3 days ago
CT riverfront university's $90 million engineering and manufacturing school under way
At a time when Connecticut school DEI policies and other Democratic initiatives are under fire, creation of a magnet high school for industry and technology students is a sign of progress, according to the woman behind the Sheff v. O'Neill civil rights case.
'This is an occasion that runs deep through my soul — another Sheff magnet school,' Elizabeth Horton Sheff told a crowd gathered this week for the groundbreaking for RiverTech at Goodwin University, billed as Connecticut's first technology magnet school.
'Despite what's going on at the national level, the commitment to public education in Connecticut continues,' she said.
Since Sheff won her civil rights lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in Connecticut's public education system, the state has been building a School Choice program that includes a network of specialized magnet schools in Greater Hartford. Goodwin is adding to it this year with a four-year program in techology and industry; it will begin serving freshmen in the fall, and plans to complete an ultra-modern, 90,000-square-foot, four-story building next year that will serve all four grades.
'There's no other building like it in the United States. On the fourth floor is our international space station. It will be a replica of the surface of Mars that our students will walk as astronauts while their classmates will be 'mission control,' helping them navigate the surface and making sure they're doing their science experiments,' Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said at the ceremony.
RiverTech will teach elements of business, entrepreneurship and technology, with an emphasis on new technology, according to Goodwin. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, computer science and advanced manufacturing are among the areas of concentration, and the school is building partnerships with major Connecticut manufacturers so it can offer internships and pre-apprenticeships.
'I finally found something that truly excites me: engineering. I'm ready to get hands-on experience and certifications to set myself up for a stable career in a field that's only going to keep growing,' Zaidyn Williams of East Hartford told the audience. He'll be among the freshmen beginning classes after summer vacation.
Williams said afterward he's most interested in aerospace engineering.
Mayor Connor Martin, a Goodwin graduate, said he's looking to RiverTech to give students the preparation they'll need to provide the workforce at Pratt & Whitney and other large manufacturers in the region.
'As someone who has grown up in this neighborhood and as a Goodwin alumni, to see the continued expansion of this campus is just incredible,' said Martin, a Goodwin graduate. 'Before this campus was what it is today, this was an industrial wasteland.'
As well as providing a vibrant campus, Goodwin's expansion has given East Hartford access again to what Martin called one of its most crucial natural amenities: the Connecticut River.
'Some years ago we started our magnet school system. We started with one … we are now a magnet school school system,' Mark Scheinberg, university president, said.
'We are to my knowledge the only university in the country that owns and manages its own public school system,' he said.
