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Students at Newark’s newest high school will have to wait a year before moving into their permanent home. Until then, they will spend their first year at another school.
Freshman students at New Media High School, which will open in September, will spend their first year at Bard High School Early College while renovation work continues at the former Dayton Street School building, the district announced this month. If that stays on schedule, this year’s freshman cohort will move into the renovated Dayton Street building as sophomores in the 2027-28 school year, joined by a new class of freshmen, said Superintendent Roger León during March’s budget hearing.
Newark’s newest high school will focus on preparing students for careers in content creation, video media production, and entertainment management.
Superintendent Roger León’s plan to expand Newark Public Schools and open new schools like New Media is a stark shift from former superintendents who closed buildings during the period when the state had oversight of Newark schools. The former Dayton Street School, the future home of New Media, closed in 2012 under Superintendent Cami Anderson during state control.
New Media High School will be the district’s 12th school that’s opened since León became superintendent in 2018. The list of schools opened in the last eight years includes the Newark School of Fashion and Design in 2021, Nelson Mandela Elementary School in 2023, and the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design in 2025 after a three-year delay.
This month, the district also announced that Steven Oliver, former vice principal at Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School, will be New Media High School’s inaugural principal.
Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, did not respond to a request for comment on how many students will attend New Media at Bard this upcoming school year, or if construction plans at the former Dayton Street School remain on track.
New Media High School will eventually open in the city’s South Ward, next to the site where Lionsgate Studios Newark is building a production facility set to open in 2027.
This school year’s budget includes $27.5 million for renovations at the former Dayton Street building. During March’s budget hearing, León also said that the district plans to allocate additional funding in next year’s budget to help fund the renovation work at the site.
Like other specialized schools in the district, New Media will offer students apprenticeships and internships with industry partners such as Lionsgate Newark. Students attending the school for the upcoming year were selected based on their eighth grade report cards, attendance, and state test scores.
The school’s curriculum says ninth graders will learn the basics of storytelling, including scripting and short-form content creation. Freshman students will create 30-second commercials, five-minute interviews, and social media videos using editing tools like CapCut, iMovie, and Canva Video by the end of the school year.
By senior year, students will create full-length productions, develop their personal brands, master high-level editing techniques, and explore future careers.
This year’s freshman class will also learn core subjects such as English I, modern world history and geography, biology, Algebra I, and geometry. The district is currently hiring for teaching roles at the school, including a department chair, school counselor, and biology teacher, among other positions.
Earlier this year, León also said the staggered approach the district is using for opening New Media High School is consistent with how Newark has opened schools before. Previously, University High School operated inside Malcolm X Shabazz High School before moving into its own building. People’s Prep charter school also shared space with Bard High School but was forced to leave the district after a four-year legal battle.
“Our goal is not always to build the plane while flying,” León said during the March budget hearing, but added that the district under his leadership knows “how to do a lot with a little.”
Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
