Small Schools
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL, June 30, 2010
School reform advocates are rightly excited about a persuasive new study showing that New York City's small, specialized high schools are outperforming larger, more traditional schools, significantly narrowing the graduation-rate gap that currently exists between white and minority students across the city.
The study validates the small school policies of the Bloomberg administration, which has shut down 20 large, failing high schools and replaced them with more than 200 small schools, about half of which were the focus of this study.
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U.S. News and World Report has named the High School for Dual languages and Asian Studies Number 52 on its list of America's top high schools.
Insider.Schools.Org
DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE
Housed in the former Seward Park High School, Essex Street Academy is one of the most successful of the 200 small schools created by Chancellor Joel Klein since 2003. The 2009 progress reports released by the Department of Education ranked Essex Street Academy higher than 98 percent of the city's high schools, largely because of its success in graduating students who enter high school reading below grade level. The school's progress report showed that 84 percent of students graduate on time.
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AGL Named Top After School Program in New York
AGL Chronicles, November 20, 2009
AGL's after-school program for freshmen was recently named one of the top two Transition to High School Programs in New York City.
AGL+, which provides three days of tutoring and extracurricular programs for all ninth-graders, was named a premier program by the New York's Department of Youth and Community Development.
The school received its award on Thursday, Nov. 19 at a special event in Times Square. Officials from Henry Street Settlement (which coordinates the tutoring), ninth- grade students and teachers were present to receive the award, which includes a $3,000 stipend to fund a freshman trip at the end of the term.
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High school raises the roof with graffiti program
The Villager, November 4, 2008
"I think it's almost a museum."
With the pride of a new parent, Jesse Pais gestured expansively at the rooftop. Between the ramps and rails of skateboarders' delight, a rainbow of expression was on view. Works by artists from as far away as Brazil, the Czech Republic and Japan and as close as the Lower East Side covered the brickwork of an era before the concept of spray paint existed.
It wasn't MoMA, the Met or the Guggenheim - but the roof of Seward Park High School, and Pais is part curator and part dean for the incredible collection on display.
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FocusFit Newsletter, 2007
An alternative to the traditional classes offered in the public education system, FocusFit is dedicated to transforming fitness trends within our adolescent community. Through creative, fun, and innovative class formats, their instructors inspire teens to consistently take a proactive role in improving their health.
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Immigration Politics
From the newsletter of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, May 2006
What role do you think the American school system should play in educating immigrants? This is a difficult question that has been debated for nearly as long as immigrants have come to America.
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In Defense Of Big Schools
Gotham Gazette, March 2006
Gotham Gazette's Reading NYC Book Club met with author Samuel Freedman, New York Times education columnist, and Jessica Siegel, the teacher who is one of the subjects of "Small Victories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students and Their High School." An edited transcript is below:
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Angel Acosta Still Values FES Principles and Helps Others by Implementing Them
January 31, 2006
Provost Bob Golden, a stellar member of the Foundation for Excellent Schools (FES) team at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, had a pleasant surprise at the start of the school year. As Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Golden's office hires lots of student interns. And sophomore Angel Acosta, a new assistant, had something unexpected in common with Golden: FES...
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Hannah and Meyer Scher
January 4, 2006
Hannah and Meyer Scher, 57-year residents of Palo Alto, celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary Dec. 17. The couple met at a high school dance in 1938 while attending Seward Park High School...
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Documentary Being Made About Seward - Your Help Needed
January 17, 2006
I wanted to introduce myself and the Seward Park retrospective documentary so that we may make best use of the limited time available to us.
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Greatest Generation Scholarships
November 18, 2005
The program selects high-need New York City high school seniors who demonstrate academic performance, leadership skills and a commitment to community service. The program is named after Tom Brokaw's best-selling book about the generation who helped transform America after World War II...
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Seward Park To Get Two New High Schools
Downtown Express February 4 - 10, 2005
By: Divya Watal
Two new schools are slated to open in Lower Manhattan this September as part of a plan
to create 52 small secondary schools in the city, according to the Department of Education.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced the plan on Tuesday.
Over 6,750 students will enroll in the new small schools, which offer personalized
learning environments and academically rigorous standards, according to the mayor's office.
There are already 105 such schools in the city...
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Making High Schools Smaller
By Gail Robinson
November 18, 2004
For years, despite its prime location near Lincoln Center, Martin Luther King Jr. High School symbolized much of what ails New York City high schools. Under 50 percent of students graduated, and a lawsuit charged the school illegally turned away students because of their poor academic performance. The worst moment came in 2002 when a former King student slipped through school metal detectors and shot two students...
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