New Haven Interdistrict Magnet Schools

100 Jewel Street, New Haven, CT 06511  MAP
203-691-3800

Grades: Pre K – 8th grade
School Hours: 9:15 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Principal: Kathy Russell Beck
Assistant Principal: Karen Carazo
Enrollment: 620 students

Open House

Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 6-7:30pm

Thursday, January 21, 2010, 10-11am & 6-7:30pm

Call (203) 691-3829 to schedule a personal tour.

School Overview

L.W. Beecher Musuem Magnet School of Arts and Sciences has formed partnerships with renowned museums in New Haven. Museum educators, artists and scientists visit the school and introduce students to museum collections featuring history, science, technology and the arts.

Teachers use original documents, artifacts and other primary sources to make class lessons more relevant and to allow children to form their own connections and discoveries. For example, 4th grade students might learn about Native American daily life by visiting the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, or by examining native plants, insects and habitats familiar to Connecticut’s indigenous peoples at the West Rock Nature Center.

Beecher takes a “hands-on approach” to learning, to help students explore, apply and create knowledge in both individual and group projects. Students present their conclusions through exhibitions, reports and publications. During school-wide exhibitions, classrooms become museums and students become museum guides.

Students participate in special exhibition classes where they learn how to develop the story of their exhibit and build them for display in mini-museums. Through the creation of exhibits, children develop organization and presentation skills and learn to recognize quality content and effective communication. In addition, students experience virtual museum collections via the Internet.

Beecher employs the Paideia educational model. The Paideia philosophy celebrates the fundamental notion that to be fully educated is lifelong adventure that begins with formal schooling. The word Paideia comes from the Greek word meaning "upbringing of the child", and the Paideia educational model features a cycle of instruction consisting of three complementary techniques: didactic instruction, where instructors provide students with facts, concepts, information and formulas; intellectual coaching, where students practice and master skills introduced in their didactic classroom experiences; and Paideia seminars, discussion groups that encourage children to use critical thinking skills and share ideas and opinions.
 

Additional School Features

• Full day Pre-K 3 & Pre-K 4 programs (7:30 am - 5:30 pm)
• Paideia Philosophy

Beecher’s Education Partners

• New Haven Museum and Historical Society
• Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
• Yale Center for British Art
• Yale University Art Gallery

What our students are saying...

"The best thing about Beecher is all the trips that we go on! I think other kids should attend Beecher because they can learn a lot and make new friends." -Nikikiyah Brown, 3rd grade