Hartford Magnet Middle School

-
-|bgcolor=darkgray|Address||bgcolor=darkgray|53 Vernon Street
-
bgcolor=lightgrey|City||bgcolor=lightgrey|Hartford, CT
-
bgcolor=darkgray|Established||bgcolor=darkgray|1999
-
bgcolor=lightgrey|Type||bgcolor=lightgrey|Public
-
bgcolor=lightgrey|Principal||bgcolor=lightgrey|Sally Biggs
-
bgcolor=darkgray|Grades||bgcolor=darkgray|6 to 8
-
bgcolor=lightgrey|District||bgcolor=lightgrey|Hartford
-
bgcolor=darkgray|Mascot||bgcolor=darkgray|Phoenix
-
bgcolor=lightgrey|Colors||bgcolor=lightgrey|Blue And Gold
-
bgcolor=darkgray|School website||bgcolor=darkgray| [http://www.hmms.crec.org/ HMMS Home Page]
-
colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background:ffffff;"
Hartford Magnet Middle School is a magnet school in Hartford, Connecticut which recently was named a Blue Ribbon School and operates as part of the Hartford Public Schools.

Awards and recognition

During the 2006-07 school year, Hartford Magnet Middle School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education [Gottlieb, Rachel. [http://alacarte.lexisnexis.com/partners/int/google/landingpage.asp?id=25164035&mtid=1&ws=9j0hDk1UboE=&ws_pub=Hartford%20Courant%20(Connecticut)&ws_date=October%207,%202006&ws_len=457&ws_lni=4M2Y-2YN0-TWD1-N38T-00000-00&ws_lastupdate=20061009&ws_title=MAGNET%20SCHOOL%20GRANTED%20HONOR&ws_refer=http://news.google.com/archivesearch?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&tab=wn&q=%22Hartford+Magnet%22+%22blue+ribbon%22 "MAGNET SCHOOL GRANTED HONOR; MIDDLE SCHOOL WINS BLUE RIBBON STATUS"] , "Hartford Courant", October 7, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2007.] [ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-2003.pdf U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 through 2006 (PDF)] , United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.] , the highest award an American school can receive. [ [http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17475750&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6 CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department] , "Journal Inquirer", November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."] [Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; "The Washington Post". September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."]

School Criteria and Curriculum

Mission Statement

We come together, city and suburbs, with eager minds, a sense of pride, and a passion for achievement, to create our Hartford Magnet Middle School family. We agree to take the initiative to transform obstacles into opportunities. Guided by a rich curriculum, we use our collective knowledge and gifts to energize our learning and create a safe haven for growth and exploration. Through cultivation of inquiry and self-expression, we produce critical and creative works using state-of-the-art resources. Supported by our community partners, our students develop the social and academic skills to succeed at the region’s most competitive high schools.

Daily Schedule

Hartford Magnet Middle School goes from grades 6-8 and has a rotating block schedule. The periods are A, B, C, D, and E. They also have "Encore" or "special" classes, like computer education and graphic arts, and take 3 of these each quarter. Each class is assigned a day (Gold, Blue, or White). The first day of school is Gold ABC, which means students have their Gold encore class and the class they were assigned for A period, B period, and C period. The next day, the Encore class switches to Blue, and the students have D class, E class, and A class. Students then has white day, with B, C, Then Block D. The cycle then repeats. If there is a snow day, the students skip that day.

Flex Days

In addition to the vastly advanced daily curriculum, there are special days where students are able to pursue additional interests in the form of Flex classes. These Flex Classes are employed to exert a greater feeling of academic enrichment in the form of these general enrichment classes. These such classes take place on days that are a bit shorter than others and are aptly named half-days. On half days these various activities occur and cover a range of topics that include: Magic: the Gathering, RTS game playing, Movie Critique, Fantasy Football,Sports Camp,and a plethora of others that are always justly entertaining for all of the students that participate in them.

School Achievements, Honors, and Academic Notations

The Marching Phoenix

HMMS is known for its award winning marching band, the Hartford Magnet Middle School Marching Phoenix. The Marching Phoenix and Wings of Gold have performed at the Hartford Civic Center, the Oxon Hill Invitational Band Competition in Maryland, the Special Olympics, the St. Patricks Day Parade in Philadelphia and Hartford and in the Memorial Day Parade in Hartford. In 2007 and 2008, they won first place in the Philadelphia Saint Patrick's Day Parade. The band is under the direction of Miss. Kelly Savoie (Band Director), Mr. Tom Franklin (Assistant Band Director), Miss Ashley Groody (Drumline and Field Commander), and Ms. Autumn Baltimore (Wings of Gold).

HMMS Honor Society

At HMMS there is a thriving honor society (NJHS) that has been able to make a significant impact upon the communal well-being of Hartford and the world. The meetings take place on every other Monday of the month, having an average of 2 meetings per-month. These meetings are enacted as a way to solve issues that are currently transpiring in the school so that they can be examined and resolved easily and without incident. Many issues have been easily deterred and resolved by this council of the school's best and brightest, even though the academic standards of HMMS are incredibly equalized and set at a high bar for all at the school to be adequately challenged. The current Honor society is made up of a cadre of different personalities and people who provide a varied and diverse thought group.

References