‘A Remarkable Resource’: ‘The Dome’ at NCHS Provides Students With Unique Learning Opportunity

“The Dome,” New Canaan High School’s new immersive learning theater—a space formerly known as “the planetarium”—saw a surge in usage last year as it became a center of the district’s learning, officials say.

The Board of Education received an update on The Dome’s growth and future plans at its Monday meeting.

“The Dome has become a remarkable resource for our faculty and staff, transforming the way that we explore, learn, and connect,” NCHS Director of Innovation Melinda Meyer told board members at their regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS and via YouTube.

“In its first full year, The Dome hosted experiences that inspired curiosity across disciplines, sparked collaboration among teachers, and immersed students in learning that felt both personal and shared,” Meyer said as she began her presentation.

The Dome officially opened in the spring of 2024.

Last school year, there was a large increase in use of The Dome, including 14 “community events” and 53 “curriculum events,” according to Meyer. The Dome was in use for 109 days, sometimes with multiple events on the same day.

“The increased number of curriculum events reflect our expansion to new grade levels and new disciplines,” Meyer said.

Last year, The Dome offered experiences to all of NCHS and Saxe Middle School, as well as some elementary school students. Other than for the science curriculum, The Dome was used in language and music classes, summer enrichment courses, school counseling programs, and many other ways.

The Art Department used The Dome in Photography and Photoshop classes to provide a better scale while working with landscape and outdoor photography. The Music Department used The Dome in a Music Tech class to accompany their produced music and “bridge original music with the immersiveness of the visuals in The Dome,” according to Meyer.

“More teachers are trained, more students are engaged, and The Dome is being used more than ever before,” Meyer said about the increased usage.

In her update, Meyer showed a video of an eighth-grade science class “going through a step-by-step learning process” in collaboration with The Dome. The class began by hand-drawing models of planets, then transitioned to coding representations of the solar system, and finally utilized The Dome to view an accurate model of the size and scale of space.

Using this class as an example, she said that “The Dome makes it possible for younger learners to experience abstract ideas in a concrete and memorable way.”

Meyer then described “The Artemis Visit,” taken to The Dome by 4th Graders at South School.

“[The kids] had an unforgettable journey into space science during their visit,” she said. “The immersive experience brought the Artemis mission to life, connecting directly to the school’s moon tree, grown from trees that have travelled to the moon and back. Inside The Dome, students were captivated by the visual simulations of the Artemis mission, from launch to the return to earth.”

Speaking to its multipurpose use, Meyer said that “The Dome serves as a classroom and a lab.”

“It’s not just where students come to learn, it’s where teachers experiment, create, and refine lessons,” she said.

An example of this is when The Dome hosted a professional learning session that used Magic School AI. During the session, K-12 World Language teachers “designed culturally authentic virtual journeys and then led their peers through these tours,” according to Meyer. 

The Dome also participated in “Dome-casts,” which Meyer described as live full-dome broadcasts that are streamed to planetariums worldwide. In February, NCHS piloted a Dome-cast for the “Music of the Spheres” event in collaboration with the US Space and Rocket Center, blending music and cosmic visuals.

The future of The Dome includes a major software upgrade, which will make learning easier for all disciplines, according to Meyer. The Dome will also see expanded elementary offerings “so that students begin engaging with The Dome earlier in their journey.” 

Meyer’s team is also exploring opportunities to use the new software to develop public shows and a possible lecture series to bring The Dome to families and community members.

Following the presentation, Board member Matt Campbell asked how much more The Dome could be used.

“It’s hard to put a number on it, but we are looking to expand more and more,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said. “The catalog continues to build as interest grows.”

“One of our visions is that The Dome will earn enough through rentals to maintain, manage, and continue to build that catalog,” the superintendent said. “We hope it becomes enough of a profit center over time so that we can build out the programming for all disciplines and all grades.”

Campbell then asked if there was any further information about providing the experience to elementary school students.

Meyer said, “Every grade wants to come here. We look at which programs will best support the curriculum and then decide what resources will provide the best experience to the kids.”