HSC Takes Flight On Remote First Day

High School in the Community students kicked off their first day of school by showing each other their favorite article of clothing — an activity designed to help the small, leadership and social justice-focused school start weeks of remote classes with the sense of community students are used to.

That show-and-tell exercise took place Thursday morning during HSC’s first day of virtual school, which included breakout sessions with students and teachers on Google Meet, as well as an online welcome back ceremony on Facebook Live.

Grace turned on her video for a few seconds during a breakout session to show her 10th grade class her favorite hoodie, decorated with a panda bear face over the hood.

Kamoni showed off a white and blue sneaker, to sounds of awe and disbelief from another student on the call.

“I’m not thrilled with starting remotely. I would much rather be in school physically. But you can’t be upset, because there’s nothing you can do,” said senior Thomas Sabin (pictured below).

“The most important thing is staying connected with each other.”

Thursday marked the first day of school for the city’s public elementary, middle, and high school students. Classes were held all online — as they will be for the next 10 weeks, per the Board of Education’s vote this summer.

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) administrators have asked all schools to start every day with half an hour of social-emotional learning (SEL), which focuses on emotions and life skills.

Superintendent Iline Tracey has talked about the traumas students have experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic as they are forced to isolate from peers and watch illness or job loss in their family. The SEL time is a way to support students through those experiences so they can learn successfully.

High School in the Community has taken that goal and run with it.

The school has started the past seven to eight years with ​“Flight Days”, in honor of the school’s eagle mascot. Students meet in the school cafeteria to play games, listen to music and hear from student speakers and inspiring special guests. They then break out into sessions with their teachers to talk about their goals for the year.

This year, those breakout groups are called ​“Flight Crews” and the sessions are preparing students to process their emotions and set goals for what promises to be a challenging year.

“HSC is a small school for students who want to do big things. There is more need for people who do big things than ever before in your lifetimes,” Building Leader Matt Brown said during the virtual ceremony.

Brown said that some students talked about being on ​“coronacation” when Covid-19 first closed schools in March, as though it were a long snow day.

“We are in a different spot folks. We have problems to solve and we have to solve them together,” Brown said.

“Relationships, Relevance & Rigor”

Brown, Sabin and others spoke to students during a virtual version of HSC’s usual opening ceremony, this time held over Facebook Live. Like the usual Flight Day kickoff, the Facebook Live event was intended to maintain student excitement about the first day of school and get them ready to learn as a way to achieve their goals.

“On first days of school, you’re so excited, you put on your outfit — then it’s kind of boring. Every class is the same: ​‘Here’s your syllabus,’” said Curriculum Leader Cari Strand. ​“We want them to get on board with the ​‘why’ before we start hammering on what we are doing.”

The teachers bopped along to Beyoncé’s ​“Brown Skin Girl” before kicking off the series of enthusiastic speeches.

HSC alum Tymaine (pictured) made a guest appearance Thursday. The alum, who is popular with students thanks to his time coaching the school’s basketball team, talked about how he changed how he thought about school during his time there.

“I came in thinking everything was a game. But the teachers are really there for you guys,” he said. ​“HSC will be behind you on whatever you want to do with your life.”

Longtime youth leadership coach George Black identified skills that have helped young people achieve, like seeing something they don’t know as a learning opportunity rather than evidence that they have done something wrong.

“Y’all are at a school that treats you as someone who is worthy of love and belonging in your life. It’s important to be in a school like that, but it’s also important for you to recognize that you are worthy of it,” Black said.

The speeches will bookend two days of Flight Crew meetings where students talk about virtual meeting etiquette, check in on their stress levels and identify what goals they want the school to support them in.

“Relationships, relevance and rigor are important in teaching. We’re really focusing in that order this year,” Strand explained.

Watch HSC’s first Flight Day closing ceremony at the top of this article.