Helena Chen Carlson Photo
Latoya Howard spent Saturday morning volunteering at the annual New Haven Public Schools Expo with her daughter Corinne, both motivated to share their personal experiences to help other parents through the somewhat confusing process of choosing the best school for their child.
Around 2,700 people showed up at Wilbur Cross High School for the event, where representatives pitched the virtues of their schools to parents weighing where to send their children.
Parents and kids were greeted at the entrance and given booklets, flyers and detailed agendas for the day. Events were sectioned off into three main rooms; one for high schools, one for pre‑K through 8th grade schools and the auditorium which held a number of informational sessions regarding the application process and an overview of all the schools.
The application window opened Monday for parents looking to get their children into schools that have competitive admission processes. Director of School Choice & Enrollment Marquelle Middleton urged parents to take time in thinking through their options given that the application process will remain open until March 2.
Howard, who decided to place her daughter Corinne in the Elm City Montessori School when she was 3, saw how rewarding of a process it had been both for her and for herself as a mother. Corinne, who is now 6, receives an education based on independent, hands-on work in math, science and experimentation.
“I definitely like it because it’s so different from a traditional setting,” said Howard. “They focus a lot on cultivating her as a person.” Elm City Montessori has provided an environment that valued social and emotional growth, she said.
Balancing work and life was at times stressful for her, and she was once taken by surprise when Corinne, sensing this, asked her: “How are you feeling today?”
“She makes me the question myself. Which as a parent has been challenging,” Howard said. Corinne has more patience than she does at times, and can easily express herself emotionally. Howard attributed this character growth to what she learns in school.
Howard said she helps out in school as much as possible, and saw the relationship parents have with the school as a partnership. As a mother, she is empowered to have a say in the decisions that went on.
“It’s a family environment, so I feel the energy and love when I walk into the building. I think that it helps your child come back to you whole, which is good.”
Like Howard, Casey Pickett signed up to volunteer at the expo to share the positive experiences he and his wife, Anna Pickett, have had placing their children in public school. The Picketts have been volunteering at the annual school choice expo for the past three years. In particular, Casey Pickett wanted to encourage families who were leaning towards placing their kids in private school to consider the benefits of public school both for the children themselves as well as for the community.
The Picketts, whose two children both began at East Rock Community and Cultural Studies as kindergarten students, decided that choosing a public school just felt like the right thing to do.
“And then we fell in love with the school and found that our kids were having a fantastic experience,” said Pickett. He said his children are learning not only their ABCs but also the craft of writing.
Joán Cervantes, a senior at Career High Magnet, spent the greater portion of the day connecting with visitors and answering questions from other teens about to enter high school.
Cervantes noted that most students are drawn to Career High because of the programs and internships offered. He could tell that DECA, which is a business and entrepreneurship program, was most popular from the excited reactions he got discussing the competitions they would participate in.
Parents were encouraging their kids to speak with Cervantes in particular because they wanted an insider perspective of what student life would be like.
“I was able to give them a full understanding of what to expect throughout the years,” he said, “Although administration and teachers lead the school, they won’t be able to offer the same information from a student’s point of view.”
Why was the fair advertised to be open until 4:00, but almost all of the schools were gone by 1:00? There is no way there were 2,700 who attended that fair.