School Year Starts With Rebound Hopes

The song ​“Happy” by Pharrell played on a speaker as students walked past a cheering crowd, balloons, and a rainbow door fringe at 8 a.m. Monday for the start of a hope-filled new academic year at Barack Obama Magnet and 43 other city public schools.

“Welcome Back Obama Scholars” read a banner outside pre-K‑4 Barack H. Obama Magnet University School (BOMUS) on the Southern Connecticut State University campus. School staffers, neighbors, and community leaders greeted the students with high-fives and words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, parents took final photos with their kids to mark the beginning of a school year that the district has imbued with a determination to return to a sense of normalcy and chart new progress after challenging times in the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Similar scenes played out citywide as 19,145 students enrolled in New Haven Public Schools began the 2022 – 23 school year.

Fourth-grader Delieniz Felicano, 9, was dropped off by her mom, who had just worked an overnight shift. ​“I’m tired, but her excitement is keeping me up,” Felicano’s mother said. 

Before heading inside, Delieniz said she was most excited to meet her new teacher.

The opening-morning scene outside BOMUS was part of a ​“Because You Matter School Tour” that State Sen. Gary Winfield organizes with other community leaders. The ​“tour” visits to schools across the district during the year are aimed at reminding students of their worth and getting them excited about learning.

Students were welcomed by Black Lives Matter New Haven Co-Founder Sun Queen, Democratic state treasurer candidate Erick Russell, Winfield, Republican State Senate candidate Steve Orosco, CT Against Gun Violence Community Engagement Coordinator Sean Reeves, and Ward 30 Democratic Committee Co-Chair Marcey Lynn Jones, along with dozens of school staffers. 

“Give me some enthusiasm. School is great!” cheered Reeves while standing in a high-five line-up with the entering students.

Mom and daughter Sharnasia and Brooklyn had one final photo shoot outside the school before classes began. 

“I love this school. They give her so many opportunities. Last year in preschool, she was learning Chinese,” Sharnasia said. ​“And the teachers love them like they’re their own.” Brooklyn’s teacher last year would attend her baseball games. 

When asked what she looks forward to most this school year, Brooklyn, 5, answered, ​“Meeting my teacher and learning.” 

“Look mom — there’s my friend!” 7‑year-old Gregory said to his mother Anneika. 

Anneika, who lives in Hamden, couldn’t wait for her son to get back to school Monday to socialize as he starts second grade. Throughout the summer Anneika was able to help her son catch up academically with the help of a year-round tutor but couldn’t always make sure he was around his peers.

While welcoming students and families to start of the school year, BOMUS Principal Jamie Baker said, she felt her heart singing. 

BOMUS’s theme this year is ​“Stronger Than Before.” 

Baker’s plans for the day included lot of dancing and greeting, visiting all classrooms to support educators, and following up with families’ first-day concerns she said.

The first-day-of-school celebration is ​“what our kids are worthy of,” Baker said. ​“That sense of worthiness is what I wanted growing up.”

Professional development for BOMUS educators included a restorative practice focus for the new school year. Throughout the year, Baker said, BOMUS plans to refocus its instruction to include intervention efforts with a staff of certified tutors. ​“We will not be a part of any bad data,” she said.