{"id":362138,"date":"2026-10-01T20:12:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T20:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362138\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T20:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T20:12:49","slug":"a-new-kind-of-education-system-inside-runway-greens-plans-for-floyd-bennett-field-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/362138\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A new kind of education system\u2019: Inside Runway Green\u2019s plans for Floyd Bennett Field \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, Runway Green has been pitching an ambitious vision for Floyd Bennett Field: turn part of the sprawling former airfield into an outdoor classroom where New York City students can learn about sustainability, explore green careers and get hands-on experience outside the traditional classroom. <\/p>\n

Now, the vision is starting to become something Brooklynites can actually see taking shape. <\/p>\n

With a 60-year lease for the new site now secured<\/a>, Runway Green expects to break ground in 2027 on the first piece of its planned campus \u2014 a three-acre farm being developed in collaboration with the Campaign Against Hunger. <\/p>\n

For Geoff Roehm, Runway Green\u2019s founder and CEO, the lease is more than a legal milestone; one that gives the project a permanent home. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving site control, of course, is a prerequisite to be able to begin construction,\u201d Roehm told Brooklyn Paper. He added that the organization is \u201creally excited\u201d to begin breaking ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the farm is only the beginning.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Paper spoke with Roehm about what Runway Green\u2019s<\/a> campus could actually look like, what students could do there and why the organization believes Floyd Bennett Field could become a testing ground for a new kind of education in New York.<\/p>\n

From a plot of land to an education system<\/p>\n

The first phase will begin in 2027, but Runway Green\u2019s larger goal is to create an interconnected campus rather than a standalone school or facility. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to know that we have a permanent home base to be able to create this really special thing for kids that we\u2019re all working on,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

Runway Green is working with a collection of public and private partners, including education, environmental and youth organizations. The idea, he said, is for those organizations to operate alongside one another and give students different ways to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most exciting things about this project is it\u2019s not just one organization,\u201d he said. \u201cBut a broad set of both public and private stakeholders coming together to say, \u2018How can we create something that\u2019s more powerful working together for kids?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RunwayA new $60 million education campus is planned for Floyd Bennett Field, where Runway Green has secured a 60-year lease for seven acres of the historic airfield.Rendering courtesy of ARO, SCAPE, Colloqate<\/p>\n

Roehm describes that network as an \u201cecosystem,\u201d with the future Floyd Bennett Field campus at its center.<\/p>\n

The construction itself will happen in phases. Runway Green already has $9.3 million in dedicated public funding to get the project started, Roehm said, while fundraising continues for the larger campus. <\/p>\n

The unusual nature of the site \u2014 federal land located within New York City \u2014 means the project involves multiple layers of government and partners, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a piece of federal land that is in New York City,\u201d Roehm said. \u201cAnd a wonderful component of this is that there are lots of folks in New York City and lots of folks in the federal government who are excited about supporting this.\u201d<\/p>\n

What would a student actually do there? <\/p>\n

That may be the most interesting part of Runway Green\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

Roehm doesn\u2019t envision students simply taking a field trip to walk around the future campus. Instead, he described a range of experiences that could grow from a single day of exploration into semester-long programs and college credit.<\/p>\n

A student could start with a one-day visit, exploring different organizations and learning about careers connected to sustainability and the green economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have these wonderful different partner organizations on the campus all doing sort of authentic and powerful work, much of it related to issues of sustainability and green economy and job development,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

Partner organizations include CUNY, Billion Oyster Project, Solar One and Outward Bound. The goal is partly exposure: giving students a chance to encounter careers they may not have considered before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are these different kinds of jobs that might be out there that I\u2019ve never heard of?\u201d Roehm said, describing the questions students could explore.<\/p>\n

Students could also spend multiple days at the site, including overnight camping and team-building activities through New York City Outward Bound Schools.<\/p>\n

\"\"The first phase is expected to break ground in 2027 with a three-acre urban farm.Rendering courtesy of ARO, SCAPE, Colloqate<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the most intensive option: semester-long programming.<\/p>\n

Students would remain enrolled at their home high schools while spending part of their week at Floyd Bennett Field, similar to the way other specialized education centers operate. They could ultimately earn a credential connected to a career in the green economy.<\/p>\n

The programming is designed to give students a progression of experiences \u2014 from simply discovering new possibilities to getting deeply involved in a potential career pathway.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those different access points are possible and really on a spectrum of I can come to explore up to I can end with a full credential and sort of a deepening understanding,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

A classroom where students could earn college credit<\/p>\n

Runway Green\u2019s plans also extend beyond high school programming.<\/p>\n

The organization is working with CUNY Kingsborough Community College to develop dual-credit courses that would allow students to earn both high school and college credit.<\/p>\n

A three-course pilot is scheduled to launch this winter, Roehm said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve developed an initial three-course arc with CUNY that we\u2019re going to launch this winter as a pilot program, where kids will be able to earn both high school and college credit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The courses will combine classroom learning with hands-on work alongside Runway Green\u2019s partner organizations.<\/p>\n

But Roehm sees the pilot as testing something as part of a much bigger picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York is moving toward its \u201cPortrait of a Graduate\u201d framework, which focuses on six competencies students will need to demonstrate as the state\u2019s education system changes.<\/p>\n

\"\"The site will offer outdoor classrooms and a maritime garden.Rendering courtesy of ARO, SCAPE, Colloqate<\/p>\n

Runway Green wants its pilot to demonstrate what that could look like in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actually going to make it what we think will be the first comprehensive model of assessing students on Portrait of a Graduate measures,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

Students will participate in hands-on projects, explore careers and earn college and high school credit while also demonstrating growth in the state\u2019s six competencies.<\/p>\n

For Runway Green, that could eventually make Floyd Bennett Field more than a campus for student programming. Roehm envisions it as a place where educators can experiment with what competency-based learning could look like across New York.<\/p>\n

Why Floyd Bennett Field? <\/p>\n

Part of what makes the project unusual is where Runway Green chose to build it.<\/p>\n

Floyd Bennett Field carries layers of history, from the Lenape people and Barren Island to its days as New York City\u2019s first municipal airport and its role during World War II.<\/p>\n

Roehm said that history won\u2019t simply sit in the background of the campus. He wants the site itself to become part of what students study.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery space has a long history, and we need to understand that history and use it as learning experiences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Students have already spent time at Floyd Bennett Field through early pilot programs, even before construction has begun.<\/p>\n

\"\"Floyd Bennett Field is a large part of Brooklyn\u2019s historical landscape. The site once served as an airfield.Photo courtesy of Cradle of Aviation\/nyheritage.org<\/p>\n

The site\u2019s history can become a jumping-off point for lessons that combine social sciences with physical sciences, Roehm said \u2014 allowing students to learn about the place they\u2019re standing in while also examining broader questions about how communities, environments and cities change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an airfield. It served a huge role, obviously, in World War II, the long-distance flights that took off from Floyd Bennett Field,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even prior to that, the ways in which Barren Island supported New York City, you know, as it was a rapidly expanding sort of like global city, right? And the different iterations that Floyd Bennett Field went through over the course of that time, all sort of like interesting, powerful place-based learning experiences that can drive student learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why a 60-year lease? <\/p>\n

The length of the new lease may be easy to overlook, but Roehm sees it as one of the most important parts of the project.<\/p>\n

A 60-year agreement gives Runway Green the permanence it needs to build a long-term educational institution rather than a temporary program.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo think about six decades of protected park land in the middle of New York City that is dedicated to New York City students,\u201d Roehm said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t about building high-rises.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Roehm, the value is in dedicating a piece of the city to students for generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not how the market is typically gonna work,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in this case, because this is such a unique piece of land, it can work that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The location also gives students something that can be difficult to find in New York City: access to nature and outdoor space alongside career-focused learning.<\/p>\n

What Runway Green hopes Brooklyn sees next<\/p>\n

A year from now, Roehm expects the project to look substantially different.<\/p>\n

He hopes Runway Green will have broken ground, expanded programming with CUNY and New York City Public Schools, brought additional partners into the project and made significant progress toward funding the larger campus.<\/p>\n

But he also has a broader goal.<\/p>\n

Roehm believes the project could become particularly relevant as artificial intelligence begins changing how people work \u2014 and how schools prepare students for that work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at an inflection point as a society as we enter an age of AI that is going to change the way that we work and learn, across all industries and across sort of like all institutions, including in education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He sees Floyd Bennett Field as a place where New York could experiment with what comes next.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a blank slate that we can come together on, and I think a year from now, having more people that are bought in to sort of that future vision and utilizing Floyd Bennett Field to be a driver of that would be exciting progress for us,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

And while the campus is being designed around a much larger vision, Roehm said Brooklyn families are central to the project\u2019s origins.<\/p>\n

\"\"Runway Green is working with CUNY to develop dual-credit programming for students.Rendering courtesy of ARO, SCAPE, Colloqate<\/p>\n

The concept, he said, came out of a community design process involving Brooklyn children and parents.<\/p>\n

For those families, he wants Runway Green to ultimately offer something difficult to replicate inside a traditional classroom: the opportunity to work on real problems in a real place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want Brooklyn parents to know that if they want their kids to be able to engage in real problem-solving, solving authentic problems that exist in our communities and in our society, being able to connect with nature, and an incredible part of our city, that is underutilized, that Runway Green is a great place for their kids to be able to come and learn,\u201d Roehm said.<\/p>\n

And that community involvement isn\u2019t necessarily supposed to end once the campus is built.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that history and that hopefully legacy of the project means that it will continue to evolve, to evolve with input and ownership from Brooklyn kids and parents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, Runway Green has been pitching an ambitious vision for Floyd Bennett Field: turn part of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,134518,100,99,134519,92256,2397,67,108899,76321,134520,82661,33011,21196,9,24,19440,12,370,63,134521,4838],"class_list":["post-362138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-education","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-students","tag-brooklyn-schools","tag-cuny","tag-education","tag-environmental-education","tag-floyd-bennett-field","tag-gateway-national-recreation-area","tag-green-jobs","tag-kingsborough-community-college","tag-marine-park","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-schools","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-runway-green","tag-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}