Hartford Public Schools -

On May 21, 2025, 211 Hartford Public Schools students earned Connecticut’s Seal of Biliteracy, making it the largest class of earners in the District's history. The Seal of Biliteracy recognizes students who are proficient in two or more languages by the time they graduate from high school. The award is a testament to the hard work of our students who strive to expand their knowledge of cultures and languages.

The Seal of Biliteracy will be placed on a student’s diploma and will also be noted on their transcript, which will be sent to colleges and universities. In some cases, students can earn college credit for the work they completed in high school. To earn the Seal, students must demonstrate language proficiency on a state approved assessment.

This year's class of earners speak a total of 24 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Twi, Bosnian, Greek and more.

The students were honored at an award ceremony at Weaver High School, which included remarks by Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, and a keynote speech by Dr. Gladys Labas, whose five decades of experience and mentorship include becoming the first Latina administrator in an urban school district, co-authoring the bilingual laws in Connecticut, serving as the state’s director of equity and language in education, leading lectures on bilingual and special education at UConn and winning a Milken Educator Award. and Daisy Torres-Hill, Acting Assistant Superintendent of Professional Learning & Multilingual Learners.

Also honored at our May 20 Board of Education meeting were our Trilingual learners.

You can learn more about the Seal of Biliteracy at Hartford Public Schools here.

See more photos from the event here.