Examples may include studying racism in baseball in an American History class, or reading biographies of famous athletes in an English class. Other topics to be studied include exercise science, sports medicine, sports management, fund raising and development, and athletic apparel marketing. Although the idea of starting a high school-level curriculum that thematically bases its classes on sport science is unique in Hartford, the idea of a curriculum based on specialized fields has been gaining currency nationwide since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992. In the past five years, an additional 426 charter schools have opened in the United States. Camaione says the school is an independent experiment that offers students an alternative education.
Charter schools are another way to educate and change public education.
The school hopes to enroll 125 students per year for the first four years, for a total enrollment of 500 students. Camaione says the projected enrollment is high compared with other charter schools nationwide, where the average enrollment in January 1997 was 275 students, because of the high dropout rate in Hartford public schools. Camaione will bring in UConn doctoral students in the biophysical aspect of sport as well as social sciences to teach at the Sport Sciences Academy. For Hartford, the new school could be part of the revival that focuses on education and the arts. For him, the new school is an experiment beyond the UConn campus that offers a new role.