Brooklyn STEAM Center

Brooklyn, New York

Man with a check shirt working with wood on a laboratory with other young people

An innovation hub where the workplace is the classroom.

For half of each school day, 11th and 12th-grade students from eight Brooklyn high schools leave their traditional classrooms to immerse themselves in hands-on learning at the Brooklyn STEAM Center. This hub for career and technical education is preparing a diverse group of talented students for critical industries, including technology and manufacturing.

The Brooklyn STEAM Center is located in the heart of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a 300-acre industrial park with over 500 businesses in cutting-edge industries. Students participate in meaningful, engaged learning at this location through internships, apprenticeships, and projects with industry partners. All students specialize in one of five pathways: Computer Science and Information Technology; Construction Technology; Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management; Design and Engineering; and Film and Media. Each pathway is approved by the New York State Education Department. Within each pathway, students have access to an industry-approved curriculum, engaging partnerships, supportive work-based learning experiences including an internship program, and stackable industry credentials. Through a partnership with the City University of New York, STEAM students also earn college credits for full preparation for college and career.

Brooklyn STEAM Center is part of Imagine NYC Schools, a dynamic partnership between New York City Public Schools and XQ to design innovative, high-quality schools with equity and excellence at their core. Students, teachers, families, and community members are coming together to imagine high schools that are engaging, inclusive, and student-centered—schools that prepare all students for a wide variety of postsecondary options, and all the future has to offer. Learn more at NYC + XQ.

Brooklyn STEAM’s location in the Brooklyn Navy Yard means students experience workplace immersion. Every day they visit a school that resembles a workplace, learning professionalism and building their social capital.

Co-locating with various businesses, from a nanotronics firm to a film studio, also means that students get access to and feedback from industry professionals. An industry Advisory Council meets regularly with school staff to advise on curriculum and offer work-based learning to students, and to give feedback on student projects. For example, when a group of students in the Construction, Technology, and Design and Engineering pathways collaborated to address housing insecurity by transforming a 20-foot ISO shipping container into a livable space, FullStack Modular, a tenant at the Navy Yard, provided the space and guidance, and the finished project was presented to Advisory Council members from the students’ respective pathways.

“School is about ‘with’ not ‘for.’ Everything is with the students. It’s not for the students. You have to do everything with the students in mind.”

Lillian

Class of 2024

“It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. On top of your skills you need to have connections to get into where you want to go. You need to be able to get to the doorstep, and you can use your skills to get in the door, which is where the networking and the connections come in.”

Brooklyn STEAM Center student

“The construction industry has been a tight group to get into. It’s been a lot about who you know. We do a good job allowing students to network through various opportunities, not only through programs and partnerships, but also through their experiences.”

Brooklyn STEAM Center teacher

“By being in this space, we’re allowing our young people to really explore and unlock their potential and passion… It’s ensuring that our young people can be what they can now see because oftentimes they don’t know these careers exist and they are not exposed to the careers of the next century or of the future and so being at a place like this really helps bridge the gap.”

Dr. Kayon Pryce

Brooklyn STEAM Center’s founding principal, as reported in Brooklyn Paper

“Some of the particular magic that you see here is not magic. It’s actually very intentionally designed for whole-human design. Students are able to very articulately talk about how they feel supported as a learner and there’s this deep sense of belonging. I heard it from the parents, I heard it from the students and I heard it from the educators. Everybody feels like they belong here.”

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Cindy Marten

As reported in Brooklyn Paper

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