New Haven Independent

Patricia B. Sweet, director of external relations at Achievement First, the umbrella organization that operates Amistad Academy and Elm City Prep, reported that the group has received approval from the state’s Department of Education to operate both an elementary and a middle school in Hartford.

“We of course need to line up the funding,” Sweet said in a telephone message, “but, yes, Amistad is excited to be part of the revival of the Hartford public school system that is under way through the leadership of the new superintendent Steven Adamoski.”

Because of its success in helping children from poor city neighborhoods outperform wealthy suburban kids on standardized tests, Amistad has attracted the attention of other school systems looking to open schools on the same model. (Amistad’s relations with government officials here at home in New Haven have been cooler.) Achievement First now operates several schools in New York City, having been invited there last year by New York City’s mayor and Board of Education.

The Amistad model includes a longer school day and a contract with parents requiring their attentiveness to their children’s progress.

Sweet said that subject to receiving necessary funding from the state and other sources, the new Hartford-based Amistads could be operating as early as next September.