The Eye

The Eye was reimagined in 2023 as part of Harford High School’s commitment to creating a multi-tiered system of support that partners with all learners.  Its goal is to provide an engaging classroom setting for students whose academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs may be different than that of their peers. This classroom is separate from Hartford High School's other systems of support, such as the Independent Learning Center, and is offered through the special education department and is the most intensive layer (Layer 5) of support within Hartford’s Multi-Tiered System of Support.  Students who meet enrollment criteria for the program will be considered regardless of IEP status. The Hartford School District is committed to providing equitable learning opportunities for all of their students, even those with complex social/emotional needs by keeping them in our schools and community.

The Eye is a therapeutic space that provides students who are experiencing emotional disturbance or who have experienced trauma with the necessary support to become available for learning. The program is grounded in the premise that for some students emotional difficulties are the chief obstacle for their learning, and that they require different approaches than other students do. It is the aim of the program to bolster students’ self-esteem, as well as emotional and behavioral regulation, to enable them to participate in a regular classroom setting. This program provides students who struggle with emotional difficulties with both therapeutic and educational support, with the goal to access general education classrooms as much as possible, as individual students are ready.