Hartford students received a warm welcome Tuesday morning from the superintendent, mayor, governor and Calling All Brothers.
They lined up along the steps of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School to cheer for students, chant "welcome back" and give high-fives as the students embark on another school year.
“This is awesome, all these people here cheering them on and bringing them in for the new school year,” said Katherine Goss, the mother of Makai Mallett, an incoming sixth grader.
Goss said it was a happy and bittersweet moment watching her son walk into a new school.
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“He's my oldest and just him coming to a new school and just all of this. He was like, ‘I'm excited. I'm nervous Mommy.’ But it just looks so happy and fun. I just gave him a hug over there first. I was like, 'there's lots of cameras, let me give you a hug now.' I said ‘Have a good day.’ But it's a really good day for him and I just can't wait to take us home and he can tell me all about it,” Goss said.
Maracarmen Evette and her twin sister just moved to Hartford two weeks ago with their parents from Puerto Rico.
Evette and her father, Hector Rios, said they were both nervous about the school year starting. But Rios was happy to hear that Hartford Public Schools spent the last three years recruiting teachers from Puerto Rico.
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“That's beautiful. And, you know, I heard it in Puerto Rico that they're recruiting cops and teachers and nurses and everything. So I mean, that's really good,” said Rios.
Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, the superintendent, said the district is actively working to fill 60 open teaching positions.
“It's an ongoing process, because what we don't want is the impact of those vacancies, which translate into long-term substitute teachers, which is not the same, as a person that's dedicated, and that is an expert in their content. And then we also know that it impacts the other teachers in the school,” said Torres-Rodriguez.
