New Haven Adult Education Center

Come to the New Haven Adult Education Center not to be stunned by architectural design or ornamentation, but to be taken aback by the diverse, perseverant community New Haven is home to. Long-time residents join recent immigrants––from Syria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Mexico, Guatemala, Thailand––in the pursuit of self-betterment; the Center offers GED and diploma courses, English classes, resume and professional skills assistance, technical training, as well as a robust and supportive social network.

Physically, the building offers a stripped-down, geometric Modernist façade composed of various materials. Adjacent and behind it lie a rich consortium of educational facilities, restaurants, mechanics, and the West River (with its recreational facilities). 

580 Ella T Grasso Boulevard has always been the New Haven Adult Education Center, and with its robust services and community (as well as the recent opening of three satellite facilities), expect it to endure.

None. The building was commissioned originally for the City of New Haven’s Board of Education, who has remained the tenant throughout the building’s history.

[The information on site history is supplemented in the responses above.]

The site of the New Haven Adult Education Center is within what is today the New Haven Career Campus, and what was formerly the New Haven Plaza. Adjacent to the Adult Education Center are 540 and 560 Ella T Grasso Boulevard, both of which are now fully owned by the City of New Haven. Previous to the Center’s construction, the site of 580 Ella T Grasso Boulevard was empty; the building was constructed for the purpose it still serves today and has been owned by the City of New Haven throughout. 

A recent study by Literacy for New Haven found that 30 percent of adults in New Haven either have not completed high school or are functionally illiterate.^[[1]]To address this need, the New Haven Adult Education Center was commissioned in 1987. Today it remains a key piece of New Haven’s pursuit of adult literacy, as well as a critical provider of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, high school diploma and GED programs, citizenship exam instruction, employment and professional skills guidance, and technical training.^[[2]]

They purport to offer a “culturally responsive community; connection to the real world and post-secondary experiences; supportive relationships with adults, and a graduation system that empowers.”[3]Based on my observations of the Center in two brief visits, the diversity, strength, and commitment of its community is apparent; students, teachers, and trainers gathered outside the building, chatting in groups in Arabic, Spanish, Amharic, and, for many, newfound English.

In facilitating community and social networks for its scholars, who must be at least 16 years of age and officially withdrawn from grade 9-12, the Center coordinates various special events throughout the year – including a large and well-decorated graduation, end of the year barbeque, and a trip to New York. 

In 1997, shortly after the Center’s founding, its neighbors were not the two educational facilities they are now (the Helene Grant School and the Riverside Education Academy). Rather, 580 Ella T Grasso Blvd. shared a parking lot with the New Haven Department of Human Resources and Board of Health in 540 Ella T. Grasso and, in 560, the New Haven Youth Fair Chance Program, the Private Industry Council, Opportunities Industrialization Council offices, child care facilities, and the Michael Bolton Music Center.[4]As mentioned above, this part of its history also coincides with the urban prevalence of the Columbus House, a homeless shelter at the Center’s backside; in the hours that the shelter did not allow residents to remain inside, the Center served as a secondary dwelling, which for many remains a mark on its reputation.^[[5]]

From the building’s birth to today, the City of New Haven, and specifically the City’s Board of Education, has been its custodian. Its initial conception was during hearings in 1987, construction began in 1988, and the Adult Education Center has remained within since, as a service to New Haven residents from all corners of the globe and walks of life.

According a report by News 8 New Haven, the New Haven Board of Education opened three satellite facilities of the Adult Education Center across the New Haven metropolitan area.

[1]Cailyn Blonstein, Jason Newton, 3 new adult education centers open in New Haven, January 13, 2017, retrieved from http://wtnh.com/2017/01/13/3-new-adult-education-centers-open-in-new-haven/.

[2]City of New Haven, Departments and Divisions, Board of Education, Continuing/Adult Education Information, 2018. 

[3]The New Haven Adult & Continuing Education Center, Mission & Vision, Mission Statement, 2017.

[4] New Haven Office of City Planning, New Haven City Plan Commission Advisory Report No. 1236-09, October 7, 1997. 

[5]Tyisha, interview.

First proposed in 1987 to sit atop an empty piece of land of 0.42 acres, the New Haven Adult Education Center is situated on what today is known as Ella T. Grasso Boulevard.^[[1]][[2]](Formerly known as “Boulevard,” the street was renamed after Connecticut’s late governor, Ms. Ella Tambussi Grasso, who was known for her liberal, Democratic political style.^[[3]]) The street follows the eastern bank of the West River and provides easy access to various recreational centers along the river, including the West River Peace Garden. 

The Center’s specific locale is an educational strip mall known as the New Haven Career Campus, which lies within the bend of the West River. The Career Campus includes several educational facilities, management offices, and employment programs meant to help New Haven residents. It also sits adjacent to the more-traditional commercial strip mall (the New Haven Plaza) that is home to a diner, sausage-making restaurant, motor store, paint shop, and occasional flea market. An interview with a New Haven resident, Tyisha, who is friends with many scholars at the Center informed me that the general perception of the Center and the area in which it sits is heavily damaged by its proximity to the Columbus House, which she informed me used to serve as a homeless shelter; the shelter, she explained, had hours in which its residents were forced to leave the premises (likely a requirement that is meant to facilitate job search), and many of them, with no where else to go and frigid conditions outside, would often just spend their days inside the Adult Education Center.^[[4]]This has made it so the primary association with the Center is negative, though she fully stands behind the “great resources” it provides.^[[5]]

According to government documents from New Haven’s Office of City Planning, the  section of the river in which the New Haven Career Campus is squished was fairly underdeveloped at the inception of building plans for the Center: preceding the building’s construction was an infrastructure project that, among other things, established a 2,000 square foot easement for recreation.^[[6]]Sharing a parking lot with the Center is a preschool, the Helene Grant School, and the Riverside Education Academy, a transitional high school (on 540 and 560 Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, respectively). Like the Center, each is part of the Board of Education’s robust educational programs for the City. 

Across the street is Saint Bernard’s Cemetary that, unfortunately for the City of New Haven’s educational efforts, is more likely to capture the eyes of passing-by drivers than the Career Campus and the Adult Education Center, which overlook a fairly large, ordinary parking lot that would be hard-pressed to garner attention. Overall, the Center’s surrounding area is relatively serene and unruffled compared to the bustling downtown area.

[1]The New Haven Property Look Up, 580 Ella T Grasso Boulevard, by Vision Government Solutions. 

[2]City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, Commission Coastal Site Plan Review Report 1049-9, 1987.

[3]Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, The Virtual Hall - Ella Tambussi Grasso. 

[4]Tyisha, Interview by Rayan Alsemeiry, February 26, 2018.

[5]Tyisha, Interview.

[6]  City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, Report 1049-9, 1987, 1.

The structural core of the New Haven Adult Education Center is steel with steel studs, and its interior is decorated with what one would expect for an office/educational setting: white walls, carpet, and occasional tile.^[[1]]The Center presents a slick, simple, and geometric Modernist façade with what one may consider slight Brutalist touches found in its rough protruding bricks that lie beside the front entrance and along the building. Bricks (both smooth and rough), a darkish metal that appears to be aluminum or a cheap alloy, glass, and concrete make up what is visible to a viewer from the outside.

Especially, the building stretches 100 feet in length, 20 ft. in width, and 30 ft. in height split across among two floors.^[[2]]Each floor’s 20,000 square feet are used for class room facilities, eating areas, offices, a reception area, among various miscellaneous rooms and storage closets.

Constructed to serve the purpose it does, the building’s compact, rigid, and simple exterior emanate an impenetrable aura of assuredness, perhaps best marked by the building’s glass front door, which reads, “THIS DOOR LEADS TO YOUR FUTURE.”

[1]City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, Permit Numbers 97409, 97705, 97705, 98078, 98192, 1988.

[2]City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, 580 Boulevard Height & Area Computations, 1988.

1) City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, Permit Numbers 97409, 97705, 97705, 98078, 98192, retrieved from the Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement archives, 1988.

2) City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, 580 Boulevard Height & Area Computations, retrieved from the Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement archives, 1988.

3) The New Haven Property Look Up, 580 Ella T Grasso Boulevard, by Vision Government Solutions, retrieved from http://gis.vgsi.com/newhavenct/Parcel.aspx?Pid=15807

4) City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, Commission Coastal Site Plan Review Report 1049-9, retrieved from the Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement archives, 1987.

5) Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame, The Virtual Hall - Ella Tambussi Grasso, retrieved from http://cwhf.org/inductees/politics-government-law/ella-tambussi-grasso.

6) Tyisha, Interview by Rayan Alsemeiry, February 26, 2018.

7) Tyisha, Interview by Rayan Alsemeiry, February 26, 2018.

8) City of New Haven, Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement, Report 1049-9, retrieved from the Office of Building Inspection & Enforcement archives, 1987.

9) Cailyn Blonstein, Jason Newton, 3 new adult education centers open in New Haven, January 13, 2017, retrieved from http://wtnh.com/2017/01/13/3-new-adult-education-centers-open-in-new-haven/.

10) City of New Haven, Departments and Divisions, Board of Education, Continuing/Adult Education Information, 2018, retrieved from https://www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/board_of_education/continuing.htm

11) The New Haven Adult & Continuing Education Center, Mission & Vision, Mission Statement, 2017, retrieved from http://www.nhaec.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=325702&type=d.

12) New Haven Office of City Planning, New Haven City Plan Commission Advisory Report No. 1236-09, October 7, 1997, retrieved from the New Haven Office of City Planning Archives.

13) Tyisha, Interview by Rayan Alsemeiry, February 26, 2018.