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Schools and Partnerships

Trinity Ed 200 student orientation at ELAMS, Fall 2016

We highly value our Hartford community-learning partnerships. Beginning with our introductory course, Educ 200: Analyzing Schools, Trinity students gain first-hand experience and research skills through participant-observation in public school classrooms near the Trinity campus. For more information about community-learning partnerships across Trinity College, see the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research.

Hartford school placements for Educ 200, Fall 2022

Placement process:

  • School Placement Information Sheet – Fill out on paper at our first class, and follow the format in this Sample. We share this information with school partners on our Placements and Orientations Google Sheet, which appears in our password-protected Moodle class site.
  • Placement Contract Fall 2022 – We will hand out on paper during school orientations. Review and sign with your teacher during your first session, then upload a photo or scanned copy to Moodle.
  • HPS Visitors Acknowledgement for Covid Fall 2022 – Review and sign on paper at our first class, and instructor will submit all in one batch to HPS.
  • HPS Volunteer Form Fall 2022 – Online form requires about 5 minutes, used for basic background check. Instructor will send a list of all Ed 200 students’ names to HPS to help them identify and quickly process our forms. HPS might request additional information from specific students, and if so, your instructor will contact and guide you on this.
    • If your home address is in the US, enter that address. If your home address is outside the US, enter your Trinity campus address.
    • Check all 3 schools to simplify the process:
      • Expeditionary Learning Academy at Moylan School (ELAMS)
      • Environmental Science Magnet at Mary Hooker School (ESM)
      • Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy (HMTCA)
    • Check 2 areas of volunteer work to simplify the process:
      • Tutoring-Math
      • Tutoring-Language Arts/Literacy
  • Mandated Reporter Training for School Employees Fall 2022 – Online from CT Dept of Children and Families, requires about 30-45 minutes
    • While working with children in a public school, we are legally required to report any observation or suspicion of child abuse. Although Educ 200 students are unpaid volunteers, HPS requires us to fill out the School Employee version.
    • Organization Name: Trinity College
    • Type of Organization: Institute of Higher Education
    • How Many People are Viewing the Training Today?: Enter 1. Each individual must complete the online training, so that each of you will receive a certificate of completion at the end. You MUST download the certificate and upload it to our Moodle course as proof of completion. If the training platform does not show the certificate, check the email account you entered. Instructor will submit all certificates in one batch to HPS.

Important Reminders:

  • We are guests in our partners’ schools. Treat everyone respectfully. Follow the norms for adult behavior and dress codes in your placement.
  • Our role is participant-observation: Get involved in student learning and follow guidance from your classroom teacher. If in doubt, sit next to a student (not in the back of the room) to learn how they are learning. But also make time to take notes about what you’re observing.
  • Write your notes on paper, NOT a phone, because people might think you’re texting instead. (This is the most common complaint we hear about Trinity students from classroom teachers.) Silence and put away your phone when you walk into the school.
  • Respect boundaries: Trinity students may not take photos of public school students or communicate with them via social media.