Wish School & UConn HNS Partnership
UConn HNS maintains an everyday presence at Fred D. Wish Museum School in Hartford, CT alongside PreK-5th grade students, school staff, families, educators, and community partners working to enhance nutrition and physical activity education as part of the larger Culture of Health @ Wish School.
As part of this everyday school-university partnership, UConn HNS actively contributes with all school-wide initiatives and events through collaborative coordination on the following Wish School committees:
- Attendance, Climate and Engagement Team (ACE)
- School Governance Council (SGC)
- Instructional Leadership Team (ILT)
- Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
- Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports Team (PBIS)
Wish School - Student Attendance Initiative
During the month of October, as lead by the Attendance, Climate and Engagement Team (ACE), a school-wide initiative focused on student attendance. UConn HNS supported the promotions and practices planned out by the ACE Team within Wish School, while also planning and funding the big prize for the winning classes – A Field Trip to UConn.
10/30/25 Field Trip to UConn
Involved Personnel
- 42 Wish School Students from the three 4th grade classes that won the attendance initiative
- 10 Wish School Staff
- 13 UConn HNS Staff
- 25 UConn Student-Volunteers
UConn Campus Tour - Outline of the Day
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Timing |
Personnel and Activities |
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8:30 - 9:00 |
Wish School Students, Teachers, and Chaperones coordinate departure
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9:00 - 9:45 AM |
Wish School Students, Teachers, and Chaperones ride on bus to UConn
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| 9:45 - 10:15 AM |
Welcoming at UConn - Gentry 144
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10:15 - 10:30 AM |
“Husky Talk”
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10:30 - 12:30 PM |
UConn Campus Tour - Traveling by Wish Classroom Teacher Groups with UConn Students
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12:30 - 1:00 PM |
Lunch - Gentry 144
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1:00 - 2:00 PM |
Bathrooms, Clean-Up, Distribute "Respect Bags", Attendance, Load Buses, Back to Wish |
Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) – “Husky Talk”
UConn HNS works to place relationships at the forefront of our collaborative efforts alongside people and partners. Sharing time, interactions, activities, and learning creates a consistent process of evaluation that is made up of everyday conversations and informal feedback.
Caring about people, genuinely being curious about their experiences, desiring continuous improvement in our work and partnerships, and working towards collective actions for necessary change is why we are committed to building upon Community Based Participatory Action Research (Minkler, 2005; Lucko, 2024) as an organizational priority and practice.
Positioning students, families, and community members as experts and continuing to foster genuine trusting relationships are prerequisites for honest exchange and solution building. UConn HNS has continued to evolve the framework of “Husky Talk” so to capture deeper, equity-driven insights through structured conversations, interviews, and interactive activities. The focus of Husky Talk during the 10/30/25 Field Trip to UConn was aligned with the Wish School Attendance Initiative. We wanted to learn from students about: School Attendance – Morning Routines
Students (N=42)
Question #1 - How do you get to school every morning? Please Pick the One Best Option
- I Ride the Bus to School
- I get a Ride from my Family
- I Walk to School with my Family
- I Walk to School by Myself
- Other (Please expand here as needed):
Top Responses
21 - I get a ride from my family
12 - I ride the bus to school
8 - I walk to school by myself
7 - I walk to school with my family
6 - students named more than one way they get to school
Others Receiving Votes
1 - Sometimes I get a ride from my aunt
1 - I get a ride from my family and pick my friends up if needed
Question #2 - When it comes to getting your day started... Where do you eat it?
Top Responses
22 - Home
13 - School
4 - Home and School
Question #3 - When it comes to getting your day started, what do you most often have for your first food of the day (anything/anywhere works)?
Top Responses
12 - Eggs
9 - Pancakes / Waffles
9 - Cereal
6 - Bacon
Others Receiving Votes
2 - Oatmeal
1 - for each - Toast, Fruit, Sausage, Yogurt, Pizza, Rice and Beans
Question #4 - What is something positive about your morning routines that helps you get to school every day?
Top Responses
19 - Brush Teeth (often mentioned among multi-part answers)
9 - Wash Face / Skincare (often mentioned among multi-part answers)
7 - Shower (often mentioned among multi-part answers)
7 - Family Support (often mentioned among multi-part answers)
Question #5 - If you had to share one thing...What makes you want to come to school every day?
Top Responses
17 - Learning / Education (generally)
14 - Friends
7 - Specials Classes (Art, Music, PE, UConn Class)
5 - Math Class (specifically)
5 - Field Trips (specifically)
Closing Analysis
There really is so much to learn from Wish School Students! Following a 4-week school-wide attendance initiative, we were able to spend time asking questions and learning from the Wish School Winners (42 students across three 4th grade classes). We were able to further understand students’ morning routines, how they get to school, where and what they eat, what and who supports them, and what excites them most about attendance on a daily basis.
By planning ahead of time to empower 20+ facilitators in the creation of a welcoming environment that positioned Wish Students as the experts, we were able to listen and grow our understanding about school attendance routines. We did this within a semi-structured 15-minutes and as part of a fun field trip at UConn. We do this to continue building positive relationships by increasing our understanding to then increase our connectivity. We share this information as a support for similar efforts across the Wish School community and to showcase the opportunity for replication with partnerships between students, families, schools, communities, and university stakeholders.