A select group of juniors in New Haven public schools will be the first group of students to study in a new biotechnology lab downtown.
The space is inside 101 College Street, a new bioscience building. The area inside is set aside specifically for New Haven residents, part of an agreement in the planning and development of the building.
School leaders say this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the first 15 kids to join the program this fall. They’ll be able to learn more about science and even earn college credit.
“Our students will have the opportunity to see scientists in real time creating and discovering,” said Keisha Redd-Hannans, the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Assessment.
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In the fall, 15 juniors from Wilbur Cross, Hillhouse and Hill Regional Career High Schools will study science and math with Southern Connecticut State University professors in the district’s new Biocity education pathway.
Redd-Hannans says the program will break down barriers to access for students in the district. It was a goal for the city to ensure residents of New Haven were able to benefit from the growing biotech industry in the city.
The learning lab inside the building puts them in the same space as leading biotech companies, startups, scientists and engineers.
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“They’ll have the opportunity to earn college credit. Twelve credits during their junior year and twelve credits during their senior year as well,” said Redd-Hannans. She added that once freshmen are active in Biocity, they’ll be able to obtain 40 college credits.
The Board of Alders Community Development Committee recently approved $3 million in combined federal funds to support the new Biocity pathway, and the three other pathways in the district: manufacturing, education and the health careers academy. Redd-Hannans said the money will last them about three years and they’ll continue to look for partnerships for future funding.
The pathways are designed to meet the interests of students to keep them engaged in their education. She says chronic absenteeism is down in those programs. And creating a bioscience pathway was important as the industry continues to grow in New Haven.
“We truly believe this is cutting down barriers to access that our students in urban environments have not been afforded these opportunities,” said Redd-Hannans. “And we also know that this is very cutting edge for our students and so we believe this will give them a leg up on the competition.”
Justin Bendigo is a senior research and design engineer at Conmed and says this is a great move for students.
“There’s such an opportunity here in New Haven specifically to tap into that local budding talent,” Bendigo said.
New Haven is home to many biotech startups. Bendigo worked BioRez, a medical device startup which was acquired by Conmed.
He says it’s important to have a solid understanding of biology and engineering in the broad biotech field.
“It’s so multi-faceted that the earlier you can get people introduced to these kinds of topics the better they’re going to be able to develop that understanding, and just become better engineers and better scientists,” Bendigo said.
The next step is for the program and funding plan to go before the full board of alders for approval.
