ECA, which is known as the Educational Center for the Arts, is a public arts magnet high school in New Haven, Connecticut. ECA provides high school students with the involvement of studying the arts. That includes acting, singing, music, creative writing, dance, theater, and visual arts. From Morgan, four of our students, two who are seniors and two who are underclassmen, go to ECA during the school year. 

Senior Kristina Bergman is a student at ECA for her second year there. She is a part of the theater department and has found a passion for film while going to ECA.  Last year was Kristina’s first year at ECA, and she found it difficult at first when she started going because of how busy her schedule became. She was balancing AP and honors classes along with classes at ECA. On days that she went to ECA, she would be home around 5:30 with homework that’s due the next day, making her feel drained. Kristina said she feels that she will have an easier year this time around since she doesn’t have as many difficult classes at Morgan.

An average schedule for an ECA student who also goes to Morgan has a schedule that goes a bit like this… 7:30 school starts. After attending classes all morning, they leave Morgan around 11:45 once their required classes are over. At 12, they get to Guilford High School to take the bus to New Haven and arrive at ECA at 12:45. Classes there run from 1:00 to 4:10. At 4:30 the bus arrives at ECA, and Kristina normally gets home around 5:30 each night.

Rebecca May is another student at Morgan who goes to ECA, and it is her second year there. She is a part of the theater department as well. She has a similar schedule to Kristina because all ECA students have the same schedules that run from 1-4. 

Living in Clinton and going to the same school districts for multiple years, Kristina and Rebecca knew everyone and knew everything about each other. Both Kristina and Rebecca agreed that ECA has many differences from Morgan. Here the school is very focused on sports and athletics and the arts are looked over and don’t get a lot of attention, but at ECA the arts are the main focus and there are less athletic students there. Everyone has grown up with different environments at ECA, which has brought a lot of perspective to Kristina and Rebecca. ECA has a very open environment meaning it’s right in downtown New Haven giving more freedom to students. 

Through going to ECA, both students have gained experience in subjects they would never get the opportunity to explore at Morgan. Kristina shared that she has developed a passion for film because of a class she took there. Towards the end of their junior year, they created a short film for a class they had. They named the film “Mater” and it became Kristina’s favorite time at ECA. Kristina got to work with her friends during the making of the film and got to experience the whole editing process. Rebecca enjoys being in a positive environment. She enjoyed making friends there and taking classes she had a passion for. One of her favorite times there was when she wrote a 10-minute play for a class in the span of a night. Both girls agreed that ECA can be challenging, especially when they go to another school half the time, but it’s worth it to get the experience in what they want to pursue later in life.