The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in Connecticut schools

In Connecticut, 29.2% of Black students are proficient in reading at the typical school — against 55.6% of White students. Within Hartford alone, the gap between the best and worst schools for Black children is 80 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

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33.5%
All students
25.6%
Black
26.9%
Hispanic
53.6%
White
69.2%
Asian

Share of students meeting proficient at the typical Connecticut school. Groups are shown wherever Connecticut reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from CT Smarter Balanced 2025, measuring proficient in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 73 districts, 293 Connecticut schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical Connecticut school the picture is black students at 25.6%, hispanic students at 26.9%, white students at 53.6% and asian students at 69.2%. That is a 43.6-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the Connecticut data shows

Landscape
1

Connecticut schools earn an A for Black students

An A means 80% or more of Black students are proficient. One school clears it. Stamford Charter School for Excellence comes closest at scale, reaching 72.0% across 282 Black student results. Four schools reach 70%.

Disparity
79.8 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Hartford

Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy reaches 83.7%. Global Communications Academy, in the same district, sits at 3.9%. Across 24 schools in one district, a child's address decides which end they land on.

Statewide
39.4 pts

separates Black and White students in Connecticut math

22.5% of Black students are proficient in math, against 61.9% of White students. Reading is 34.4 points. Connecticut is among the wealthiest states in the country.

Where Black students are doing best in Connecticut

These are the schools where Black students most often meet proficient, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Renzulli Gifted and Talented AcademyHartford School District 89.6% 83.7% 79.4% 100%
Stamford Charter School for ExcellenceStamford Charter School for Excellence District Charter 76.2% 72% 65% 98.6%
Edith E. Mackrille SchoolWest Haven School District 64.1% 71.9% 60.4% 74.3%
Whisconier Middle SchoolBrookfield School District 60.6% 71.4% 39.5% 64.4% 86.7%
Buckley SchoolManchester School District 65.8% 64.5% 56.8% 78%
Hillcrest Middle SchoolTrumbull School District 77.6% 62.1% 64.5% 80.4% 91.4%
Eli Whitney SchoolStratford School District 62.3% 61.9% 51% 74%
Middlebrook SchoolTrumbull School District 76.8% 57.7% 73.1% 79.9% 89.7%
Madison Middle SchoolTrumbull School District 68.4% 57.3% 58.8% 69.2% 85.6%
Israel Putnam SchoolMeriden School District 61.5% 57% 58.7% 73.1%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy for Global AwarenessNew Haven School District 5.7% 0% 5.1%
Global Communications AcademyHartford School District 7% 3.9% 8.6%
Wexler/Grant - Lincoln/Bassett Community SchoolNew Haven School District 10.8% 4.7% 23%
Ross/Woodward SchoolNew Haven School District Magnet 14.3% 5.2% 12.4%
Milner Middle SchoolHartford School District 9.8% 6.5% 11%
Columbus SchoolBridgeport School District 9.1% 7.3% 8.7%
Augusta Lewis Troup SchoolNew Haven School District 10.8% 7.4% 15.5%
Hill Central Music AcademyNew Haven School District 11% 7.5% 11.2%
Reed SchoolWaterbury School District 11.6% 7.9% 12.4%
Bryant SchoolBridgeport School District 7.5% 7.9% 7.6%

One district, two outcomes

In Hartford School District, Renzulli Gifted and Talented Academy reports 83.7% of Black students meeting the standard. Global Communications Academy, in the same district, reports 3.9%. That is a 79.8-point spread across 24 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

Connecticut districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Bridgeport School District — 27 schools, 18.1% average
Hartford School District — 24 schools, 20.2% average
New Haven School District — 23 schools, 15.8% average
Waterbury School District — 19 schools, 22% average
Stamford School District — 13 schools, 22.6% average
Capitol Region Education Council — 12 schools, 21.5% average
Norwalk School District — 11 schools, 25.9% average
Stratford School District — 10 schools, 28.5% average
East Hartford School District — 9 schools, 39% average
Hamden School District — 9 schools, 21.9% average
Manchester School District — 7 schools, 27.4% average
West Haven School District — 7 schools, 41.3% average
Meriden School District — 6 schools, 41.8% average
New Britain School District — 6 schools, 17.9% average
Middletown School District — 5 schools, 17.1% average
Bloomfield School District — 4 schools, 30.4% average
Danbury School District — 4 schools, 24.8% average
Trumbull School District — 4 schools, 58.1% average
Ansonia School District — 3 schools, 17.5% average
Bristol School District — 3 schools, 32% average
New London School District — 3 schools, 20.4% average
Norwich School District — 3 schools, 18.4% average
Vernon School District — 3 schools, 30.6% average
West Hartford School District — 3 schools, 33.5% average
Windsor School District — 3 schools, 32.7% average
Area Cooperative Educational Services — 2 schools, 22.5% average
Bethel School District — 2 schools, 43.2% average
Derby School District — 2 schools, 14.8% average
Farmington School District — 2 schools, 38.6% average
Goodwin University Educational Services (GUES) — 2 schools, 11.6% average
Granby School District — 2 schools, 22.4% average
Naugatuck School District — 2 schools, 23.9% average
Newington School District — 2 schools, 39.1% average
Shelton School District — 2 schools, 32.2% average
Windsor Locks School District — 2 schools, 22.1% average
Achievement First Bridgeport Academy District — 1 schools, 29.7% average
Achievement First Hartford Academy District — 1 schools, 35.5% average
Amistad Academy District — 1 schools, 28.8% average
Booker T. Washington Academy District — 1 schools, 31.3% average
Branford School District — 1 schools, 28.6% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across Connecticut schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure CT Smarter Balanced 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. Connecticut suppresses results for groups with too few students tested. Schools without a reportable Black student result are excluded rather than shown as zero — 293 of Connecticut's schools have reportable data. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, Connecticut's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

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