For Immediate Release: January 5th, 2006

CREC Metropolitan Learning Center
Schedules Open House Sessions
Deadline to Apply to Magnet School is February 24

Click Here to Apply

The Metropolitan Learning Center, an interdistrict magnet school focusing on global and international studies, will hold two open house sessions for interested students entering grade six in the fall of 2006 and their parents. The school serves students in grades six through 12 from Bloomfield, East Windsor, Enfield, Hartford, Windsor and Windsor Locks.

The open house sessions are scheduled for:

• Wednesday, January 25 at 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, February 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Managed by the Capitol Region Education Council on behalf of the six school districts, CREC MLC is located at 1551 Blue Hills Avenue in Bloomfield. The open houses begin in the auditorium and include a question-and-answer session, as well as a tour of the school.

Registration materials will be available at the open house sessions, and applications are due by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, February 24.  A lottery will be held for new sixth-grade students in March; students in other grades will be placed on waiting lists for each grade.

With a curriculum focusing on international studies, the Metropolitan Learning Center has been named a national magnet school of distinction three times, most recently in 2005. It is also the 2004 winner of the Goldman Sachs Award for Excellence in International Education.

The school is viewed as the students’ workplace, and each student’s job is to learn, grow and give back to his/her respective community.  There is a rigorous emphasis on world languages and state-of-the-art technology, and the curriculum is designed around how the adolescent brain learns. Features of the school include:

• Laptop computers available for all students
• Instruction in Chinese, French and Spanish
• Virtual High School courses available to qualifying students
• Service learning at all grade levels, with special project in sophomore year
• Dress code reflecting the school’s position as the students’ workplace
• Partnerships with businesses that include job shadowing and internships
• Opportunities to host students from around the world and for international study and travel

About CREC: Now in its 40th year, the Capitol Region Education Council is a non-profit, regional educational service center for 35 Greater Hartford public school districts.  It was founded in 1966 by local school districts working together to solve common problems.  Today, CREC administers more than 120 programs and services spanning the entire educational spectrum.  For more information on CREC and the Metropolitan Learning Center, please visit www.crec.org/mlc.

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