A new middle school for Red Hook, by Nathan Weiser

PS 676 has disclosed new details about their transition from an elementary school to the Harbor Middle School. The transition will begin in September. PS 676 will add a sixth grade with the current fifth graders given priority.

All of the existing classes will move up through the elementary school. Next year the school will go from Pre-K through sixth grade and then each following year they will shift up, so then they will have second through seventh and then third grade through eighth grade.

They will stop at eighth grade and remove a grade with each class moving up until they get to 6th grade through 8th grade. Their new school building on Delavan Street, with many new facilities, is slated to open in time for the 2025-2026 school year, which means that 6th grade students entering the school will still be in the building on Huntington Street next year.

“Former State Senator Velmanette Montgomery was the thought leader behind the idea for the Harbor Middle School and we have been working towards this moment since 2016,” CEC President Camille Casaretti said. “We are excited to finally have an approved site for this middle school and happy that PS 676 will be transitioning to a full-time middle school over the next few years.”

PS 676 Principal Figueroa, who came to the school in spring of 2018 and immediately brought life to what was a school in the doldrums, is very excited about this transition.

“We are very excited about the new Harbor Middle School in Red Hook,” Principal Figueroa said. “It has been a journey. My first conversation with Ms. Montgomery back in 2017 was centered around this whole idea of Red Hook having a harbor middle school. From that point on, we have been working together collaboratively with the DOE, with Reimagine Schools, with the team that will be presenting the launch of the first public harbor middle school in District 15.”

Currently at the school building at 27 Huntington Street there is a STEAM lab, an aquarium, a fully funded robotics program and a multimedia center used by all students and staff.

At the new building on Delavan Street, there will be a fully funded hydroponics lab, a new auditorium and a student run podcast system. In connection with the maritime theme, they will offer swimming because they will have an Olympic sized pool. They will also push to have more sports.

A few current teachers talked about what they concentrate on at the school.

“I came to PS 676 because I saw this opportunity to be part of something really exciting,” said Captain Jack, who previously taught at MS 88. “I am passionate about boating and the ocean. I want to share that passion with students, and I know from experience that passion is contagious. The New York Harbor is the perfect lens to approach all of the other subjects the surround us and to understand our neighborhood.”

Tim Gilman is the executive director of RETI Center, which is a climate adaptation non-profit that was formed after Superstorm Sandy. RETI Center is a 676 partner. They have two facilities that PS 676 uses. One is the climate adaptation barge in Gowanus Bay where the students do scientific and other adaptive explorations. Harbor High School students come down in a boat and mentor the PS 676 students on projects having to do with water science, climate change and the marine ecosystem.

Science teacher Lynn Shon shared what interdisciplinary project-based learning at the NY Harbor Middle School will look like. A goal will be to design a more sustainable Red Hook and NY Harbor.

“In science, students explore the human influenced causes of climate change and the current and future impacts of climate change on NY harbor and on the Red Hook community,” she said. “In technology, students visit the windmill and the sims recycling plant and local solar contractors to research technologies and renewable energy sources to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions.”

There are many beneficial field trips that the school currently goes on especially for the older grades. The 4th graders go on field trips somewhere on the NY Harbor every Wednesday, and the 5th graders go somewhere along the harbor every Thursday. There are also regular visits to their oyster research station at Erie Basin next to IKEA, in addition to trips to Portside on the Mary Whalen tanker.

“We are surrounded by the harbor,” Ms. Shon said. “A beautiful thing about Red Hook is that it only takes 10 minutes to get to the waterfront. One of the most amazing things about this school and this location is that the classroom is everywhere.”