Danielle Gregory-Williams grew up going to school in New Haven while living in West Haven. She now works as the magnet school recruitment coordinator of New Haven Public Schools, helping put on a School Choice Expo happening this Saturday.
“I am a little biased, because I am a product of the school choice program, but there's a lot of great opportunities here in New Haven that I would love for families to take advantage of and let the kids have some choice and empowerment,” Gregory-Williams said.
School choice programs in Connecticut allow parents the opportunity to send their children to a participating free public school outside of their home district.
Gregory-Williams said school choice allows students a chance to study their field of interest early on.
“You don't have to wait till college to choose your quote, unquote major or what you want to study. This is the opportunity for kids to have some input [and] some say in what they want to learn,” Gregory-Williams said.
The New Haven School Choice Expo will have over 30 schools for families to explore, including traditional public schools, charter schools and interdistrict magnet schools.
“I like to say we have a school for every child,” Gregory-Williams said. “Our schools here in New Haven are theme based. We have engineering, arts, science, health, business. If the child is interested in the program, then [they’re] typically going to thrive.”
The expo will begin with a presentation about the school choice process in New Haven, so families will know how to apply when the application opens on Monday, February 2. The window to apply closes Friday, March 6.
For New Haven’s growing Hispanic community
New Haven Public Schools organized the expo in collaboration with the National School Choice Awareness Foundation to round off National School Choice Week. The week-long event aims to raise awareness about all learning options for families and children.
For the New Haven area, a large number of those families include the Hispanic/Latino population. Hispanic/Latino people make up 31% of New Haven’s population, making them the largest ethnic group in the city. Nearly half of the New Haven School District student body is Hispanic/Latino.
“We know that New Haven has a very big and growing Hispanic community, so we do offer some of our printed materials in Spanish,” Gregory-Williams said. “We have on site our multilingual department that will be there to speak with families. They can answer what schools have the language programming that they may need.”
The multilingual department staff members will be available to inform families about which schools have ESL (English as a Second Language) or bilingual support, Gregory-Williams said.
Dual language schools will be among the options families can explore as well, such as John S. Martinez School and John C. Daniels School of International Communication.
There will be a Spanish interpreter on site to help families navigate the expo too. Gregory-Williams said there will also be interpreters for Arabic and Pashto-speakers.
“Not every child is the same, so not every child learns the same and learns in the same environment in the same way,” Gregory-Williams said. “We want children to thrive, so we want to give them options that help them do so.”
Families can also expect to have fun while at the expo. Gregory-Williams said there will be a deejay, games, face painting and a school choice cafe with donuts, popcorn and cotton candy.
“[The expo] is a celebration of school choice,” Gregory-Williams said. “It's a celebration of just having options that fit your child.”
Learn more
The New Haven Public School School Choice Expo is on Saturday, Jan. 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wilbur Cross High School. The event is free to attend. Parking is available on site.
For those who miss the event, New Haven Public Schools is holding virtual lessons on the school choice process on Wednesdays through February 25. English sessions are at 12 p.m. and Spanish sessions are at 5 p.m.
The school choice lottery application is available online from Monday, February 2 to Friday, March 6 at 11 p.m. All school choice applications must be submitted by March 6.
