Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts

The CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half Day (known formerly as the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts) is an integrated magnet arts high school serving students in Hartford, Connecticut and its surrounding towns. It is one of four schools located on the 16-acre (65,000 m²) campus of The Learning Corridor.

CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half Day
Location
15 Vernon St Hartford, Connecticut 06106 United States
Coordinates	41°45′04″N 72°41′03″W
Information
Type	Magnet High School
Established	1985 (40 years ago) (1985)
CEEB code	070275
Head of school	Kim Stroud
Grades	9-12
Website	ghaahd.crecschools.org

The Capital Region Education Council (CREC) has managed the school since it was established in 1985. Students attend their home district’s school for classes in the morning and then attend the Academy in the afternoon for arts education.

History

The Academy was founded in 1985 by Janet Brown. The school was initially housed in a former funeral parlor in Hartford’s South End with an annex building next door.  In 2000, the school moved to the new Learning Corridor Campus. Part of this expansion included a recital hall, theater, black box theater, music rehearsal spaces, and visual arts studios/galleries.

With the addition of the theater space, the Academy started offering a full production season as part of its program.

In 2008, as part of the expansions of magnet schools in Connecticut, the Academy started to additionally offer a full day program integrated with the school’s original half day only model. As of 2019, this model of an integrated half/full day program changed and a separate “Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Full Day” as a different school with different arts training model and course offerings but includes a traditional high school curriculum.

The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Half Day remained separately as a school focused strictly on arts.