By investing in community-building, New Harmony provides its students with hands-on learning experiences that extend far beyond the classroom. The school’s thriving community partnerships fuel this dynamic approach, as staff members engage students to address local challenges by designing and co-conducting research alongside educators and experts. Their projects also immerse students in local history, heritage, culture, and landscapes. 

New Harmony’s “leaving to learn” program provides meaningful experiences to students outside of the traditional classroom to address environmental challenges. Working with community organizations, researchers, scientists, engineers, and activists, students investigate topics such as coastal erosion, land loss, sea-level rise, community displacement, and ecosystem damage. Collaborating with the nonprofit youth writing organization 826 New Orleans, New Harmony students wrote dystopian flash fiction stories that imagined a world where New Orleans no longer existed due to environmental catastrophe.

Students also partner with a community organization for their capstone projects, focusing on improving their surroundings or contributing to their community in other ways. New Harmony’s partners include Junior Achievement, which provides guest speakers for high-wage, high-impact career exploration; Youth Voice NOLA, which offers paid summer internships; and federally-approved fifth-year bridge programs through the career preparation programs LAUNCH and Next Level NOLA.

New Harmony’s commitment to personal growth and agency is reflected in its education advisors, who develop deep relationships with students and understand their strengths, interests, and growth areas. With work-based learning experiences, New Harmony prepares its students for postsecondary education and equips them with skills to meet future challenges. The school also offers Industry Based Certification (IBC) programs and internships to students, preparing them for their professional futures.

Student Outcomes

• For the school’s first graduation class in 2022, a consistently higher number of students scored at or above the basic level on state assessments compared with students in the surrounding Orleans Parish School District (for example, on the state’s U.S. history exam in 11th grade, 51 versus 39 percent).
• A consistently higher rate of Black students scored at or above the basic level on state assessments taken by members of the Class of 2022, compared with Black students in Orleans Parish and statewide (for example, on the state’s U.S. history exam in 11th grade, 45 versus 31 and 33 percent, respectively).
• An impressive percentage of students completed internships during high school (71 percent).