An unmatched cluster of schools. There is no other public school campus in the country that combines these same elements: a Montessori school; a middle school; and two competitive high school academies, one for math and science, one for professional training in the arts.

Best-in-class educational standards. All four schools share one ambitious goal: to practice top quality education. The faculty are specially selected and trained. The classroom standards for performance are among the highest in the state.

Home for some of Connecticut’s most innovative public school teaching. The Learning Corridor nurtures and promotes innovative teaching.

Examples:

• the Montessori education offered children from preschool (age 3) through grade 6;
  
  
• the Magnet Middle School, where a "spiraling" curriculum uses "essential questions" like "What are beginnings?" to teach in every discipline, from math to language to physical education. This approach to learning catalyzes critical thinking skills;
  
  
• the Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science is the first Connecticut public school to practice laboratory-based education. No bells, virtually no classrooms, just state-of-the-art laboratories where students perform college-level experiments, advised by working scientists and the best of the area’s science/math educators;
  
  
• the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, where a part-time faculty of 60 career artists provides professional instruction in instrumental and vocal music, dance, theater (acting, design and production), the visual arts, creative writing, film and television.

Unmatched diversity. The Learning Corridor schools are all magnet schools. Magnet schools are diverse by design, drawing from many communities and family backgrounds. With students from over 40 different school districts attending ­ and with students ranging in age from 2.5 years through high school ­ the degree of demographic diversity at The Learning Corridor is unmatched by any other Connecticut public school.

National model for urban resurgence. The Learning Corridor is a national model for using "quality education" as a key component in successful urban revitalization. Some of the country’s most influential newspapers have singled out The Learning Corridor project for praise, calling it "a symbol of renewal and hope" (the New York Times) and crediting it with catalyzing a "dramatic...turnaround" in a distressed neighborhood (USA Today).

Strong community ties. The Learning Corridor has invested heavily in its role as a long-term community asset. There is a large, state-of-the-art community theater; an integrated retail space; the coming addition of a "Boundless Playground" which, like the gym and pool, will be available for use by the neighborhood after school and on weekends; the inclusion of the Aetna Center for Families on campus; and the plans for continuing education programs.

Professional development and outreach activities. Both the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and the Academy of Math and Science have outreach programs underway. The arts academy uses a once-a-week morning program to introduce Hartford and suburban middle-schoolers to dance (and to identify promising candidates for the academy’s high school programs). The science and math academy is equipped to be a "distance learning" facility, transmitting courses directly over the Internet into classrooms anywhere. The academy sees itself as a content developer and regularly offers Saturday courses for 8th and 9th graders and their teachers. The spring 2002 offerings included a hands-on introduction to contemporary forensics as well as biomedical engineering.

Distinguished architecture. Four award-winning Hartford-area architectural firms designed The Learning Corridor buildings: Smith Edwards Architects (Montessori); Jeter, Cook & Jepson Architects (middle school); Clarke Tamaccio Architects (the commons); Tai Soo Kim Partners (the high school academies, community theater, and the campus master plan).