    
Hartford's Classical Magnet School
Video Interviews (4 Minutes)  Location: 85 Woodland StreetSchool Type: Interdistrict Magnet School Grades: 6-12 Size: 484 Students African American: 63% Hispanic: 23% Low-Income: 66% Phone Number: (860) 695-9100 Tim Sullivan, Principal
"We spend a lot of time and energy in the classroom observing teachers, identifying areas of need, providing support. If they don't respond properly to the support, then we show them the door. We've helped a lot more teachers then we've gotten rid of, but it’s a real focus on our part. If we don't have good quality teaching we're not going to get it done."
Sheilda Garrison, Vice Principal
"We have what they call Parent Connect, where the parent can log on. It has a record of all their child's assignments, whether their completed, any discipline problems, if a child missed a class for whatever reason, that comes up on Parent Connect. “
Jim Pezzulo, Teacher
"Part of the learning process is being able to articulate what you've learned. Not just to me, but to your parents, your brothers, your sisters. 'This is what I have to do in school, this is what I learned, this is how I learned it.' And if parents get involved in that, I think its enriching for both the parent and the student."
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"I try to treat each 622 students here at this school, as if they were my own child. So I talk to my son about college. I say, 'It's not a matter of if college, it’s which college.' And I say that to all of my sixth graders as they come in."
"We do lots of observations. We do 20 minute informal observations, every day we do some. Then we have our formal observations. With the observations I'm able to see the needs, and I also ask the teachers sometimes what they think they need to make their classroom more effective."
"You never say this is enough, or this is all we have to do. You always go to the next level."