It is part of the New Haven Public Schools district and is named after former Yale University professor and physician Dr. Worthington Hooker (1806–1867).

[citation needed] It serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in two separate buildings for its elementary and middle school provision.

[5] Planned construction of the new middle school was delayed for several years due to opposition by neighbors who objected to the use of "spot zoning" to allow construction of a school in a residential neighborhood and sued to block the project.

An August 2007 unanimous decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court allowed the project to proceed, based on a finding that the city had not abused its zoning authority.

[6] The new middle school building for grades 3 through 8 was completed in 2009 at a cost of $36.5 million and officially opened on December 21, 2009.