At New Directions, a small transfer school in the Claremont neighborhood, a work experience program is spurring gains in attendance and helping young people learn valuable skills.
New Directions has just 140 students and is geared towards those who haven’t been successful in traditional high schools. These students are often “overage and undercredited,” meaning they should have already graduated or are significantly behind in credits towards graduation, and some are international students who need to learn English and get caught up in the U.S. school system.
Reaching these young people can be tough — but many who have joined the Learn to Work program based at New Directions have found success and confidence, learned hands-on job skills and formed lasting relationships with those who supported them through the journey.
Between teachers, social workers, guidance counselors and other support staff, New Directions students get “lots of adult support and supervision throughout the day,” said Assistant Principal Nazeema Baboolall.
Adults at New Directions are “relentless” in keeping tabs on each student — including how their home life is going and ensuring their basic needs are met through the school’s food pantry and connections to local resources.
But at schools across the city and all over the country, getting kids to just show up has been an increasingly tough battle in the post-pandemic era. Nearly 35% of New York City public school students were chronically absent last year, meaning they missed at least 10% of days in the school year, and schools with higher poverty rates also have increased absenteeism, as reported by Chalkbeat.
Baboolall and her staff dedicate a lot of effort to encouraging and tracking attendance. “We could tell you what time every student showed up to school in the past four years,” she said.
The Learn to Work program offered at New Directions, run by Wediko New York City at the Home for Little Wanderers, one of the oldest child and family service agencies, has been one creative solution to keeping students coming back and preparing them for life beyond high school.
Since New Directions partnered with the nonprofit to bring in an instructor for the work program, daily attendance has increased by about 15%. This year’s attendance rate thus far is 85%, putting it on par with the city’s traditional schools.
With Learn to Work, students can obtain OSHA certifications and other qualifications for child care, food handling, lifeguarding, barbering, security work and more, all within the school day. And given the small school, staff can add options based on what students ask for — anything to keep them hooked.
“We’re trying to offer something for everyone,” said Vicky Ayala, who runs the program at the school as teacher and internship coordinator.
One of the program’s biggest success stories is recent graduate Jai Urbaez, 19, who came to New Directions on the verge of becoming a 16-year-old dropout. He was held back in middle school, had poor attendance and overall saw no way for him to succeed in high school.
“My mom was doing everything she could, but nothing was clicking in my head,” said Urbaez.
He got off to a rough start at New Directions, only attending one or two days per week. But he started getting calls every morning — sometimes more than once — from the assistant principal and other adults trying to make sure he showed up.
That kind of support meant a lot to Urbaez. “I never had that in middle school,” he said.
Seeing staff looking out for him — along with interesting options offered at the school — made all the difference, and he soon realized he was ready to accept help and support.
“There’s a moment in life when something can click and change,” he said. Urbaez said his sister was always the “star student,” but he came to believe in his own potential. “This is an opportunity for my mom to see better from me.”
Once Urbaez committed to school, a fire lit under him. He took advantage of offerings through the Learn to Work program, including lifeguarding, an OSHA safety certification and community organizing with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, where he spoke in Albany about reducing the school-to-prison pipeline.
Urbaez tried a variety of work experiences — and he also took extra courses outside the school day, enabling him to complete the tenth and eleventh grades in the same year. Now, he is majoring in psychology at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, coaching a middle school basketball team and volunteering at New Directions every Friday — all with the goal of becoming a teacher himself.
Urbaez, who is still greeted with hugs and handshakes as he walks down the familiar hallways, said he would love to return to New Directions as a teacher. “I want to be a helper,” he said. As he volunteers in a Global Studies classroom, helping students from similar backgrounds overcome their challenges, “I understand where they’re coming from,” he said.
Transferring to New Directions and participating in the Learn to Work program was one of the best decisions he ever made, said Urbaez.
“This is my home,” he said. “The support they gave me, there’s no way I could repay them, ever.”
