Print

School Placements: Part 1

By Jodie Mozdzer

April 01, 2009

Drum roll, please.

The Hartford school choice results are in, and district officials are pretty excited about the numbers of applicants.

(Getty Images)

This the first time the district held an application process for its public schools. Students who were in the highest grade of their school were required to apply to their choices for next year, and other students could apply if they wanted to change schools.

Christina Kishimoto, the assistant superintendent for school design, said 2,157 "transitional" students (those who were required to apply) filed their applications on time -- an 85 percent return rate.

Another 1,390 students applied to switch schools. And 60 students applied to the school they already attend -- which wasn't necessary.

And, Kishimoto said, about 88 percent of the transitional students were placed in their first or second choice schools. (If you count the students who didn't have to apply, the results were in the 70 percent range, Kishimoto said.)

The numbers surprised Kishimoto, who said she was expecting about half the students to be able to go to one of their top chocies.

"I didn't expect us to be this high in our first year rolling this out," Kishimoto told the board of education's choice subcommittee Tuesday night.

Families have to respond to the district by April 30. Then they have to attend registration at the school in mid-May.

Kishimoto presented a chart Tuesday that shows the number of applications each high school got. (There are more applications than actual students, because they could rank their top three schools.)

Still to come in the upcoming weeks: Magnet school and Open Choice placements.