Bridgeport, Connecticut has 30 elementary schools, three comprehensive high schools, two alternative programs and an interdistrict vocational aquaculture school. The system has about 20,800 students, making the Bridgeport Public Schools the second largest school system in Connecticut after Hartford. It is ranked #158 out of the 164 Connecticut school districts. The school system employs a professional staff of more than 1,700. The city has started a large school renovation and construction program, with plans for new schools and modernization of existing buildings. Public high schools Public magnet schools Bridgeport is also home to private schools, including Bridgeport Hope School (K-8), Bridgeport International
History of Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport. In 1949, Bridgeport initiated a Barnum Day parade which has grown into an annual multi-day festival. Barnum, as well as many other notables, is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, in the park-like setting he designed. The of Washington Park in East Bridgeport were first set aside as a park in 1851 by William H. Noble and P. T. Barnum, with the land being deeded to the city in 1865. As the city rapidly grew in population, residents recognized the need for more public parks. In 1863, "The Standard" urged the creation of one or more public parks in