Friends Center for Children

As Executive Director Allyx Schiavone shares, “At Friends Center, we believe community is a basic need. We want to create opportunities to be together that are accessible to our children, families, and the greater New Haven community.”

Grounded in the belief that every child deserves access to high-quality, nature-based early education, Phase 2 of the Flint Street Family Campus expands this vision into a mission-driven, multidimensional place—supporting the social and emotional well-being of students, educators, families, and the broader New Haven community. Rooted in early childhood education yet designed for all ages, the campus brings together learning, community, and culture to foster creativity, connection, and care.

Phase 2

Shaped by deep community input, Phase 2 places nature at the heart of the experience. Arrival begins beneath a new canopy of trees, opening into spaces woven with native plantings, gardens, and layered landscapes. The school and theater are accessed through distinct entrances and programs.

From the parking lot to the classroom, the journey is immersed in lush planting—supporting daily rituals, movement, and joy.

Going Forward

Beyond Phase 2, Reed Hilderbrand supports Friends Center initiatives that strengthen the campus’s broader impact. This includes the Emotional Well-being Program, which promotes resilience, inclusion, and growth through emotional awareness, social intelligence, bias awareness, and supportive strategies for staff and families.

Food Equity

Reed Hilderbrand is also a committed partner in the Friends Center’s food equity work. Phase 2 explores the addition of a commercial community kitchen that will provide nourishing meals for children and staff during the day and transform into a café for theater events in the evening. A rooftop garden is envisioned above the kitchen and café, planted with vegetables and herbs to support the meals prepared below. In fall 2025, Friends launched Food Equity Delivered (F.E.D.), an initiative dedicated to providing high-quality daily meals and family food baskets, helping ensure every child receives the nutrition they deserve.

Yale School of Architecture Building Project

Since 2019, Principal Beka Sturges through her teaching of "Jim Vlock First Year Building Project" at Yale School of Architecture (YSOA), she has partnered with the Friends Center for Children on the "Teacher Housing Initiative." Developed in collaboration with YSOA, the Teacher Housing Initiative program provides free, stable housing and landscapes for early childhood educators and their families and is now recognized as an international model. The initiative currently includes four rent-free properties supporting 16 New Haven residents, with plans to serve 24 teachers and their families by 2028—representing 30% of the Friends Center’s staff.

The 2025 Jim Vlock First Year Building Project (YSOA)

For the third straight summer, students in the Jim Vlock First Year Building Project returned to New Haven’s Fair Haven Heights, delivering a bold three-story building that combines teacher housing with a lively community hub for the entire “village.” Nestled into the hillside below previous homes, the structure is carefully sited to work within the surrounding forest and tree canopy, preserving existing greenery while creating a light-filled ground-floor gathering space and two-level residence above. Native plantings, layered terracing, and outdoor gathering spaces extend the forested landscape into the heart of the project, grounding the building and connecting it seamlessly to its natural and community context.