Bard Early College-Newark is a partnership between Bard College and Newark Public Schools that makes it possible for students to earn both a high school diploma and an Associate’s Degree in four years for free. Bard Early College-Newark is not a charter school but a magnet public high school in Newark where students can earn up to 60 college credits from Bard College. In 2022, 97% of our students identify as being of color (26% of our students identified as Hispanic, 69% identified as Black, 2% identified as Pacific Islander, Asian, and/or American Indian). About half of our students are either native-born Newarkers while the other half are recent migrants to the city of Newark. 

This need for creating relevant and student-centered course material became apparent during and after the Covid-19 pandemic when issues of absenteeism and student engagement gripped many urban public schools throughout the nation, impacting students of color the most. The Newark Public Schools remained closed for a longer duration of time than most public schools in New Jersey and the United States. This decision was necessitated by the fact that 86% of Newark’s population are Black and Latino residents - and these residents were most susceptible to the dire health consequences of Covid-19. 

As we returned to in-person learning in 2021, Dr. Puicón quickly realized that a different approach to writing, reading, and learning was needed in order to engage all students coming back to school, especially those who had struggled during virtual instruction. The best approach was to ask students straight up - what do you want to learn in history class and why?

The response - students expressed interest and yearned for a course on the history of the city of Newark. Many were born and raised in the city or had recently migrated to the city but had very little prior knowledge of the great and complex history of Newark. So, Dr. Puicón took on the task of petitioning her school’s administration, developing a course syllabus, and creating an original curriculum to put forth to Newark’s Board of Education. 

The course was unanimously approved. 

Newark’s Board of Education, near the time of course approval, had recently regained local control of its school after the state of New Jersey took over the district in 1995, and kept it for nearly 25 years. 

One of the objectives of the newly empowered Newark Board of Education was to ensure the full implementation of the state’s Amistad Curriculum in all of its schools, classrooms, and curriculum. Known colloquially in Newark as Amistad, this legislation passed in New Jersey in 2002, over 20 years ago, requiring all schools in the state to infuse their school curriculum (not just in social studies/history classes but all core classes including math and sciences) with African-American history and history of the African diaspora. 

Innovative Newark and Dr. Puicón have received recognition from the Amistad Commission, the New Jersey Department of Education, the New Jersey Historical Commission, the NAACP (Newark branch), and the New Jersey Academic Studies Alliance for creating a course that speaks to the current needs of students in Newark in an intellectually rigorous, culturally-relevant, and educationally innovative way.

In addition, for her work in creating and implementing Innovative Newark, Dr. Puicón was honored as 2024 New Jersey History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.