New Haven: Education and Research

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Elementary and Secondary Schools

New Haven's school system, rated among the nation's best, offers a program for talented and gifted students beginning in kindergarten, as well as special education classes and an adult education program. The district's 27 magnet schools are very popular and require a lottery system to determine placement. Magnet schools offer specialized curricula in areas such as the arts, languages, science, mathematics, and communications. In 2005 the district set ambitious goals, aiming for 95 percent of the students to be ready to succeed by the end of kindergarten; to achieve math and literacy standards; and to be ready for college, post-secondary education, the military, or the workforce by the time they had reached the 9th grade.

The following is a summary of data regarding the New Haven Public School District as of the 2004–2005 school year.

Total enrollment: 20,759

Number of facilities elementary schools: 29

junior high/middle schools: 9

senior high schools: 7

other: 4 (transitional schools)

Student/teacher ratio: 14.4:1 (2003)

Teacher salaries average: $51,770 (2005)

Funding per pupil: $16,820 (2003)

Supplementing the public school system are a number of private preparatory schools, as well as parochial and nursery schools.

Public Schools Information: Public Information Office, Gateway Center, New Haven Board of Education, 54 Meadow St., New Haven, CT 06519; telephone (203)946-8450

Colleges and Universities

While the New Haven area is home to 8 colleges and universities, its most famous is Yale University, which in 2005 had approximately 11,275 graduate and undergraduate students enrolled. Founded in 1701 in Branford and moved to New Haven in 1716, Yale is a charter member of the Ivy League and rated among the top five universities in the country. The school began with the donation of books and money from Elihu Yale, a merchant who made his fortune in East India imports. Today, Yale University is noted for its schools of law, medicine, business, divinity, and computer science. Yale's libraries, museums, and other facilities are among the largest and finest in the country. Yale's cultural influence on the city is pervasive. The school's drama productions, adult lecture series, tutorial programs at local high schools, art galleries, and sports events all enhance life in New Haven. The oldest scientific publication in the United States, the American Journal of Science, began publishing at Yale in 1818. Other Yale "firsts" were the doctoral degree granted in 1861, establishment of the School of Fine Arts in 1870, and opening of the School of Forestry in 1900.

Other institutions of higher learning in New Haven include Albertus Magnus College, a Roman Catholic four-year liberal arts college of about 2,400 students (in 2005). Southern Connecticut State University, a four-year public institution with more than 12,000 students on its 168-acre New Haven campus, focuses on liberal arts and business. Gateway Community College, formerly the South Central Community College, maintains two campuses, one in North Haven and the other in Long Wharf. Nearby are New Haven University (in West Haven) and Quinnipiac University (in Hamden).

Libraries and Research Centers

The New Haven Free Public Library system consists of the main facility, Ives Memorial Library, and three branch libraries (Fair Haven, Mitchell, and Stetson), as well as a bookmobile. The system numbers some 600,000 books in its collection, which also includes large print books, a children's collection, and computer resources. Materials on local history and a wide range of audio-visual equipment and rentals are available.

Yale University Library is the fourth largest library in the country. Among its many libraries, Yale maintains the Sterling Memorial Library, housing the Yale Archives, with more than 4 million volumes, and Babylonian tablets on display. Other Yale facilities are the Beinecke Rare Book Library, displaying the Gutenberg Bible, and the school's libraries of law, medicine, drama, business, and forestry.

Another local facility is the Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Library at New Haven. The New Haven Colony Historical Society's Whitney Library maintains books, maps, and photographs, along with Chinese porcelain displays and an original cotton gin. Special interest libraries include the Albertus Magnus College Library and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station's Osborne Library.

Studies of clinical cultures for the AIDS virus are performed at the Veterans' Administration (VA) Medical Center's national reference virology laboratory in West Haven. Other research programs of note include the University of Connecticut's Haskins Laboratories, which study speech production and perception in humans. Yale University's many science, economic, art, and business research programs include involvement in Science Park, an incubator for high-technology industries.

Public Library Information: Main Library, 133 Elm Street, New Haven, CT 06510; telephone (203)946-8130; fax (203)946-8140