A Real World Learning High School
A School Without Walls is a new kind of public High School centered around the intellectual and creative growth, joy, and empowerment of the students.
Our students grow into their full selves as problem solvers, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners through project based learning, inquiry, research, and debate of global issues, public and private internships and service, and civic engagement all while building solidarity in our school community and beyond. At A School Without Walls, we believe that students’ voice and agency is key to their learning process and success. As a community of educators, we keep this core belief at the center of our work. To ensure that all children reach their academic and future personal goals, we hold ourselves to high standards of student outcomes and student care by looking at data points along the way during the year to assess how our students are doing. By flipping the model of “what is core” and “what is elective,” students are able to pursue passion projects, which center their interests and experiences as part of the core Humanities curriculum. Our Competency Based, narrative progress reports and mastery transcript student profiles enable us to implement a system for performance assessment that responds to student learner needs. Through our project based, real world curriculum and programmatic structure, we are ensuring that our students are equipped to display academic and SEL competency, through community-based, place-based classrooms. We see our students as leaders in our school and local communities, functioning as agents of change with the knowledge and skills they have developed in the classroom and through their relationships with NYC business and non-profit industries.We believe: if given the opportunity to study something in depth that they truly care about, young people will empower themselves to explore their passions, transform communities, and create a more beautiful world.
Read on to learn more about our NYC public High School recruiting 9th graders for the class of 2028!
Our project based, real world learning school blends in-person and remote learning opportunities in a small class setting to better support our incoming high school students and meet their needs. This model supports students' socio-emotional wellness, prioritizes individualized academic support, and offers the flexibility for students to engage in both in-person and remote learning experiences. Students will attend A School Without Walls in person at 90 Trinity Place 2 days per week and study remotely 3 days per week by engaging in remote classes, independent learning, and community based learning (like site visits, field work or internships).We create the flexibility to center the lives of young people through group and individual passion projects, interdisciplinary coursework, and a hybrid course schedule as a pathway to completing NYS Regents high school graduation requirements. By committing time, space, and resources to our students’ passions, those passions become the curriculum.In addition, all students will take 4 years of math and science, modern language, art, PE/health, and a broad array of electives co-created by students or through our partnership with CUNY College Now, a variety of college courses through the National Ed Equity Lab, and the required exams needed for a NYS Regents Diploma.
Each year at A School Without Walls, students, with the support of a teacher advisor, will:
Design a passion project based on the student’s personal interests, concerns, and identities.
Write an Individual Learning Plan to set project goals, write learning targets, and align the project to NYS course standards for ELA, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Art.
Engage in real world learning through self directed field work, site visits, empathy interviews, on-site internships, service learning, and volunteer opportunities.
Interview experts in the field to learn about the current state or advances in the field.
Conduct independent research to understand the context, issues, and communities relevant to the passion project.
Identify a dilemma that impacts a particular community related to the student’s passion.
Create a proposal to make or do something that will impact the affected community related to the passion project and follow through with community facing action.
Prepare public presentations of learning to discuss the project design, community impact, the learning experience, and future project plans.
Meet Our Original Design Team
Veronica Coleman
Project Director/Crew Leader
Veronica Coleman earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Fordham University, after having lived and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, France for two years during her undergraduate studies. She earned an M.A. in Multicultural and Multilingual Studies from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education in 2002 and began teaching French and English to Speakers of Other Languages in NYC Public Schools in 2003. After 11 years of classroom experience, Veronica joined the Leaders in Education Apprentice Program and was appointed Principal of the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School, a NYC Outward Bound School in 2014. During her tenure at Kurt Hahn, Veronica developed a school wide approach to Restorative Practices to work hand in hand with EL Education’s core value of character development through Crew and an interdisciplinary curriculum that challenges, engages, and empowers young people. As project director of a School Without Walls, Veronica is working with a team of educators and student interns to center the lives of young people through individual passion projects, real world learning, and community facing action.
Evan O'Connell
Project Designer/Crew Leader
Evan has worked in NYC public schools for over 12 years in a variety of teaching and leadership roles, most recently as a founding teacher at the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Queens. Originally from Upstate New York, he attended college at NYU, graduating with a B.A. in English and American Literature. Prior to teaching full-time, he worked in youth development, including as a camp counselor at the Double H Ranch, a Serious Fun camp for children with critical illnesses; a program coordinator at Into the Outside, an education nonprofit coordinating fieldwork experiences for students; and the Teen Center director at the Prospect Park YMCA. He went back to school at LIU Brooklyn for an M.S.Ed in secondary education, teaching students with disabilities, and English education, and is currently completing an M.A. at Pace University in American History. As a public school teacher, Evan has taught in grades 7-12 and a variety of courses, most recently teaching 11th and 12th Grade social studies. Some of his favorite classes to teach have been Participation in Government, Capstone, AP Government, AP Seminar, 7th and 8th Grade ELA, Film Studies, and Global History I and II. As a teacher-leader he has worked with citywide initiatives in the Learning Partners Program, Showcase Schools, Civics for All, and the NYC STEP program. At the school level he has worked as a grade team leader, SLT member, special education liaison, and staff developer. He's passionate about public education, politics, justice, and exploring the world. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.
Sharine Rowe
Project Designer/Crew Leader
Sharine Rowe is a Science Teacher, Internship Coordinator, and Chair of the Internship Department at City-As High School. Sharine earned a B.S. in Biology from Brooklyn College in 2007. She then went on to earn an M.S. in Education, with a focus on teaching science to adolescents, at Pace University in 2009. After earning her first degree in 2007, Sharine joined the Cobble Hill School of American Studies teaching staff. There, she taught Living Environment and Earth Science, and witnessed young people fall in love with science. Sharine noted that her students favored the experiential aspects of science learning. Whether through hands-on experiments or field-based inquiries, students who previously struggled in science were able to find their niche and shine. Experiential teaching and learning became a hallmark of Sharine’s teaching style. In addition to her work at the DOE, Sharine also taught courses at Kean University, NJ. She further explored and redefined the boundaries of field-based learning, by having her college students immerse themselves in the work of community-based organizations, to better understand the issues outlined in the curriculum. Sharine’s teaching style inspired her colleagues to take their classes from the lecture halls and out into the world. In her 14 years with the NYC DOE, Sharine has held various teaching and leadership roles, including UFT Chapter Leader, UFT Grievance Representative, NYC Master Teacher, Mentoring Teacher, Math for America Master Teacher, Department Chair, and now… School Designer. However, at the heart of it all is Sharine’s love for teaching young people. She believes deeply that their passion and energy for life are unmatched; and that given the right circumstances, every child can flourish.
