New World Preparatory Charter School in Staten Island represents more than a construction project. It reflects what can happen when a new educational facility is designed with purpose, modern infrastructure, and long-term student success in mind.
Built in place of a deteriorated structure in a challenged area of Staten Island, the newly constructed smart school stands as a meaningful investment in both education and community. New World Preparatory Charter School was founded to provide students with an exceptional education through academic rigor, personalization, meaningful family engagement, and a strong focus on college readiness. Its mission is centered on opportunity, social justice, and preparing students with the academic, social, and emotional foundation needed to succeed beyond graduation.
To support that mission inside the building itself, MHT Technologies played a central role in delivering a more intelligent, energy-efficient learning environment through Power over Ethernet lighting, controls, and software-based building management. The broader project involved collaboration with Cisco and Digital Building Solutions (DBS), but from the MHT perspective, the real story is how low-voltage smart building infrastructure can directly support better spaces for students, educators, and administrators.
At New World Preparatory Charter School, MHT Technologies implemented a large-scale PoE lighting and controls solution designed to improve efficiency, visibility, adaptability, and ease of management throughout the facility. According to the case study materials, the deployment included 1,081 PoE fixtures, 541 node drivers, 256 sensors, and 140 wall switches installed across classrooms and common spaces. MHT’s Inspextor platform was also used to provide centralized monitoring, scheduling, and control of the lighting environment.
This kind of infrastructure matters in a school setting. Lighting is not just a utility. It influences comfort, visibility, focus, energy use, and the day-to-day experience of everyone in the building. In a modern charter school focused on academic achievement and student growth, the ability to control lighting intelligently can help create a more responsive environment that supports learning rather than simply illuminating it.
MHT’s solution gave the school a more streamlined and adaptable foundation by combining low-voltage power and data over Ethernet. That approach helped support smart lighting control while reducing dependence on more complex traditional electrical infrastructure. The system was designed to give staff access to real-time control, automated scheduling, occupancy-based adjustments, and centralized visibility into building performance.
For educators and administrators, that means the building can work smarter in the background. Lighting schedules can align with daily routines. Occupancy sensors can help reduce unnecessary energy use in unoccupied rooms. Manual wall controls still allow staff to make changes when needed. Instead of treating lighting as a fixed system, the school now has a more flexible platform that can adapt to how the space is actually used.
Just as important, the project shows how smart building infrastructure can serve schools without overcomplicating operations. MHT’s Inspextor software was commissioned as part of the deployment, and staff training was included to support ease of use. That combination of hardware, software, and user enablement is especially valuable in education settings, where facility teams need practical systems that deliver performance without adding unnecessary burden.
The project also demonstrates the scalability of MHT’s approach. The New World Preparatory Charter School installation was designed not only to improve immediate lighting performance and efficiency, but also to support future smart building growth. The PoE-based system provides a strong digital backbone for ongoing modernization as the school’s needs evolve.
From a community standpoint, that feels especially significant. This is not just a story about fixtures, sensors, and controls. It is a story about replacing an aging building with a modern educational environment built to create opportunity. When schools are designed with smarter infrastructure, students benefit from spaces that feel safer, more comfortable, and more intentional. Administrators benefit from better visibility and efficiency. Communities benefit from buildings that reflect investment, care, and belief in the future of their students.
For MHT Technologies, the New World Preparatory Charter School project is a strong example of how PoE lighting and intelligent controls can make a measurable difference in education. In a facility built to prepare students for college and life beyond the classroom, the infrastructure behind the walls now better aligns with the mission happening inside them.
That is the real value of smart building technology in schools. It is not just about innovation for innovation’s sake. It is about creating better environments for learning, empowering staff with better tools, and helping institutions operate more efficiently while supporting the people they serve.
To help tell the full story of this project, MHT Technologies returned to New World Preparatory Charter School in January alongside Cisco and Digital Building Solutions to film a video case study with school staff during a live school day. The visit offered a firsthand look at how the school is functioning as a modern learning environment and how the technology supports daily operations behind the scenes. We’re excited to share the finished video case study once it’s complete.