Maya McFadden Photo
Dwayne Davila helps out students at First Calvary hub.
New Haven students whose school buildings have closed because of Covid-19 have started showing up in church — in order to get in-person adult help with their education.
Members of the Greater New Haven Clergy Association have agreed to make their buildings available as learning hubs for students who could help with remote learning during the pandemic. New Haven public schools are closed and conducting fully remote learning for at least the first 10 weeks of the academic year; after that a hybrid approach may begin, with still remote learning. Last spring, many students fell behind during remote learning because of the pandemic.
The first church-based learning hub opened its doors on Tuesday, at First Calvary Baptist Church in Newhallville. Six students so far signed up for the hub, ranging from kindergarten to fifth graders. Other congregations plan to follow as word gets out.
The church hubs will offer secure wifi to connect to students’ tech devices, daily meals, in-person activities, and one-on-one help with school work.
Rev. Steven Cousin of Bethel AME Church proposed back in July that the Greater New Haven Clergy Association jump on board with the idea of learning hubs out of all churches for the fall school year.
“Even before knowing about the 10-week remote learning decision, we knew there was going to be a remote component for the school year,” said Cousin. “We don’t need students at McDonald’s trying to do their work or in parking lots looking for wifi. This is safety and support.”
Organizers conducted a poll with parents. Sixty-three respondents expressed interest in sending their kids to a learning hub, said Cousin. (Click here to read about a separate hub that has opened at ConnCAT.)
The hub provides breakfast and lunch everyday and is free of charge for families.
In the morning parents sign their student(s) in, then out at the end of the day. Students and staff have their temperatures taken upon entering the building daily.
First Calvary Baptist Church provides the funding for the daily breakfast and lunch for students. Two days out of the week hot meals are catered to the students.
The students begin the day at 8:30 a.m with breakfast. Retired Davis Street School Principal Lola Nathan came out of retirement to help supervise the hub out of the site at First Calvary at 609 Dixwell Ave.
Two students are placed at each table, and the building door is kept locked at all times. After each school day the building is sanitized, said First Calvary Senior Pastor Boise Kimber.
Students are served lunch at noon. The program finishes at 2:30 p.m.
Individual schedules for each student are being finalizing by Nathan to be sure students finish each day’s worth of work and have time to have two meals.
As families and parents head back to work and child care options remain limited, Rev. Cousin said, he hopes that these pandemic hubs become a city initiative hosted in city buildings, libraries, churches, etc.
The clergy are using a budget of Covid relief funds from Yale University to staff the hub. The funding, however, will last for only the first ten weeks of the school year.
Dwayne Davila.
Gateway Community College sports management student Dwayne Davila (pictured), 23, serves as on-site tutor at First Calvary. Davila has been working with New Haven youth programs since he was 18. The most common issue Davila helps the students with is getting from link to only link to move to different classrooms and lessons, in addition to helping students with a troubling math problem or reading sentence.
Davila’s Gateway professors allowed him to arrange an alternative class schedule in order to enable him to work all day at the First Calvary hub.
So far, the hub is on a perfect attendence roll. Nathan said two more students are scheduled to join the program on Monday. As of Thursday, five New Haven schools are represented in the group of students.
The clerly organizers are looking to learn from two learning hubs that have opened as well, Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT)’s Safe Space and the Boy and Girls Club.
The goal is to host a maximum of ten kids at each church hub. Fourteen churches make up the list of future hubs as the demand increases.
Parents interested in having their kids attend a church hub can reach Cousin .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Cousin said the clergy are seeking funding to serve more New Haveners and extend beyond the first 10-weeks of school.
Cousin said the organizing team is also looking to get funding to get staff members who can assist students apart of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) and those with special needs.
A site coordinator and two staff members will be needed at each church hub.
Rev. Cousin checks in on students.
On Wednesdays, New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) dismiss students early. Nathan has arranged to have special “enrichment” opportunities come each Wednesday like live music, craft making, and Zumba for those afternoon hours.
During breaks in the remote school day Nathan allows for the students play board games and puzzles to remain productive.
Nathan intends to bring in instruments for the students to use during “enrichment breaks.”
When Cousin brought his second grader to the church hub this week, he recalled his son’s excitement about the “awesome school.” His son’s former paraprofessional is a staff member of the Dixwell church hub and helped to make the space feel like school along with the gathering of kids.
“These children are our future. It’s our job to show them that value,” said Cousin.
