by Maya McFadden The New Haven independent
STEM and makerspace educator Pri Chavez Lara shows off student work, including a 3D-printed violin.
Analyzing song lyrics, 3D-printing violins, programming light circuits, and taking career pathway-focused field trips to places like MakeHaven and the Q House are some of the ways that 6 – 8th graders are learning at the city’s newest middle school — which is called Wexler-Grant Exploration and S.T.E.P.S. Academy, and which currently has 14 enrolled students.
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) began a pilot program this academic year for the new middle school for non-traditional, skill-based learning. The program is based out of the former Wexler-Grant community school building at 55 Foote St.
The new middle school comes after the city’s public school district decided to merge the former K‑6 Wexler-Grant school community with the Lincoln-Bassett school community, creating a single new K‑8 school based out of Bassett’s Newhallville campus.
Wexler’s Foote Street building has since been converted into a learning space for the district’s newest pilot of alternative, career pathway-focused instruction for students who struggle in traditional school settings. The building is also now the home to NHPS’ Youth, Family & Community department.
The pilot program began this year with only 6 – 8th graders. The school currently has 14 students, with the district hoping to enroll 35 by the end of the school year. The superintendent has also previously said she would like to eventually add high school grades to this program, as well.
The school’s four core subjects for all grades are English, math, science, and social studies. The school sees teachers co-teach with their peers and offer cross-curricular classroom lessons daily. It also has weekly field trips in collaboration with partners like MakeHaven, the Q House, and Common Ground.
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, the students spend a two-hour block period learning music production and culinary arts at the Q House, and woodworking and graphic design at MakeHaven.
“The kids are able to maximize their instruction because it’s hands on and they’re not just stuck in a classroom,” said Principal David Diah, who is the head of the new pilot program and who also led the previous, per-merger Wexler-Grant school.
Diah described the new Wexler as a “curriculum and skill-based school.”
“The goal here is for them to build skills that traditionally aren’t introduced to them until college, but that’s only if they decide to go [to college] after going through a system that’s outdated and doesn’t work for a lot of kids,” he said.
On Thursday, STEM and makerspace educator Pri Chavez Lara collaborated with English teacher Gennesis Roman in a lesson focused on the meaning and lyrics of the song “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
After students analyzed the lyrics, they went on to identify the sounds they heard during the song. Chavez Lara helped the students to figure out which musical instruments were used during the song.
After identifying the sound of violins in the song, the students went on to learn about the instrument’s component parts. They concluded the lesson by making 3D-printed, life-sized violins themselves.
From programming light circuits to coding self-driving cars and crafting 3D-printed violins, Chavez Lara has been instructing each grade level twice a week through hands-on STEM lessons. In addition to learning directly from Chavez Lara, students also watch engineers on YouTube to learn how to use classroom wood blocks and magnetic builder sets beyond their traditional uses.
“Hands on is life changing. You can not unlearn something that you just felt, but you may forget what I just said during a hour lecture,” Chavez Lara said.
When grandmother Janet picked up her 13-year old grandson Marshall from Wexler last week, she said the school has been the perfect fit for him so far.
While Marshall’s first day of school was early last week, and he was nervous, he said he’s been enjoying Wexler so far. At first he was not convinced the school would be better than any of the previous three school he attended, and which his mother took him out of due to persistent problems with bullying. However, the new school appears to be working well for him.
“Just in two days he told us, ‘Mom, I got friends here,’ ” Janet said.
She concluded that the school’s staff care for him like he’s their own and the social worker is very helpful.
Wexler culture and climate specialist Michele Vaiuso is one of a few staffers who remained at Wexler after the merger with Bassett. This year is her 15th year at Wexler. So far this year she’s been building on the school’s previous Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system.
Vaiuso praised the new school for having staff be a part of nearly all activities with the students. On Wednesday, she joined the school’s counselor for students’ trip to MakeHaven, where she was able to work with students learning how to use a hammer and saw for the first time.
At the end of September, Wexler will partner with Yale’s Code Haven program to offer additional hands-on instruction to students in computer science. The school’s partners focus on helping to make it so “whatever the kids are learning in the class, they get to then go out and apply it,” Vaiuso said.
Wexler is not English teacher Gennesis Roman’s first time working in a “new concept school,” as she previously taught in Texas at an early-college high school program where students studied for their associates degree and high school diploma simultaneously. She said the school’s project-based learning approach at Wexler is paying off in her classroom.
On Wednesday, she went on the sixth grade trip to MakeHaven and said “it was the spark we all needed.” She saw several of her disinterested students immediately find an interest when working with their hands. “It shows the layers of careers for them because nothing is just music or English, there’s math and science everywhere too,” she said. “It brings realism.”
She added that the non-traditional and more intimate school has the capacity to “not mindlessly punish” students and instead build relationships to better understand students and their needs. “When they see you’re going to put in that effort and not just kick them out of class, they are more inclined to put work in,” Roman said.
The school also has a reflection room for when students need a break from class to reflect on their behaviors.
In addition to academics and exploring career pathways, Diah and staff said the Wexler pilot program is able to help its students process their emotions and develop communication skills. “Through the different career pathways that have them doing project-based work, in class with kids like them, and with teachers who really care,” Diah said, students’ social and emotional skills grow.
Staff added that more plans are being put together for increasing parent involvement at the school, including keeping families updated on students’ school day as well as offering families opportunities to better support their learners at home. Vaiuso hopes to introduce parent workshops. Diah said the school plans to build out a family space in the building for families to meet with educators, get resources, and better understand the learning spaces several times a month.
“It really helps with behaviors when the kids know the school has close connection with their parents,” Vaiuso said.
Diah said he believes there is a high need for the skill-based program offered at the new Wexler.
“Schools have been operating for hundreds of years in the same way. It shouldn’t take until high school or college for them to see what these career pathways actually look like,” he said while recalling his 18 years in New Haven’s education system, a second career that began in 2007 after he worked as a financial accountant.
He said while he worked to incorporate new, more engaging programs into Wexler in recent years, like the makerspace, the school still had a set foundation of traditional lecture-style learning.
He said he spent the summer researching programs at vocational schools like Eli Whitney and Platt Tech to work with the district’s team on creating a middle school model that exposes students to core academics, SEL, and hands-on career pathways.
A Wexler student’s recent reflection worksheet to correct misbehavior in class.
String instrument parts used for students to handle in class and later create 3D violin models.
English teacher Gennesis Roman.
Wexler classrooms, in session on Thursday.
Maya McFadden Photos In Roman’s class.