Hillhouse Attempts A Rebrand

With an eye toward luring students favoring charters and magnet schools, Hillhouse High — renowned as a powerhouse on the football field, track circuit and basketball court — is trying to gain a new reputation by living up to its mascot’s name as home of the ​“Academics.”

Under the direction of new Principal Glen Worthy, Hillhouse, the city’s second-largest general high school, is attempting to shake off a reputation for an education that comes second to sports and to get past public criticism during recent years of turmoil.

At an open house for incoming freshmen on Thursday, Worthy shared his vision for where the city’s oldest high school is headed. In the second-floor library, he told a crowd of roughly 40 parents and kids about the school’s many new offerings, including a rigorous academic track to prepare for Advanced Placement classes and apprenticeships that come with guaranteed jobs in construction or digital printing. Teachers will be bolstering their credentials with professional development days this summer, and next year, they’ll try out a new system for monitoring students’ progress with semimonthly get-togethers, Worthy said.

“You all have heard the negatives about Hillhouse. My job is to rebrand and do a better job of telling the story of how great this place really is. Not only are they great on the playing field, they’re really great in the classroom,” Worthy remarked.

The Hillhouse open house is part of a districtwide effort to make neighborhood schools more competitive with in-demand magnets and charters.

Each March, preschoolers and eighth-graders apply en masse for the schools they hope to attend. Disappointments inevitably follow in April, when the initial placements are randomly allocated and seats run out.

Last year, only 29 students marked Hillhouse among their top two picks, yet 124 students ended up being placed there. Compare that to Engineering & Science University Interdistrict Magnet, where the numbers were nearly reversed. The system’s toughest high school draw, 246 students clamored to fill just 31 seats.

This year, Hillhouse will accept more than twice as many freshmen as in years past — an estimated 260 students — meaning even more parents likely need to be convinced.

By showing off the amenities at less desired schools through tours and expos, district officials said they hope parents will feel better about where their kids end up. Sherri Davis-Googe, the director of choice and enrollment, said she hopes the open house helps parents see they’re not ​“losing the lottery” if they don’t nab their first choice. ​“No one wants to hear there’s only 12 seats in a school. But at the end of the day, our goal is to empower our families no matter which school they’re in,” she said. ​“They’re going to a school like any other.”

Alex Sinclair, a Hillhouse history teacher turned administrative intern, said he doesn’t believe the change will be hard to sell, because the vibe has changed so dramatically. In the past, ​“we never really thought about [how we wanted to present ourselves]. Teachers have individually, but now it is part of our collective discourse,” he said.

One of the top priorities for staff was identifying new ways that scholastic success can be rewarded, Sinclair saidd. ​“There’s nothing here that recognizes academic excellence,” hehas heard from students. ​“Because it’s not celebrated, it’s not something that other students aspire to be.” Instead, they seek recognition for their accomplishments outside the classroom, he said. ​“But it’s only a select few that make it on the football team. So where does that leave you? If we start celebrating it — and we’re on that trajectory now — and it’s something that matters, we’ll have more kids that aspire to achieve academically.”

A big step next year will be providing honors classes for freshman and sophomores, better preparing them for the tough Advanced Placement exams that can earn them college credit. Known as the Hillhouse Summit Program, this selective, pre-AP track for students entering with a GPA of 3.5 or higher will have a curriculum that’s faster-paced, more complex and wider in scope. A separate summer orientation program will also help students develop proper study skills to manage an increased workload.

The separate tracks are just one way that education is becoming more personalized at Hillhouse, which has over 900 students. Administrators also plan to ​“cluster” freshmen together into 75-member cohorts that share the same math, science, social studies and English teachers. These four educators will meet every two weeks to discuss any difficulties students are facing before they fall behind.

For example, if one teacher knows that a student is having difficulties at home, she could inform the other teachers and create an action plan. ​“We can discuss, ​‘Well, are we going to bring the parents in? Are there supports and services in the school, in the community that we can provide for them?’” Sinclair explained.

Some parents, while enthused about the plans Worthy laid out, said they’re waiting to see how he executes. To those skeptics, the principal reiterated that they should feel free to hold him accountable to deliver what he’s promised.

“Here’s what I want to say, moms and dads and future graduates of 2021: For me, I’m being selfish by being here. My sisters, my nieces, my old aunt, my old uncle still live in New Haven. So, if I don’t get more and more of my kids educated and ready for college and the workforce, they have one option: rob my aunt or uncle, because I didn’t do a good job here,” Worthy summed it up. ​“For me, it’s a personal challenge. Being a product of Newhallville, that’s my challenge. I wanted this job three years ago. I always wanted to go to Hillhouse. There’s something about this school that’s really special. Do we have our issues? Of course we do, we ain’t perfect. But the majority of kids are quality. That’s what I’m looking for.”

Worthy took over Hillhouse this past year after some members of the public panned an experiment that broke it into three schools with three separate principals and students went public with complaints that the school was running poorly. In April, on the other hand, Hillhouse received state recognition — in the form of a visit by the governor — for improving its graduation rate.

What will Hillhouse look like in four years, when the same students who got their first tour of the high school this week are wearing their caps and gowns? Assistant Principal John Tarka said he hopes by then he and Worthy won’t be the only ones articulating where the school will go. ​“It’s really going to be [our grads] talking to younger students about why this program works,” he said.