Education

The Learning Corridor

The Learning Corridor is the center of an extended community of learning stretching from the College to the neighborhood and involving nearly 1,500 students from Hartford and the region. A 16-acre campus adjacent to Trinity College and neighborhood hospitals, the Learning Corridor will house an interdistrict Montessori-style public elementary school, a City of Hartford public middle school, a science, mathematics, and technology high school resource center, and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, which is relocating to the Learning Corridor from an existing location in Hartford.

Trinity College and SINA will partner with Hartford-area public school districts, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) and other area higher education institutions to provide Learning Corridor teachers with professional development experiences. Teachers from the metropolitan Hartford area will have access to summer workshops, short-term workshops, experimental laboratory experiences using advanced instrumentation mentored by scientists and medical professionals, and leadership training.

Developed to benefit the entire region, Learning Corridor outreach programming will provide services to teachers, students, and parents in the Capitol region by bringing in classes from other schools for short-term experiences utilizing the resources and education specialists of the Learning Corridor. Staff and equipment will be brought into outlying districts to offer unique educational experiences.

Construction is well underway on the Learning Corridor site. In the summer of 1998, the $11-million site-remediation program (funded by the State of Connecticut) was completed, and all 38 parcels of land for the campus were cleared to make way for the new educational facilities. The foundations for these facilities were laid in January 1999, and the last steel beam was hoisted into place in June. The core structural work will be completed by the end of 1999. The campus will open for the academic year 2000.

The Learning Corridor Montessori School

The Montessori method introduces children to the joys of learning and the habits of social discipline. The Learning Corridor Montessori School is an existing educational program currently located at a temporary site on Cornwall Street in Hartford.

The new facility on the Learning Corridor campus will accommodate 330 students, pre-school through fifth-grade, from the Capitol region. The program will be run by a regional district governance structure managed by CREC. One of six regional educational service centers in Connecticut, CREC serves the educational needs of 35 Greater Hartford public school districts.

Progress to Date

• $22 million dollars were approved in state bond funds for design and construction of the new facility.

• Architectural designs were approved by the State of Connecticut school facilities unit.

• The first teacher certification and training has been completed at Trinity College, conducted by the Montessori Teacher Education Collaborative.

• A new principal has been hired to lead the Learning Corridor Montessori School.

The Learning Corridor Middle School

The 600-pupil Learning Corridor Middle School will be arranged in two "houses" of 300 students each on the Learning Corridor campus. Five teachers for each group of 100 students will create "family" clusters. Teachers will stay with students in their family cluster for three years. The school’s program will employ a variety of learning techniques, including cooperative learning, project-orientation, interdisciplinary instruction, and application of technology as an integrated learning tool. While the curriculum will emphasize science, math, and technology, it will also incorporate the arts. Students will have access to the latest computer technology and science equipment.

Progress to Date

• An education planning committee consisting of community members, parents, Hartford public school officials, and Trinity College representatives has been created to oversee planning and development.

• The City of Hartford and the State of Connecticut have approved and authorized $27 million in funding for design and construction. SINA has contributed $1 million for construction.

• The Davenport Family Foundation has granted $100,000 to support professional development programs for teachers.

The High School Science, Mathematics, and Technology Resource Center

Focusing on science, mathematics, and technology, the Center will conduct half-day classes for 300 high school students from the Greater Hartford region, who will then take the remainder of their courses and activities at their "home" schools. Students will be exposed to an advanced curriculum, highly skilled "master" teachers, opportunities to work with scientists and medical professionals in mentoring situations, and state-of-the-art equipment. The Center will also provide distance-learning opportunities.

Progress to Date

• $46 million in state bond funds were approved for the Center.

• Curriculum leaders from participating towns have combined their talents to develop the Center’s programs and curriculum.

• Charles Eilber, founding director of the highly successful North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, serves as a consultant for the project.

• Twelve Greater Hartford school districts have passed resolutions to become charter members of the Center. The superintendents of these districts selected CREC to manage this program.

• In February 1997, Loctite Corporation announced a major gift of $1 million in support of the Center.

• SINA has contributed an additional $2 million for the Center.

The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts

Collocated with the high school resource center will be the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Originally established as a part-time regional magnet high school performing arts program, the Academy brings together racially diverse students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds to learn and work while pursuing intensive, professionally oriented study in theater, instrumental and vocal music, dance, and creative writing. Managed and operated by CREC, the new facility will allow greater enrollment. Over 250 students in grades nine through 12 will participate in the program when it opens in 2000.

Progress to Date

• Exhibition and performance spaces were designed by Academy and Trinity faculty, community artists, and educators; a 632-seat theater is included.
• Curriculum has been developed to include two new programs—the visual arts program and the technical theater and media technology program—that will take advantage of the new facility’s special features.