Adult Ed Back Open On The Blvd.

More than 120 students are expected to graduate next month from New Haven’s Adult & Continuing Education Center — which is back open for in-person classes on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, after flooding caused the school’s now-repaired main building to close for nearly three months at the end of last year.

Adult Ed Principal Michelle Bonora provided the Independent with that update Wednesday. She said that the school’s more than 1,600 students transitioned back to normal programming after building repairs were completed by the beginning of February. The school offers GED, ESOL, High School Credit Diploma, and other programs for adult learners.

“Our students and staff continue to show their resilience and perseverance. Even through the flood and displacement, we have over 120 graduates this spring,” Bonora said. 

Late last year, New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Madeline Negrón informed the school board that the Adult Ed center at 540 Ella T. Grasso Blvd had a second-floor HVAC valve and gasket failure which caused major flooding in the building on Nov. 13. The flood canceled in-person classes, sending them online instead. 

Bonora said upon the completion of the building repairs, staff and students have been able to return to a fully functional building as of early February after the initial November closure.

New Haven Public Schools spokesperson Justin Harmon said that the repair to 540 Ella T. Grasso ​“entailed the HVAC system — the old system had a pipe separate, which caused the water leak.” He also said the school district replaced flooring as needed, cleaned the interior of the building, and repainted most of the inside of the building.

Harmon said that the landlord, a company called SP Ella LLC, and the landlord’s insurance paid for all of the repairs. ​“He also provided three months’ rent abatement, which was funding that Adult Ed was able to use for instructional materials, educational software, and technology to benefit students.”

Harmon added that, in addition to the cooperation of the landlord, ​“we had great collaboration with Gateway, which made its IT labs available to us, the teachers union, and the people in the security office. The facilities folks and those at Adult Ed agree that the silver lining of this process was the willingness of members of the community to come together to ensure Adult Ed was able to continue serving its students.”

After a day of classes Thursday afternoon, 17-year old Dreeanna and 18-year-old Anajah told this reporter that they prefer in-person learning over remote. 

While Dreeanna enrolled at Adult Ed in March, after the Ella T. Grasso school building had reopened, she said past remote learning experiences have not supported her learning. 

Anajah, who did experience remote Adult Ed classes while the Ella T. Grasso building was closed for repairs, agreed that ​“being online wasn’t for me.” 

She said in-person she’s better able to interact with her teachers. Additionally, the two agreed that when remote they struggle to learn at home because it’s harder to wake up on time and there are too many distractions. Anajah said she is glad to be back learning in-person at the Adult Ed site. 

Meanwhile, NHPS’ lease of the privately owned, 40,000 square-foot building at 540 Ella Grasso Blvd. — which has a history of maintenance problems — ends on June 30, 2025. The city and school district have already decided to move Adult Ed programming to the city-owned building at the 188 – 206 Bassett St. building in Newhallville.

A Feb. 8 school building infrastructure and project management stewardship report from the public school district notes that the architecture firm GWWO Architects has been hired to design the new adult ed home. The report states that design development work will take place through June 13, and that construction is expected to last from January 2025 to May 2026.

Harmon confirmed that that timeline is accurate, and said the district plans to have the new adult ed building open and occupied by June 2026.