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Science class will look a lot different for Big Apple public school students next year as they ditch the classroom and hitch a ride on the NYC Ferry to learn about the city’s waterways.
The new floating classroom initiative will bring thousands of K-12 students on 90-minute interactive voyages across the New York Harbor during off-peak weekday hours.
The sea school was officially unveiled Monday, with leaders calling the project a testament that “the entire city can be a classroom.”
New York City public school students ride the NYC Ferry to learn about the city’s waterways during a science class. Amber Roldan/NY Post “Some of the most meaningful learning happens beyond the walls of a school,” Jeanny Pak, COO of the city Economic Development Corporation, said at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The interactive classroom comes thanks to a partnership between the Billion Oyster Project, NYC Ferry, New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Hornblower Group.
According to Pak, the program is a way to get more use of existing infrastructure to educate and empower the next generation.
“We’re taking our beloved NYC Ferries transportation system that connects neighborhoods through our waterways and using it to create educational opportunities and open pathways for young people,” she added.
The program — slated to start next September — will operate on school days from Labor Day through Memorial Day, with up to two voyages each day that can accommodate approximately 300 students and teachers.
Once aboard the repurposed ferries, students will break up into small groups where educators from the Billion Oyster Project will lead age-appropriate activities about marine life, climate resilience and the people and industries that keep the harbor moving.
“When you’re on the water, you see the city from a new and different perspective, and you see this extraordinary ecosystem that we have here in New York City,” said Billion Oyster Project’s Director of Education Ann Fraioli.
New York City public school students will use the NYC Ferry to learn about the city’s waterways during science class next year. Amber Roldan/NY Post From flipping through nautical charts to testing water quality and viewing live organisms, students will be offered hands-on learning opportunities that rival what the pages of any marine science textbook could offer.
“We’ll bring on live oysters and some other little critters that they can get close to and identify,” Fraioli told the Post.
For over a decade, the Billion Oyster Project has brought harbor-focused curriculum and hands-on experience to more than 66,000 students.
The floating classroom initiative builds on that effort, officials said, working in tandem with the New York Harbor School, a maritime-focused public high school on Governors Island that has helped over 50 graduates become NYC Ferry captains and deckhands.
With a goal of engaging one million students by 2030, Billion Oyster Project hopes that ferry-based classrooms can annually welcome 10,000 students.
Stefano Chiampo, an environmental educator at the Billion Oyster Project, has been training to help lead the educational voyages and looks forward to seeing students’ reactions to the waterfront.
“It’s just one of the most moving things to just see what we’ve created and all this stuff on land from a boat,” Chiampo told the Post.
Teachers can sign up to join the 2027 floating classroom passenger list at Billion Oyster Project’s website.
