Maya McFadden File Photo
At Betsy Ross's Winter Fest: High school performers, coming soon.
Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School (BRAMS) will have an inaugural ninth grade class next year — as the district works to transition the 5 – 8th grade middle school to a 7 – 12th grade high school in order to better accommodate students’ high demand for arts instruction.
That middle school-to-high school change for Betsy Ross, better known as BRAMS, comes thanks to $15 million awarded to New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) from the U.S. Department of Education’s Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP). NHPS announced the federal support in October.
NHPS Supervisor of Magnet Grant Programs Michele Bonanno updated the Board of Education’s Finance and Operations Committee Monday that a portion of the funds will be used to “reconfigure” BRAMS.
This conversion means that NHPS will have two arts magnet high schools in the district — BRAMS, on Kimberly Avenue in the Hill, and Cooperative Arts & Humanities Magnet High School, on College Street downtown.
NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon explained that “there are a few factors” leading the district to create a second arts magnet high school.
“Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse are exceeding their capacity; expanding high school options supports the enrollment trends we are seeing at the high school level,” he wrote in an email comment. “Additionally, [Co-Op] is historically oversubscribed for New Haven resident students for the Arts so more opportunities are needed. And Betsy Ross will emphasize visual arts while [Co-Op’s] emphasis is performing arts.”
In May, the school board agreed to apply for the federal funds to expand programming at Metropolitan Business Academy, BRAMS, and Hill Regional Career High School. Those three schools were deemed “segregated” by the state due to their lack of compliance with magnet residency requirements.
The state magnet school “residency standard” mandates that no more than 75 percent of students at an inter-district magnet school come from a single participating district. Translation: Only three-quarters of students at these schools can live in New Haven.
An October press release from NHPS stated that, thanks to this $15 million grant, “Betsy Ross Arts and Design Academy will offer two career academies: The Academy of Performing Arts will support entertainers and performers, as well as visual arts and communications. The Academy of Arts and Design will offer studies in media design, as well as special effects and animation.”
Bonanno presented to the school board committee Monday announcing that the current 150 Kimberly Ave. middle school will be reconfigured to a 7 – 12th grade school building over the next five years with support from the grant funds. Next school year BRAMS will introduce grade nine.
To do so, Bonanno presented a $114,750 contract to the committee with consultant Insight Coaching, LLC to support BRAMS with curriculum and course development as well as with project-based learning training in advance of the grade-level reconfiguration.
Bonanno noted that NHPS has worked with Insight Coaching before, and that the consultant was a key support for the district in 2017 when it reconfigured High School in the Community (HSC) after receiving MSAP funding.
The agreement document states that the consultant’s lead, Arielle Sprotzer, “has institutional knowledge of New Haven Public Schools and can provide the intense coaching and support needed for this project.”