Innovations rarely retain their innovative quality 20 years later. No matter the field – technology, fashion, media, or science, to name a few – innovations become redundant or outmoded, and then get overhauled or replaced. Education is no exception: innovations come to education promising improved outcomes and radical changes…and…those same innovations blow out to sea in a matter of years, only to be replaced by a new educational trend.

And yet, there is something about the innovation in a little school that started on the East Side of Buffalo in 2004 – an innovation which is as impactful now as it was then. In this powerful community, NativityMiguel Middle School of Buffalo [“NativityMiguel”] casts aside the conventional and leans into the innovative. Consider the following 20-year-old innovations, alive and well at NativityMiguel:

• Extended Learning and Expanded School Day: The school eschews the notions that a school day should only run from 8 am to 2pm, and that learning must stop in the summer. Instead, NativityMiguel offers extended learning time, with most students picked-up around 5pm and with weekend enrichment opportunities. 

• Graduate Support: The school undercuts the belief that a middle school has done its job when students are promoted to high school. Instead, NativityMiguel believes that safe harbor in the frequently complicated middle school grades is not enough; we support our students – all of whom are underserved, whose families are striving for a better quality of life – in high school and college/early career. 

• Small Class Sizes and Single Gender Education: Finally, the school challenges the truism that the bigger the school, the more resources, and places for growth that students receive. Instead, NativityMiguel provides a nurturing community where class sizes are no bigger than 15-18 students, where children can develop in ways that truly promote their growth through single-gender education, and where each day fosters a holistic education, with students traversing courses in math, science, humanities, and the arts.