Summary
Montessori Magnet School is a public PK–6 elementary magnet school in Hartford, CT, serving 358 students under the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) and operating separately from the Hartford School District. The school currently ranks 418 out of 491 schools statewide (15th percentile, 1 star) for 2025–2026, a notable drop from the prior year when it ranked 325 out of 493 (34th percentile, 2 stars). That year-to-year swing is part of a larger pattern of volatile performance. Academic results are mixed: early-grade outcomes have sometimes been strong, even exceeding state averages, but later grades have been more inconsistent.
One of the clearest differences between this school and its neighbors is spending. Montessori spent $20,552 per student in 2018–2019, well above nearby Hartford schools, which ranged from about $15,000 to $17,800. Despite that, the school's overall state rank remains in the low-to-mid range. Montessori does stand out for attendance: chronic absenteeism was 16.7% in 2025–2026, nearly identical to the state average (16.4%) and far better than the CREC district average (29.6%). Nearby schools have much higher rates — M. D. Fox School at 46.0%, Burns Latino Studies Academy at 35.2%, and Dwight-Bellizzi Dual Language Academy at 32.2%. The school also has a lower economic-need rate than most neighbors: 60.3% of students qualified for free/reduced lunch, compared with 70–83% at nearby schools, with only Betances Learning Lab Magnet School lower at 45.7%.
Academically, Montessori outranks most schools in its immediate neighborhood, including Sanchez School, Kennelly School, Dwight-Bellizzi, and M. D. Fox, but it trails Expeditionary Learning Academy at Moylan School, Environmental Sciences Magnet at Hooker School, and especially Betances. The sharp drop in 2025–2026 appears tied to a weak 5th-grade cohort: 5th-grade ELA proficiency fell from 48.9% to 19.5%, and math from 42.6% to 19.5%. Early-grade strengths have not always carried forward — 3rd-grade ELA hit 56.8% in 2022–2023, above the state average, but 4th-grade ELA was just 15.6% in 2024–2025. In short, Montessori is a relative success within its neighborhood, with strong attendance and competitive early-grade results, but the volatility in later grades and the 2025–2026 decline highlight areas for continued improvement.
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