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Hartford Magnet Middle School Wins Top Honor

By Vanessa de la Torre

May 20, 2011

In case you hadn't heard, Magnet Schools of America, an organization based in Washington, D.C., honored Hartford Magnet Middle School this week as the winner of its Dr. Ronald P. Simpson Distinguished Merit Award.

Plainly speaking: That means Magnet Schools of America picked HMMS as its top school in the country.

The award comes with a $5,000 cash prize, which Principal Sally Biggs accepted Tuesday at the organization's annual conference in Indianapolis. Here is a five-minute interview that our partner, Fox Connecticut, did with Biggs, magnet coach Janice Andrews and eighth-grader Dexter Amadasun on Thursday's morning show.

And here is the school system's press release on the award: Hartford Magnet Middle School.pdf

Also on Tuesday, the board of education approved an agreement with Trinity College that will turn the grade 6-8 school into the Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy.

Starting this fall, the school will add a ninth grade under a partnership with Trinity that would eventually lead to a grade 6-12 magnet program in the city's Learning Corridor. School administrators said qualified students would be able to take Trinity courses while still in high school.