Edna Negron Rosario

Edna Negron Rosario (born 1944) is an American educator who founded the first family resource center and school-based health clinic in the United States. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.

Early life and education Edna Negron was born in Ciales, Puerto Rico in 1944 and moved to the United States in 1955. Her family settled in Hartford, Connecticut, where Edna attended Weaver High School. Her father was a chaplain who ministered to migrant workers, and Edna and her siblings often accompanied him on his visits to the tobacco camps in Windsor. She graduated from the Hartford College for Women, then continued her studies at the University of Hartford, where she earned a B.S. degree (summa cum laude) in 1973 and an M.S. degree in 1974.

Career In 1971, Negron and María Colón Sánchez led the fight for bilingual education in Hartford. Negron began teaching at the Ann Street Bilingual Community School in Hartford in 1974. She served as the coordinator of the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program for the Hartford public schools for many years. As principal of the Kinsella Elementary School, she renamed the school in honor of Puerto Rican physician and abolitionist Ramón Emeterio Betances, and founded the nation's first family resource center and school-based health clinic. The Family Resource Center at Betances Elementary became a model for social services based in public schools.

She has served as vice president for community affairs and corporate giving at Hartford Financial Services Group, and on the state board of trustees overseeing the Hartford public schools. She also founded the mentoring group, El Futuro en Nuestras Manos.

Awards Public service award, Connecticut Chapter of the National Organization for Women Leadership Recognition Award, Greater Hartford Alumni Associations Community Community Service Award, Hartford Hospital Achievement Award, Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association Honorary doctorate, Trinity College Maria C. Sanchez Award, Connecticut Puerto Rican Parade Organization Induction into Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame