage as shown on the Smart Choices website. Our 6th grader will be attending Capital Preparatory Magnet School that had a test gain of 2 points located in Hartford’s zone 2, while our 3rd grader will be attending Expeditionary Learning Academy at Moylan that had a test gain of three points in Hartford’s zone 3. Our 6th grader will be bused to school, while we will walk our 3rd grader to school (0.8 mi) until we purchase decide to purchase a car. Although we did not look into demographics, according to the Smart Choices website, Capital Prep is predominately African American but has a good balance of Whites and Hispanics. On the other hand, Moylan is predominately Hispanic with very few Whites and African Americans. Ideally I would like for my 3rd grader to attend a more diverse school but we will see how Moylan works first before deciding if we would like to look into other options.
When I look at the schools suburban schools in the Greater Hartford Region OpenChoice Program that my children were eligible to attend, the test gain results were not available. However, the overall average of student demographic showed that there were more Whites enrolled in the suburban schools. When we settle into our neighborhood, I plan to do more research on the schools to get a better look at how the system works to know if my children are truly getting a quality education.
Photo from SmartChoices Website
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Open Choice initiative is the lottery system. Everyone wants the best for their child and will choose put the top schools on their list, but not everyone will come out winning. Without any previous experience with the school system, the statistics found were helpful, but they don’t give me a full understanding of what we are getting ourselves into. Even though we initially planned to buy a house in Hartford, we decided to reconsider this option after we experience the schools in the city first. The options seem promising, but we want to ensure that our children will have the best education before settling down. I cannot say that we wont resort to the suburbs (despite deep love and hope for the betterment of urban public schools) if we lose all confidence in the Hartford Public and Magnet Schools, but we are currently optimistic and hope for the best.
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Suggestions for the future:
I found it challenging to understand the “ins and outs” of the Hartford Public School system because I’m not from around here. However, after meeting with Finnouala, to discuss the difficulties, I did not feel as overwhelmed. The Smart Choices website that she showed me was very helpful and I think that the link should be provided as a resource for the activity.
