The House System at Rachel Carson I.S. 237 Magnet School for the Arts creates a small learning environment in the context of a larger school community; in other words, it functions like a school within a school. Although the Magnet School for the Arts has the amenities of a larger school including the course offerings and after school activities, our House System provides students with the intimacy, nurturing, and attention of a small school.

Here’s how it works: Each grade is divided into two small Houses which focus on specific artistic periods in history, and takes part in different arts residencies. While all of the Houses teach the NYS & NYC standard curriculum they do so through the arts and slightly different lenses. The key component of the House system is that it allows for individualization. Students in these Houses have the same teachers for all of their major subjects, have classrooms that are located in the same wing of the building, and travel together as a unit through all three years of their middle school careers.

Teachers from each House have common planning periods where they confer on individual student progress, create data driven unit and lesson plans, receive professional development, and meet with parents to discuss student enrichments and interventions. As a result of this system, students do not get lost in the shuffle that usually occurs in a large school environment. Furthermore, this system reflects research proven best practices for middle school aged children.