Dwight Hall Public School Interns Learn and Grow through Service in Local Classrooms

For more than two decades, Dwight Hall Public School Interns (PSI) has built bridges between Yale students and New Haven public schools. Through a partnership with Yale’s Office of New Haven Affairs (ONHA) and the leadership of Claudia Merson (Director of Public School Partnerships at ONHA and Dwight Hall Education Advisor) and Mark Fopeano (Dwight Hall Director of Programming and Evaluation), PSIs learn the culture and needs of their partner school and offer direct service to teachers, students, and administrators.

PSIs are paired with a single public school in New Haven for two years, thus forming a deep relationship. Interns integrate themselves into already-existing volunteer initiatives, dedicating time to supporting these initiatives and connecting their partner schools to opportunities and resources at Yale. They also serve as liaisons between local schools and Dwight Hall student-led member groups such as the New Haven Urban Debate League and Code Haven.

For PSIs Co-Coordinator Kaylen Yun ’26, the PSIs program represented a wonderful opportunity to give back to her local school district. “I learned about the PSIs program through the Dwight Hall website, and as someone who grew up in New Haven Public Schools, I was looking for opportunities to give back to the NHPS community and stay involved in spaces outside of campus,” Kaylen explained.

Ellen Windels ’27, a PSI at Common Ground High School, also used her educational background as motivation for joining the PSIs program. “I come from a rural school in Minnesota where I felt naturally involved at all levels of both the elementary and high schools, and I wanted to keep spending my time here in New Haven working in that educational capacity, where it feels so valuable to give time and energy to support teachers and staff who are so often depleted themselves,” she emphasized.

Because PSIs support their school’s already-existing initiatives, their roles differ significantly from school to school. KaLa Keaton ’25, for instance, works at High School in the Community (HSC) and emphasizes the flexibility of her role. “No two weeks are exactly the same, and that is what I love about this kind of work,” KaLa enthused. “It truly reflects the needs of the staff and students, whether I need to update a spreadsheet, run down to Long Wharf to secure food truck vendors, or revamp their website.” 

Ellen, meanwhile, collaborates with Common Ground High School, an environmental charter school with a vegetable farm, animals, and wetlands right on campus. Her work is both varied and incredibly rewarding. 

“The student body is small, and the community is quite close, which I have appreciated as it reminds me of my hometown,” she explained. “I have spent these past two semesters working primarily with the tenth graders in their environmental science classroom, as well as assisting in a variety of high school after-school programs. In addition, I help with the youngest Nature Year group, an outdoor education nonprofit run in conjunction with the school.”

“The main highlights have been getting to know individual students, watching those relationships grow week to week, and seeing my own comfort increase,” she continued. “It is such a relief to be in an educational environment outside of Yale, where my presence feels helpful and I am excited to make connections and support students.”

Kaylen, on the other hand, works at Elm City Montessori School, a K-8 school. In her second year of the program, Kaylen emphasized how engaged she has been with the school. “Working at the school for one and a half years has really helped me get to know the staff and students in deeper ways,” she described. “I have a better sense of school operations and the school community, and it has been a privilege to provide various methods of support.”

Kaylen has also been able to leverage resources at Dwight Hall to better assist the school. “I have recruited both short-term and long-term volunteers for Elm City Montessori School, and I have used Dwight Hall contacts and networks to spread news about school events and assemblies!” she said.

KaLa has also made use of Dwight Hall’s resources. Last fall, she invited Yale organizations and performers to High School in the Community, allowing HSC’s upperclassmen to talk face-to-face with college students about their passions. “The kids enjoyed it so much they gifted Yalies lettuce from the school garden!” KaLa said of the event. This semester, KaLa is continuing her work by creating Application Allies, a program that brings Yale students to HSC during the school day to assist with college applications.

Even when challenges arise, they can teach more about the realities of working in a school environment, KaLa explained. “Sometimes the greatest challenges are time and speed—not everything moves as quickly as you would like it to when you involve more and more parties, and that is also representative of what it means to work in a public school,” she said. “But public educators get it done for their kids by any means necessary—that is the greatest lesson I have been able to see from up close.”

For Kaylen, KaLa, and Ellen, the PSIs program has cemented their interest in education and supporting students, even if they are still exploring their precise path. “I think I would feel largely unfulfilled in any future work if I was not able to tie it back to or spend part of my time working with students and improving the spaces that they spend so much of their time in,” Ellen reflected. “I also hope to continue working with Common Ground in some capacity during my senior year, when my term as a PSI is up!”

Kaylen reiterated those sentiments: “I truly enjoy liaising between Elm City Montessori School and Yale, and whatever profession I go into, I hope to keep these passions and skills for collaboration and partnership with me. Being a PSI has been a way to better understand advances in socioeconomic justice on the ground. I want to work in economic development in the future, and education is a crucial part of that field.”

“Spending time outside the Yale bubble has been one of my highest priorities during college,” Kaylen concluded. “I highly advise that everyone finds opportunities to do that!” 

Public School Interns reflects the Grow pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, Advance program delivery model by encouraging students to develop their moral, creative and intellectual skills through experiential learning, mentorships, and training.

The 2023-2025 PSIs cohort includes 11 students working at 11 New Haven public schools. Students and community members interested in the PSIs program can learn more here.