Croton-Harmon's Hogwarts-like houses group kids in new ways

CROTON-ON-HUDSON - They weren't sorted by a magical hat that can talk. But Croton-Harmon elementary schoolers pulled bracelets out of a bucket to find out what "Harry Potter"-style house they'd join for the year.

This is the second year the district has grouped elementary students into "houses," where they spend one Friday morning each month in activities with students from different grades.

"Three years ago we couldn't have envisioned this," said Kerri Bianchi, principal of Carrie E. Thompkins Elementary.

While the houses don't allow for students to learn how to levitate objects or brew potions, administrators say a different kind of magic is happening — kids are excited to be in a nontraditional learning environment and staff are inspired to think outside the box.

"It's not us sitting up here going 'this is what we want you to do,'" Bianchi said. The house system is evolving based on faculty feedback.

Gryffindor to Gratitude, Ravenclaw to Respect

There isn't an owlery, though there are chickens in the courtyard.

Croton's elementary school has eight houses. Instead of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, students are grouped into Respect, Empathy, Acceptance, Cooperation, Honesty, Integrity, Nobility and Gratitude.

Each house is led by two teachers and has its own chant, crest and color. Like the sorting ceremony in "Harry Potter," Croton students were sorted into houses to great fanfare during a school assembly.

Even as they advance grade levels, students remain in the same house while at the elementary school.

On "flexible Fridays" students wear T-shirts labeled with their house names and leave their usual cohort of classmates in the same grade to be with the other members of their house.

"It's the idea that you're going to see 6-year-olds learning next to, and elbow to elbow with, 9-year-olds because they've been put together in a way that was purposeful and builds bonds over the course of time," Croton-Harmon Superintendent Stephen Walker said. "So that's, I think, what's going to be the resonant concept throughout the system is how we put kids together to experience school."

Though the concept of grouping kids into houses was made famous by "Harry Potter," Croton leaders were inspired by a 2021 visit to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, a nonprofit middle school with a house system.

Students responsible for younger peers

On a recent flexible Friday, kids in gray T-shirts emblazoned with "Respect" participated in a relay race in a hallway.

Members of Gratitude wore aqua T-shirts. In the cafeteria they used water colors to decorate boxes they made, to be given to someone for whom they were grateful.

In the gym, Empathy, in yellow, wrote down what they could say to someone who might be feeling nervous. They decorated paper feathers to fill out the plumage of a turkey on a wall in the hallway. The turkey had reason to be nervous as Thanksgiving was approaching.

Students aren't just playing games in their houses, Bianchi said. They do everything from STEM projects to arts and crafts. And activities are often tied to books related to the house's namesake.

"We try to weave these eight character traits into everything we do," Bianchi said.

Brooklyn Chiaramonte, a fourth-grader, said she liked being in Gratitude because she got to make new friends. She and her fellow fourth-graders all have kindergartener buddies they're responsible for, making sure they get back to their classrooms when activities with their houses are done.

No Quidditch, but other benefits

Croton's leaders say they're seeing the benefits of grouping kids in nontraditional ways.

"One of the things that we talk about a lot is the arbitrary ways in which kids get divided," said Walker. "Can we be grouping kids by interest, by passion, by what inspires them at that moment, by what their needs are at that moment, rather than some of these more arbitrary silos that kids have been put in?"

Watching one house doing a relay race in a hallway, Bianchi pointed out how students with special needs, particularly kids who normally learn separately from the other students in their grade, blended in with the rest of their housemates.

And the houses aren't just made up of teachers and students. Administrators, clerical staff, paraprofessionals and even custodians are included.

"Students are getting the opportunity to see all the adults in the building collaborate. They're seeing teachers in different lights," said Assistant Principal Craig Campanaro. "It's really bringing the entire school together as a family and a team that supports one another."

There have also been unintended benefits, Bianchi said — "Teachers now know students in younger grades, watch their growth, watch their development and are invested in their success before they even really know them as their classroom teacher."

With the houses spread throughout the school doing a range of activities, it can be overwhelming for some students, Bianchi said. And when that happens faculty make sure to give kids space to take a break.

"I think it helps kids and families and the adults in the system to think differently about how school can work," Walker said.

A culture of imagination

Croton administrators aren't sure how long students will stay in their houses or what what the houses will look like in a few years. They plan on letting the program evolve based on what works for students and staff.

Last year was about establishing the routine, Bianchi said. This year they have focused on collaboration and expanding connections both with other houses and the community. For example: Integrity and Honesty both met with a community member who runs a charitable organization that raises money for food for pets in need.

Next year, it might mean two Fridays a month or doing other events in their houses, Bianchi said.

The district may bring similar changes to the middle and high schools, though it's not yet clear what that would look like, Walker said.

There are some barriers to work around, all related to scheduling, state requirements and making sure teachers get the prep time they are contracted to get.

"There are things that we have to work around, but nothing is impossible," Bianchi said.

Encouraging teachers to pursue passion projects

That attitude is shared with Croton's teachers, who are encouraged to work with colleagues to teach lessons or units that combine two subjects. A physical education teacher, for instance, worked with a music teacher to teach line dancing.

There are no cloaks of invisibility, time-turners or chocolate frogs, but Croton is finding other ways to make education more exciting for both students and teachers.

To further inspire teachers, Croton asked them to pursue projects they're passionate about — with no strings attached. Teachers get scheduled time to work on them. Projects don't necessarily have to be related directly to students, though many are.

Cassie Cartaginese, a high school special education and English teacher, got a grant to create an accessible library for students who struggle with reading.

Elizabeth Sofroniou, a third-grade teacher, introduced Family Fridays when a student's family member is invited to teach the class about a passion of theirs. The class has done yoga with a child yoga instructor, pulled invasive species in the park during a lesson on plants, and made paper mache masks with a theatrical mask maker.

Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Croton NY elementary school's house system inspired by Harry Potter