Connecticut State Department of Education

Additional Application Information

  • Agreement Statement: Families must confirm that all information provided on the application is true and accurate before submitting the application. 
  • Survey: Families must answer brief survey questions about your interest in school choice, how you heard about RSCO, and where or how you completed the application.
  • Review your application: After you complete all parts of the application, you will be able to review your school and program selections. Please make sure to review all of the information before selecting "Submit" as your final step for each program you are applying to (magnet schools, Open Choice and/or CTECS).
  • Final Step - Submit Application: Submit your application for each program you are interested in (magnet schools, the Open Choice Program, and/or Hartford Region technical high schools.) After selecting "Submit," check your student details page to confirm that your application has been submitted for each individual program! RSCO cannot consider applications that are not submitted. 

Demand under the Sheff Settlement

The State of Connecticut and the State Department of Education (SDE) are committed to meeting the demand of students in the Greater Hartford Region who want an integrated educational experience that reflects the real world. At the most basic level, this means that the State believes that students who wish to have an integrated educational experience should have one. There is a court decision by the Supreme Court of Connecticut that specifically focuses on the opportunity for Hartford-resident minority students access an integrated educational experience. The State recently completed a plan in this case, known as the Comprehensive School Choice Plan (CCP) in which the State committed to meeting this demand by Hartford-resident minority students for an integrated educational experience on a very specific schedule and as defined in a specific way. This CCP has been approved by the Connecticut General Assembly and by a Connecticut court and is therefore enforceable as a legal obligation on the part of the State. Information about demand will help guide the State in managing the school choice system now and in the future. 

An important part of the process of meeting demand for this type of educational opportunity is counting the number of Hartford-resident minority students who wish to have an integrated educational experience. It is the count that helps the State plan for building capacity at RSCO schools and program. This is a planning tool and not a guarantee about offers.  We want to emphasize here exactly what is required in the application process in order for an applicant to be included in the State calculation of demand for this type of educational opportunity for transparency. Based on the terms of the CCP, in order to be included in the State calculation of demand, a Hartford-resident minority student applying to schools through the RSCO process must select one of the following options: (1) at least  1 magnet school plus Open Choice or CTECS; (2) Open Choice and/or CTECS and no magnet schools; or (3) if applying to magnet schools, at least 2 such schools. 

We want to make clear, however, that the above requirements are only for the SDE purposes of calculating exactly how many Hartford-resident minority students wish to have an integrated educational experience for planning capacity in the school choice system and does not affect individual applications or placement offers.  Applicants who make their school selections based on the individual choices that do not fit within the demand definition will not be affected in anyway and will remain eligible to be placed in schools through the RSCO application and placement process. Calculating demand is for planning purposes only and does not affect individual applicants.