Betances Stem Magnet School, Hartford CT

Original Research by School Decision on Betances Stem Magnet School

Betances STEM Magnet School is a middle school in Hartford serving grades five through eight, located on Wethersfield Avenue. The school draws from across the district; it is a magnet school, meaning families apply rather than attend by default geography.

The school enrolls a small cohort, with roughly balanced numbers across the four grades. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller groups of Black students and Asian students, reflecting Hartford's broader demographics. English learner and special education enrollment data were not available.

Academically, Betances' performance is uneven across grade levels and subjects. In English/Language Arts, grade five shows modest proficiency; grade six data was suppressed for confidentiality; grade seven is notably stronger; and grade eight data was also suppressed. In math, students across all grades show low proficiency rates, with grade eight performing particularly weak. Science proficiency is comparatively better than math, with grade five showing the strongest results. Overall proficiency across all tested subjects sits in the bottom quartile relative to districts in the Capitol Planning Region, meaning the school's combined achievement lags significantly behind most neighboring districts.

The magnet focus on STEM is central to the school's identity, and families choosing this school are selecting for that emphasis. Parents may want to clarify with the school what that curriculum looks like in practice, what equipment or lab access students have, and whether STEM pathways are integrated throughout all grades or concentrated in certain subjects.

Hartford School District, which operates this school, has faced significant budget pressures. After COVID-19 relief funds expired, the district confronted a large structural deficit and cut nearly a hundred staff positions, though a last-minute funding infusion from the city and state restored some positions. This instability affects everything from class sizes to course breadth to the availability of support staff. For a magnet school especially, families may want to understand how these budget dynamics have shaped program stability and resource availability.

The district also implemented a new science-of-reading curriculum for early grades starting in 2025, shifting toward evidence-based phonics instruction. The district has expanded athletics substantially, building a middle school sports program from nothing since 2020 to include multiple teams across three seasons. These changes shape the extracurricular and literacy environment students encounter.

Housing in Hartford's zip code runs modestly below the state average but has risen modestly year-over-year. The city is a mix of downtown commercial space alongside dense residential neighborhoods like Frog Hollow and the South End, where this school is located. Hartford has strong public transit through Union Station and CTfastrak bus rapid transit, and downtown and several residential corridors score as highly walkable.

A parent choosing this school would be selecting a neighborhood magnet with a STEM identity serving a community facing both academic and resource challenges. The strength lies in the magnet structure and focus; the soft spot is uneven academic achievement relative to comparable schools in the region.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 17% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 16% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 730%

School 30% · District 15% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 14% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 20% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 21% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 22% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 21% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

This schoolHartford School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income20%Higher-income42%22 pp gap