Academy of Aerospace and Engineering

The middle school section was pretty abysmal compared to experiences with other schools. The students are rambunctious, wild, rude, and don't listen. The school allows kids to have their phones in class and the kids abuse it FAR too often and act like it's ILLEGAL when a teacher gives the student 10 warnings and finally takes them away. The students also use their phones to make high pitched sounds during class and the teachers CANNOT do anything about it. The school is lucky that I even give them two stars. The high school is NOT the only thing CREC should focus on. Also, the auditorium is tiny, the library barely has any books, and the art room doesn't even have a kiln. Plus they don't even have a good PE system. P.E deserves more than switching between quarters! Horrible, 2/5 stars

I am a current student at The Academy of Aerospace and Engineering, and the reason I give it an excellent rating is that it is exactly what I was expecting heading in. The program is not for those expecting your average high-school environment. The students here need to be driven to succeed, if you come in expecting to be able to just pass high school, then you will get just that, but a little above average(our capt scores landed us in the 97th percentile last year) you will pass with a little hard work and learning, but the opportunities offered to those that seek and work for them are outstanding. Those who work hard, or are naturally talented enough to succeed in the honors and AP take the most rigorous and advanced courses offered in almost all of Connecticut. Our English and literary arts department are also well above average, though I would not suggest coming if you only want to write or draw(See Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts). That's what the spirit of this school is meant to accomplish, you're not here for a slacking off party hard high-school experience, you're here to prepare yourself for the most challenging and cutting edge fields of STEM. In summary, while this school does have a fair amount of school spirit, and we have progressed in terms of student activities(we are up to 3-4 dances a year!) we don't have nearly the student body to support this as other schools. But if you wish to leave high-school, ready for college after four years of rigorous and intense classes, especially junior and senior year, to be a forerunner in the STEM field, this school is a premier choice. Be prepared to also meet some of the smartest students in Connecticut, the honors classes contain students capable of challenging any in the state.

I am a full day junior at Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science. Actually, the program is now Academy of Aerospace and Engineering. Students here have a lot of opportunities like robotics,student government, national honor society,and AP classes that other schools have. They also are able to take classes like microbial and cellular biology, which is a laboratory driven course, or advanced math classes like linear algebra and multivariable calculus which a lot of high schools do not have. Very few students that attend here do not take school seriously. They act and dress appropriately for learning and treat teachers with respect.
The students, administration of the school, and CREC have made changes that are greatly improving the school. One of these is that full day students are now able to participate in sports, unlike a few years ago. There are now a lot of field trips every year. Last year a large percentage of students went to Costa Rica. During the last two years,there has been a freshmen trip to Washington D.C.
Overall, this school is an excellent place for your child to go to. Being small, it has a lot of advantages, such as the fact that teachers know you very well, even if you don't know them. Although it does have disadvantages, it is definitely improving every year.

Hello, I am a Full Time student at GHAMAS, which the full day program is now commonly known as AAE [Academy of Aerospace and Engineering]. This year I am a sophomore at GHAMAS so this is my second year. This year we have the new principal, Mrs. Bolton. She was the first/previous principal of Hartford Magnet Middle School next door. She was the one who made HMMS a Blue Ribbon Magnet School, and is today known as Americas top magnet school. So comparing this year from last year I believe GHAMAS has become better leadership wise after the previous principal. Although, not back to its original standards from when it was created. How would I know? Well, my older sibling has attended GHAMAS when it first created. I have seen his homework and how the school was run, I thought it was just amazing. After coming here I noticed it did change alot, but there was a reason why. Mainly because some of these students come to this school not knowing what kind of school it is. I have seen classmates complain about not having enough arts classes, or not having a real gym. Well, this is a Math, Science, and Engineering school. Of course there would not be many arts classes, and for the gym, remember this school which is trying to create a full day program is still new, we will not get a gym or a cafeteria right away, but the school is trying its best to improve. Therefore, going back to having a sibling attend this school, he has become very successful, he and his friends too. After going to college with a full scholarship, he graduated and right away got a job, starting immediately after graduation. Not just him alone but many of his former classmates from GHAMAS. The students who attend GHAMAS are extremely successful; yes there is alot of homework, yes the school days are long, and yes the classes are hard. However, 80% of the students graduate going to schools with full scholarships such as MIT, FIT, Yale, UCONN, all of these school. Consequently, although this school is the midst of improving, it is a great school, your child will struggle a bit, but as long as you support them they will do fine, GHAMAS is an amazing school and experience for you child to attend. Speaking form a student perspective.

My son is a full-day GHAMAS student going into his senior year. His class was the very 1st full-day group...guinea pigs for sure. We were asked to bear with the growing pains and we did...and we did...and we did. 3 years into his high school career and we're still waiting for improvement. It's appalling that this administration, led by Eric Bernstein, put so little into creating a 'real' high school enviroment for these kids. No yearbook, no dances(except for the one I recently initiated), no honor roll (they don't want to hurt under-acheivers' feelings), no class trip, no cool school apparel (I pursued this as well and offered to head it up, but was told it was being worked on...that was 2 years ago). I could go on and on and it makes me very sad. These kids have missed out on so much. Thank goodness Eric Bernstein is out as principal...anyone else will have to be an improvement. Think twice before you send you child as a full-day student. If I had it to do over, he would have done 1/2 day so our home HS could pick up the massive slack laft by GHAMAS.