September 29, 2010
EAST HARTFORD LAWMAKERS TO HONOR
CT INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE ACADEMY
Legislators from East Hartford will present a State of Connecticut General Assembly Citation Thursday to the Connecticut IB Academy in East Hartford for being recognized as the best public school in the state by Newsweek magazine.
State Reps. Henry Genga, Jason Rojas and Timothy Larson and state Sen. Gary D. LeBeau will give the citation to Principal Arthur Arpin and other school officials during a school assembly at 9 a.m.
The East Hartford academy was cited as the best public high school in Connecticut and the 22nd-best public high school in the country, according to a recent Newsweek magazine ranking
“Great schools sometimes go unrecognized, but I am very happy to say that this is not the case with the Academy. The school and everyone involved have garnered a well-deserved honor,” Genga said.
“The Academy provides the rigorous curriculum, high expectations and high standards that we should expect from all of our schools,” said Rojas. “When we expect more from our students, parents and teachers they work together to create the kind of academic success that has driven CIBA to the upper echelon of schools in the country and I am so proud of the entire school community.”
“Providing our children with quality educational opportunities is an ongoing challenge and East Hartford’s IB Academy is doing it right. To have our town’s magnet school ranked in the top 25 of all public high schools in the country for two years in a row is a remarkable achievement,” Larson said.
“I congratulate the staff and students of the CIBA for their exemplary performance and for their commitment to the highest standards of educational excellence. Their achievement truly sets the bar for all Connecticut high schools,” said LeBeau, who is himself a longtime former public school teacher. “I find it interesting that none of Newsweek’s Top 10 high schools, and only four of the Top 25, are ‘traditional-style’ high schools in the conventional sense. Most are magnet schools, charter schools, international baccalaureate academies like CIBA or some other kind of specialty school. They are part of the wave of the future.”
Connecticut IB Academy is a public magnet school on Forbes Street and is attended by students from throughout Greater Hartford. It was ranked No. 22 on a list of about 1,600 high schools throughout the country. The ranking is based on the number of tests, either Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge exams, that students take each year.