WELCOME TO THE LEAP@MS51
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM

WHY JOIN LEAP@MS51?

Give Your Child More Than School, Give Them a LEAP Into Their Future!

Today’s world is changing faster than ever, and the path to high school, college, and future careers is becoming increasingly competitive. We believe our youth deserve more than a traditional day-school experience. They deserve opportunities to discover their strengths, build real-world skills, explore new interests, and gain confidence for whatever comes next. That’s the vision behind LEAP@MS51.

Our goal is to simply help students turn curiosity into skills, skills into confidence, and confidence into future opportunities. We create an engaging, supportive environment where students can learn by doing, try new things, make meaningful choices, and discover possibilities they may never have encountered in a traditional classroom.

 Learning That Goes Beyond the Classroom

At LEAP@MS51, we bring together four powerful educational approaches to create a well-rounded experience:

• Project-Based Learning (PBL) — Students learn by creating, solving problems, and bringing their ideas to life.

• Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) — Students develop confidence, communication, collaboration, resilience, and other skills that matter far beyond the classroom.

• Self-Directed Learning — Students have opportunities to make choices, follow their interests, and take ownership of their learning.

• Career & Technical Education (CTE) — Students are introduced to practical skills, career pathways, technology, and areas of study that can help shape their future.

Together, these approaches transform learning from “What do I have to learn?” into “What can I create, discover, and become?”

🚀 Explore. Choose. Discover.

We believe that one of the most important parts of growing up is discovering what excites you. That’s why LEAP@MS51 gives students the freedom to explore. Our year is divided into three "cycles". During each c ycle, students can choose from different activities and select three activities per cycle. From trying something completely new to developing an interest they already have, students get the chance to explore widely, find their passions, and build skills along the way.

💡 Build Skills. Build Confidence. Build a Future.

Throughout 6th–8th grade, students will have opportunities to build on both new and existing skills while creating projects they can be proud of.

In select classes, students will also learn how to create their own virtual portfolio, showcasing their projects, accomplishments, skills, and creativity. By the end of the year, these individual projects can come together into a personalized virtual portfolio that students can continue building as they grow.

It’s more than a collection of school projects—it’s a way for students to begin telling their own story of what they can do.

❤️ A Partnership With Families

We know families want their children to be prepared—not just for the next grade, but for the opportunities waiting beyond middle school.

LEAP@MS51 is designed to give students a place to explore their interests, develop practical skills, strengthen their confidence, and discover new possibilities in a supportive community.

Because the future belongs to young people who are willing to explore, create, learn, and LEAP forward.

Join us at LEAP@MS51—and let’s help your child discover what they’re capable of!

WHAT IS PBL, SEL, SDL, AND CTE? WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?

PBL, SEL, SDL, and CTE are educational frameworks that have been determined to be effective in encouraging educational growth in children. We integrate many of these elements into activities to provide a well-rounded, powerful program for our students.

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PBL)

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge. -pblworks.org

PBL remains an important framework among all of our classes, as it studies have proven it is among the best ways to help students retain learning. By intentionally blending in PBL practices, LEAP@MS51 administration helps ensure activities are hands-on, fun, and engaging for youth. 

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL)

SEL is best defined as an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. -casel.org

As SEL has become an integral part in education, we continue to blend in SEL practices to ensure we provide the support students need to properly regulate themselves and their emotions. LEAP@MS51 runs in a slightly more intimate setting compared to day school, with a staff-to-student ratio of 15 students per teacher as opposed to NYC DOE's 30 students per teacher. We want to help students develop more than just academically, but also personally and emotionally.

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING (SDL)

Self-directed learning describes a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes. -Malcolm Knowles

SDL is an important process in which students learn to become truly independent learners. We believe learning is a life-long journey. As we encourage our youth to learn new skills, we also want to empower them with the skills they need to learn further their own educational career.

CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE)

CTE provides academic and technical instruction in the content areas of agriculture, business and marketing, family and consumer sciences, health sciences, trade and technical education, and technology education. -nysed.gov

CTE is an area that is normally applied to High School Education - however, we also believe that we can never get too early of a head start! We build in CTE elements into select activities where students have shown promise in certain areas to extend their classroom knowledge beyond just theory, and finally be able to put things into practice! While CTE topics may not apply to all activities, we implement CTE practices in activities where they can reach for real-life, hands-on learning opportunities. 

All in all, we'd love for the program to "wow" you! This is about the youth we serve, and we sincerely hope your child(ren)'s work and progress will "wow" you even more - consider registering today!