The Class of 2022 program to connect graduating Hartford seniors to a post-secondary plan is in full swing with community-based organizations’ staff working with seniors on a solid plan for their futures after high school. While 88% of Hartford Public Schools’ graduating seniors have made some kind of plan for college, career or the military after graduation this month, Hartford Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said at a recent event celebrating students, 12% have been referred to the Class of 2022 program. 

Out of the 179 seniors from eight Hartford high schools whom staff referred to the program because they had no formal plan for their lives after graduation, 52 seniors, or 29%, have registered. Of those, 33 seniors, or nearly 64%, have already participated in some way to begin the process of preparing for their future and earn a cash incentive. 

Staff from the Blue Hills Civic Association, Center for Latino Progress and Ready CT are meeting with students in their high schools and outside of school to help them plan for skills training, community college, the military or a job with advancement potential. Local foundations made this program possible, allowing the students to earn $50 stipends for attending a workshop, meeting with a staff member to learn about options or enrolling in one of several summer programs. 

“Thanks to various funders, we have a chance to help these students who, due to constraints at the school district and their own challenges related to COVID, are not yet on a high-quality post-secondary pathway,” says Paul Diego Holzer, executive director of Achieve Hartford. “It’s an honor to try and help these students put themselves on a great trajectory, and it’s wonderful working so closely with HPS staff to learn from this work and find ways to make this type of work no longer needed in the future.”

To reach the majority of seniors who haven’t yet responded, community-based organizations’ staff members are resourceful, tenacious and persistent. They’re reaching out through texts, emails and phone calls and trying to meet with the students in person while they’re in school. Also, post cards will be attached to students’ diplomas and graduation packets for those without a post-secondary plan, to try to connect with those students who don’t worry about their futures until they’ve graduated. Once students enroll in the Class of 2022 program, they can count on a designated CBO staff member to guide them through the process, answer questions and help keep them on track. 

The ALL IN! Coalition, local foundations, nonprofit organizations, the City of Hartford and HPS launched this temporary program last year in response to students learning remotely and not meeting with their guidance counselors to plan for their futures. Based on lesson’s learned from the pilot year, this year the focus has been CBO staff members forming relationships with students while they’re still in school and staying with them throughout the summer and through placement or Sept. 16, whichever comes first. 

“Partners are collaborating deeply on outreach methods and designing workshop curriculum and career pathway information,” Holzer says. “They are working as a real team to help as many seniors as possible.” 

John Maduko, MD, Minnesota State Community and Technical College vice president, started his new position as the first permanent president of the newly formed Connecticut State Community College on June 3, the latest step toward the merger of the state’s 12 community college campuses. The plan began five years ago, and the newly merged system serving 32,000 is set to open July 1, 2023.

The state’s public college system reorganized after facing deficits because of decreased tuition revenue and increased costs. Since 2017, the Board of Regents has been pursuing two strategies to strengthen the community college system: consolidation of the 12 community colleges into one singly accredited institution; and consolidation of the Connecticut State College and University System’s administrative back-office functions into shared services used by community colleges, state universities and Charter Oak State College. 

The new structure increases focus on enrollment management, advising and retention.  Under the current system, colleges are not able to share student information from one to another. When students take classes at multiple colleges, as they often do to get the classes they need, they must transfer credits between schools. However, those transfer credits do not count toward the students’ GPA. Under the new structure, students will apply once; all the classes they take at any of the 12 campuses will apply to their GPA and be recorded on their Connecticut State Community College transcript for a degree program available across all campuses. 

When students are given extra, personalized support, they make better informed enrollment decisions and have higher rates of attendance, persistence, retention and timely graduation, research shows. The new CSCC system is adopting the Guided Pathways initiatives, a nationally recognized, research-based holistic advising program. In collaboration with faculty advisors, GP advisors help students explore their options, persist toward a career as well as a degree and meet the personal challenges that often derail or delay academic progress, according to the CT State college merger website.  

The new structure calls for Regional Presidents to help bring consistency across the campus and promote innovation at scale. To help manage CT State and coordinate processes across the 12 campuses, there will be regional positions overseeing enrollment management, workforce development, continuing education, grants, planning and research, information technology and marketing. The merger has been controversial, particularly among faculty who questioned whether it will achieve the promised savings and whether the newly merged system will be sufficiently staffed. 

Out of all Hartford Public Schools’ rising ninth graders, 96% have already signed onto Naviance and begun a post-secondary plan. Among the Class of 2022, 115 new Hartford Promise Scholars will be attending college this fall. And Hartford Public Schools’ graduation rate has jumped 3.5% to 72.3% this year, despite all the challenges students have faced living through the pandemic the past two years. These figures, shared by Hartford Superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez and Hartford Promise Executive Director Richard Sugarman at the HPS Spring Showcase, represent just some of the students’ milestones.

Meanwhile, the Career Pathways program provides HPS students exposure to career opportunities with Connecticut employers, and many former Pathways students go on to work for companies where they had interned, Torres-Rodriguez told an audience of community partners, students, employers and HPS staff gathered at Weaver High School June 1 to celebrate students’ success. “Career Pathways keep students engaged and shows them what they’re capable of,” she said.

Specifically, every comprehensive high school has two career pathway options that include: engineering and green tech, and allied health at Hartford Public High; leadership and public service, and computer science at Bulkeley High; and insurance, and journalism and media at Weaver High. Some 600 students are enrolled in these programs across six different sectors, said Medeline Negrón, chief of academics, teaching, learning and student supports. 

During a break-out session reviewing career pathways, Hartford High rising senior Bryan Ortiz, serving on the panel, said he was looking forward to what he would learn at an internship with Pratt & Whitney to begin at the end of June. “I heard really good things about Pratt & Whitney from the people who interned last year,” he said. “I’m excited for the hands-on opportunity.”

Hartford High School Principal Flora Padro said the internships serve to motivate students to do well she they improve their chance of being selected for one of the competitive pathway positions. These internships offer something different from their school experience, and having this opportunity has sparked passion in students after the internship experience, Padro said. More than 93% of students enrolled in pathway programs remain in passing status throughout the year, she said. 

These experiences give students a peak into a whole new world and introduce them to different careers and what credentials they need to qualify for that career, said Awilda Rodriguez, with Career Beginnings. 

The internships have led to job opportunities for participating students after their internships end. For example, said panelist Rachel Bader, Travelers second vice president, the insurance company has continued to offer the students scholarships and internships and has hired former pathway students after they graduate.