Dear Judy.

My son, who is a senior, is about to drop out of school. He is very frustrated because the school gave him a full day schedule, and classes that he doesn’t need and that he is taking with 9, 10 and 11 graders. The school said that their policy is that seniors have to attend full day. They are not offering college classes or any other classes that students can benefit from.Is there anything I can do?

Luz

Dear Luz

Your son is not alone in experiencing “senioritis.” Students who finish their diploma requirements by the end of junior year or first semester of senior year ask: why am I still here, when I could be out in the world? Of course, mid-March is not the most convenient time to start thinking about leaving - in effect he would be dropping out. If he walks out in the middle of the year without a diploma, he will face problems down the road attending college, joining the service, and getting good jobs. If he had planned earlier, he might have been able to enliven the 12^th grade with internships and co-op work situations, and taken electives in subjects that interest him that he didn’t have time for before. But if he leaves three months before graduation, what will he do? Even though he has fallen prey to senioritis, and the tendency to laze about at loose ends, there are better ways to use 12^th grade.

You haven’t told me what school he attends, so I can’t be specific. Many large schools do give kids a short day in senior year if they have only a few courses to complete, however, since your school has a stated policy to require a full day, your son is stuck with it.

First things first, make sure he does have all the credits he needs to graduate. Check his report cards and ask the guidance counselor if there is any doubt. If necessary, he can use his remaining time to make up a missing gym or Regents requirement. Credits established, look for ways to cut through his boredom: most high schools rely on student help in the office, audio-visual squad, after school activities - a way to fill the time, maybe learn a new skill. Or, how about joining the committee to plan the senior prom, work on the yearbook, or raise money for the class trip, and other senior activities. (more…)

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Long-awaited “main round” high school acceptance letters to 8th graders MAY be delayed, according to a report in today’s Daily News.

The letters with high school matches, due to be delivered to students on March 24, are being held up by court order because of a lawsuit against the Department of Education by the NAACP and the teachers union. The lawsuit charges that the DOE acted illegally in moving to close 19 schools.

According to the Daily News, “Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Joan Lobis ruled Tuesday to temporarily ban the city from making the matches, since their process isn’t factoring in the closing schools and isn’t matching kids with them. ”

The court is encouraging both sides to work together to resolve the issue and the DOE is allowed to go ahead and prepare to send out letters — just not send them - yet.

For thousands of anxious 8th-graders and their parents, a longer wait to receive confirmation of where they will be attending school next year means more nail-biting.

Are you among the 86,000 or so families awaiting acceptance letters? How do you feel about the delay?

The 1,082 page, 20-year-old world history textbook sits on a desk next to the 1,114 page biology book. They weigh in at a good five pounds each. There’s no more room for them in the already overloaded backpack, stuffed with an equally weighty Spanish textbook, lunch (quite possibly including some of the old and uneaten variety), a mess of pens, notebooks, binders, power bars, and gym clothing. The thing totaled close to 30 pounds at a recent weigh-in.The insanity of hauling heavy backpacks around in a city where kids have long commutes and lots of stairways is well known. The question I’m posing, though, goes beyond the backpack issue. I’m puzzled about why so many schools are still making use of these old textbooks.

A recent Scholastic survey commissioned by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and released last week found few teachers believe traditional textbooks can engage today’s digital natives and prepare them for success. Teachers say they prefer digital and non-digital resources like magazines and books other than textbooks.

Only 12 percent of some 40,000 teachers surveyed said textbooks help students achieve, while only 6 percent said textbooks engage their students in learning. Eliminating textbooks (a $7 billion market in the U.S.) is also cost effective in these cash-strapped times; Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California proposed cutting the budget deficit by replacing “outdated” textbooks with electronic versions.

But what is replacing textbooks? I noticed that one city high school is running a workshop on how to use YouTube in the classroom, along with instructions on an animated tool called Prezi. Some schools are moving toward digital textbooks, known as FlexBooks, which can be downloaded, projected, and printed. (more…)

New York City students can now anonymously report threats or acts of violence at their schools by calling 866-SPEAK-UP.

The toll-free hotline is operated by gun violence prevention group PAX, whose national service has received more than 35,000 calls since it was founded in 2002. City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn led the charge to promote 866-SPEAK-UP in New York City — with help from the Department of Education and the NYPD — in hopes of curtailing the popular “stop snitching” message among students.

“School should be a safe haven for students,” said Speaker Quinn in a press release. “Too many of our children fear retaliation if they report a violent incident that is about to happen and unfortunately authorities find out when it’s too late and innocent lives are affected. This program will empower students to take school safety into their own hands.”

A small number of New York City schools will participate in a pilot program to promote the hotline in their building. If you’d like to promote the service in your school, more information is available on the PAX website.

Gotham Gazette this week features a detailed look at bullying in NYC schools, concluding that data remains scarce as to whether the Chancellor’s Regulation designed to curb bullying has been effective.  The article came out in anticipation of Respect for All week, slated for March 8-12;

Is bullying or violence a problem at your school? Do you think this national hotline will be effective in curtailing it? And, is your school planning any “Respect for All” activities? Let us know in your comments below.

In a surprising change of course, the Department of Education announced that it will cancel plans to move a charter school into a Bronx vocational high  school. The DOE’s decision comes after meetings with representatives from the construction industry, reports the The New York Times.

The New York City Charter High School for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industries was slated to replace some vocational programs at the Bronx’s Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School. The school’s building programs are on the chopping block due to low graduation rates.

The DOE will now work with construction industry representatives to develop a new school in the building. Smith’s principal René Cassanova told the Times that, while she hasn’t spoken to the DOE regarding the plan, she is pleased: “What we want is our industry partners at the table and the programs at Smith.”

AECI plans to rent private space for the 2010/2011 school year to house its growing student population. Controversy has plagued the school since founder Richard Izquierdo Arroyo was indicted on charges of embezzlement last summer.

For more information, see articles from the Daily News and The New York Times  online.

A few weeks back, Insideschools attended the yearly New High Schools Fair. We were lucky enough to speak with faculty and staff from each  school about their hopes and plans for the 2010/2011 school year.

We’ve condensed all of this information into fact-packed profiles that will help you determine whether one of these new schools is right for your child:

• In Brooklyn: Academy For Health Careers.
• In the Bronx: Bronx Bridges High School.
• In Manhattan: Renaissance Charter High School For Innovation,  Frank Mccourt High School,  Hudson High School Of Learning Technologies, Murray Hill Academy, Manhattan Academy Of Arts & Language,  and International High School At Union Square.
• In Queens:  High School For Community Leadership, Queens Metropolitan High School, Cambria Heights Academy, and Hillside Arts & Letters Academy.

Three new transfer schools will open in September as well. You can find information on those schools in the Department of Education’s New High Schools Directory.  As we reported last week, the due date for high school applications has been extended to Thursday, Feb. 25.

Good luck!

There are many reasons why high school choice in New York City is so fraught and frightening for parents. In a city where parenting can resemble a competitive sport, important questions abound. But as our children age, we learn that these questions are only the beginning.

Concerns from parents who must decide on a specialized high school or other placement for their child have dominated conversation on Insideschools and in countless households. Class size, academic quality, commute time, and advanced placement offerings are all being weighed, along with the role of sports and arts.

Other pressing questions are close behind, because the inevitable and lifelong separation process is dramatically stepped up when your child enters high school. For example, what happens four years later? What percent of students graduate on time (in a city where half don’t) and how well prepared will graduates be for college? What is the quality of college counseling in city high schools, and how do college admissions officers regard graduates of say, Bronx Science vs. Eleanor Roosevelt?  Just how much should college concerns weigh upon what happens after 8th grade?

Those who have survived the intensity of New York City school admissions all the way to high school may feel like grizzled veterans when it comes time to pick a college. Still, it’s a shock to the system to consider our unformed adolescents as young adults who will, if all goes well, be out the door and making their own decisions before long.

Assumptions we make while dragging our 12 and 13-year-olds on school tours may be struck down as their interests and abilities change. I’ve always found one of the oddest and most difficult parts of school choice in New York City, starting with pre-kindergarten, can be making choices based on what I imagine my child will be like a full year later. (more…)

This week’s snowstorm forced the postponement of open houses at specialized and new high schools. Because of the delays, the Department of Education is giving 8th graders and their families a few more days to make up their minds about whether to apply to new high schools, or, for those lucky enough to have a choice after the first round of high school acceptances, which school to accept!

The due date has been changed from Tuesday, Feb. 23 to Thursday, Feb. 25. From the comments on InsideSCOOP and our forum, some families are having a tough time making a decision. If you’ve got experience to share about the schools, please chime in.

And, see the Department of Education’s website for a rundown of all weather-related schedule changes, including the new open house dates for specialized high schools, and hearings about hotly-contested school utilization plans.

Meredith Kolodner of the Daily News has been following the story of Rosa Bracero, a newly homeless senior in high school, who was unable to take the state-mandated English Regents exam in January because her presence was required at a homeless intake center for a seven hour meeting. She took the exam at her high school the following day but the state education department refused to score the exam. The English Regents was the only missing piece for Rosa who hoped to graduate in January and attend the Lincoln Technical Institute during the second semester.

After an uproar by advocates for the homeless and others, the New York City Department of Homeless Services announced they had changed the policy. “The Department of Homeless Services is revamping our policy so that once a family presents at the intake center, a student may be excused from the shelter application process for important exams that do not offer make-up sessions, like Regents or some college preparatory exams, while their family continues to be processed. The incident of a student missing the Regents Exam was unfortunate and unusual, but these steps will ensure that no child faces a similar situation again.” (more…)

The Department of Education announced that open houses scheduled for this Wednesday, Feb. 10 for students accepted at specialized high schools, will be postponed until Feb. 22 because of predicted “inclement weather”. The forecast calls for ice and snow on Wednesday.

Students must turn in their acceptances by Feb. 23 — the day after the rescheduled  open houses at several of the specialized high schools; no word that the acceptance date will be postponed.

The affected schools are:

• The Brooklyn Latin School - 325 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
• Brooklyn Technical High School - 29 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
• Staten Island Technical High School - 485 Clawson Street, Staten Island: Session I (for students with last names A-L): 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
• Staten Island Technical High School - 485 Clawson Street, Staten Island: Session II (for students with last names M-Z): 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm
• Stuyvesant High School - 345 Chambers Street, Manhattan: 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Open houses scheduled for other specialized schools on Tuesday and Thursday will proceed as scheduled!

Many other new high schools are holding open houses this week. Check the new schools directory and call or email the school directly to find out when.

See the DOE’s press release for details about the snow delay for Wednesday’s open houses.

New York City is such a peculiarly competitive place to live that even toddlers may receive rejection letters from pre-schools, so you think they might be prepared when it comes time for choosing a high school.

At the tender age of three or four, however, they have some insulation, as it’s hard to imagine telling a potential nursery schooler: “Sorry, you didn’t get in. They weren’t impressed by your sandbox play.”

There’s not much parents can do to cushion the blow of first round rejection for city high schools, though. It can be a pretty raw time. And the stakes are ever so much greater because the supply of excellent high schools does not meet the demand. (more…)

In our last poll, we asked how you felt about the closing of 19 city schools. It turns out that a strong majority — 61% — feel that schools should be fixed rather than shut. Another 11% felt that some deserve to be closed, but others do not. Just 16% said all 19  schools are bad and should be shut down.

Our poll results  stand in contrast to assertions by education officials and others that those who oppose the closings are just a noisy minority. An editorial in the Daily News said most of the closing opponents who attended the hearings of the Panel for Educational Policy were bused in by the teacher’s union.  It suggested that the “best measure of what mothers and fathers feel about particular schools is how many of them hope to enroll their children,” concluding that because relatively few parents ranked the schools now slated for closure as their first choice on high school applications, they “have no such backing because parents want far better.”

All parents want better schools.  In fact, many people visit Insideschools.org because they are actively seeking out good schools. And,  a clear majority of those who voted say troubled schools should be fixed not shut. What does that tell you?  Please share your thoughts below.

Sixteen new high schools set to open next September are profiled in the Directory of the New High Schools, now available on the Department of Education’s website. Representatives from many of the schools will be at this weekend’s fair for 8th grade students who are still looking for a high school for next fall.

Of the schools seeking to attract incoming 9th graders, two are in the Bronx, one is in Brooklyn, five are in Manhattan, and another five are in Queens. Some will share buildings with schools whose closure has just been announced, such as Norman Thomas,  Beach Channel, and Jamaica. Most have themes.

There are three transfer schools opening, one each for the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. These are aimed at older students who are behind in their credits and who have been unsuccessful in their previous high schools.

Stay tuned….we’ll have more information after the new school fair. Prospective parents and students, please share your thoughts!

I work with many adolescents who are highly truant. In my 7-plus years working in public middle and high schools, the number one thing they tell me is that school is boring.

I have explored and contemplated this concept of “school-as-boring” for countless hours, trying to figure out what exactly these kids feel is lacking. I wondered about how their capacity for engagement has been affected by a literal lifetime of being plugged in to television, video games and the internet.

Do schools like NYCiSchool and Global Technology Preparatory have the answer by creating a curriculum in which technology and computer use is absolutely integral? I am definitely a fan of schools that appeal to technology aficionados, but I feel more is lacking and causing far too many adolescents to disconnect from school. (more…)

This weekend, the Department of Education is hosting a fair for new high schools at Emigrant Savings Bank, across the street from DOE headquarters at 51 Chambers Street. No word yet about how many new schools, which will accept 9th-graders next fall, will be present at the fair, set to take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Officials say a handbook listing the new schools will be posted online and will be available at the fair.

Although high school applications were submitted in early December, 8th graders can request a new school application from their guidance counselor if they wish to change their application to apply to a new school for Fall 2010.

The first round of high school admissions results comes out this week, two days before the weekend fair. On Feb. 4, 8th and 9th-graders who applied for one of the city’s nine specialized high schools will learn whether they have been admitted to a specialized school.

Middle and high school guidance counselors will be distributing the results on Thursday, although some schools will mail them in an effort to forestall the upset that frequently accompanies the distribution of the acceptances. Students who are accepted at a specialized school will also find out whether they were matched to another school on their list. If not they will have to wait until the main round results are distributed on March 23. The timeline for high school admissions is posted on the DOE’s website. (more…)

I looked at the scattered notes and index cards covering my dining room table last week, struck by a distant but very real memory of my college freshman self during finals: Sprawled out at 6 a.m. in a study room in my freshman dorm, surrounded by textbooks and index cards after pulling an all-nighter.

Trying to absorb every significant event in the history of Western Civilization in one sitting, I learned, was not such a good idea.

Last week many New York City public high school students faced their first round of high school finals, in some cases digesting large quantities of information at the last minute. This week, many of those same students will also take New York State Regents exams they must pass in order to graduate.

Those who know how to keep up with assigned reading and to carefully organize, outline, and study their notes well in advance probably sailed through their finals. Others found the experience daunting, judging from frantic text messaging and Facebook posts proclaiming imminent failure and pleas for help finding the right notes. (more…)

It was hard not to feel empathy for the aspiring dancer depicted on the front page of the New York Times last week, in an excellent piece by Jennifer Medina that looked at the grueling schedule of auditions for ninth-graders hoping to snag a spot in a performing arts high school.

The endurance test had to have struck a chord with parents who are going through auditions. It for me brought back the frightening moment a year ago when I thought I heard my now 9th grade son tell me that his much practiced musical audition to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School was “awful,’ – instead of  “awesome.”

Auditions are rife with tension and drama, but lost in the piece was an ever present question for parents whose children ultimately get into a performing arts high school. What will the quality of the academic experience be, and what trade-offs, if any, will kids and parents have to make? (more…)

I overheard a conversation this fall between a group of high school freshmen, comparing the weight of their backpacks, their teachers, and their overall adjustment.

Many spoke of going back to visit their middle school several times already, a telling clue. One described the juniors and seniors as “giants,” another said the hallways were so crowded he could barely walk. Another missed lunch because he couldn’t find the cafeteria. The number of exams seemed daunting, as did the competition to get on sports teams and in other activities. A performing arts student said she had spent so much time worrying about her tryout, she hadn’t thought about “the school part, and all the homework.”

All had a slightly glazed look in their eyes. I listened carefully (the conversation happened to take place around my kitchen table). In a suburban setting, the group would have moved together to the same local high school; here sat a group of friends who now represented five very different choices. (more…)

Calling all students, teachers, and administrators!

Join the New York City Student Union on Monday, Dec. 14t at 5 pm as we host our second Student Government Forum. The forum is being held at the UFT offices downtown (50 Broadway between Exchange and Morris.) We will bring together student representatives from around the city, as well as those who are trying to form new governments.

The goal is to establish a basis for an effective student government, help each other improve or create new entities, and connect our organizations with each other. This is essential to increasing student voice and power in our schools. The event is open to students, teachers, administrators and anyone else who wants to come. (more…)

Yesterday the Department of Education announced its  intention to close four schools it considers failing:  Maxwell High School for Career and Technical Education in Brooklyn,  the Academy of Environmental Science Secondary High School  in East Harlem,  KAPPA II in Harlem, and the Frederick Douglass Academy III in the Bronx.

Today the DOE added four more schools to the list: PS 332, a K-8 school in Bushwick;  the Academy of  Collaborative Education, a middle school in Harlem that opened in 2006;  and two high schools:   Jamaica High School in Queens, and the School for Community Research and Learning which opened in 2003 in the Bronx.

The Panel on Educational Policy must approve the school closings, and, according to state law, there must be a 45-day period of public comment before the closings become official. (more…)

Eighth-graders and their families are in the final frenzy of filling out high school applications before tomorrow’s Dec. 4 due date after a fall of attending fairs, visiting schools, taking exams, and auditioning.

The process is a daunting one, despite reforms in the system and efforts by the central enrollment office to get information out to parents. It’s especially confusing for families at risk, (as described in a June 2009 Schools Watch report), parents who don’t speak English, and those who don’t have time to research all the options. No wonder many are wondering, “is there a better way?” as our High School Hustle blogger Liz Willen asked in her recent post.

DOE officials agree that parents need all the help they can get. Yesterday they announced the launch of a “High School Admissions Ambassador” program, recruiting parents to teach parents about high school admissions. (more…)

Kids who grow up in New York City don’t expect suburban amenities like backyards, basement recreation rooms, and their own bedrooms, and they’re used to thinking of shared parks and playgrounds as their own. When it comes to schools, the same mentality of sharing space often rules, although it seems the concept of sharing space is being stretched more than ever.

Today’s New York Times carried a piece highlighting the difficulties existing public schools are having sharing space with a growing number of charter schools, at a time when public schools are also squeezed. Last week Insideschools wrote about parents angry over charter school expansion on the Lower East Side. Gotham Schools highlighted stories in the Downtown Express about overcrowded elementary schools and a principal’s threat to leave for Westchester, while the New York Daily News reported that class sizes have grown.

My younger son’s excellent middle school, the Clinton School for Artists & Writers, has been told it must move out of top few floors it has occupied on top of PS 11 in Chelsea since its inception. Sharing it seems, is no longer an option. (more…)

Nearly half — 45% — of all New York City public high schools are “A” schools, according to their grades on progress reports released today by the Department of Education. An additional 30% of the more than 300 high schools graded received a “B.” The high school grades lag behind those of the elementary and middle schools released in September.

High elementary and middle school grades reflected, in large part, the improvement of students’ scores on state standardized exams; high school grades are based on the school’s graduation rates and Regents scores, which did not improve as much.

The high number of elementary and middle schools receiving top grades — 84% received A’s — led some to question the validity of the grading system, while state officials vowed to toughen up its procedures.

Today’s press release, reports that 87% of the schools that received an A last year earned an A again this year; 67% of the schools that earned D’s and F’s last year earned C’s this year. (more…)

When someone asked me what high schools I might be thinking about for my 7th-grader recently, my answer came swiftly and might have sounded a bit snippy.

“I’m not thinking about it at all,” I said, which of course, isn’t true, much as I’d like it to be, since it feels like we just got him happily settled in middle school.

It is a fact of life for New York City parents: You are always thinking about schools, from pre-school (which can be a grueling ritual of its own) until high school graduation, when the focus shifts to paying for college. (more…)

Urban Word NYC is a spoken word, poetry, and hip-hop group aimed at serving New York City youth. They were “founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves” and “provide free, safe and uncensored writing workshops to teens year round.”

I have been attending their Creatively College Bound workshop this year. The program is enormously helpful. In their words, Creatively College Bound “is a program geared towards high school juniors and seniors who want their creative critical voice to soar over the tedium of the college application process. Poetry, spoken word, and hip-hop are used as inspirations and the creative foundation for the college admissions and college preparatory process.”

Participants write four essays in four different general areas that cover all college/scholarship prompts. These essays are then read at workshops so the writer can get feedback from the other members. The leader of the workshop will give his or her own feedback as well.

I brought a draft of my common application essay to a workshop a couple of months ago. The leader made copies, passed one to everyone, and had someone read it out loud. It was a bit nerve racking, but at the end I got back 15 copies of my essay, covered in suggestions from other writers. They also gave me verbal feedback and explained their comments. I spent the next couple weeks incorporating their suggestions and my own new ideas, and ended up with an essay I was really proud of. In fact I was so happy with my essay that I applied to all my colleges two months early!

Creatively College Bound workshops take place on Monday afternoons at the Urban Word space in Midtown Manhattan.

If you think you’re doing okay on your essay, Urban Word provides a number of other workshops on topics ranging from slam poetry to social activism. Check out the website to see what Urban Word has to offer you!

Every time I arrive at an overcrowded school corridor to sign up for a three-minute parent teacher conference, I have the same thought: There must be a better way.

There are too many names on the sign-up list. The parents are anxious and antsy. It’s always too hot and crowded, and I immediately start feeling sorry for the teachers, besieged by questions.

With one child in middle school and another in high school, I am officially a veteran of New York City public school parent teacher conferences. I’ve developed a few survival strategies.

If possible, I take a personal or vacation day and attend the afternoon session in an effort to avoid ridiculous evening lines.Even so, I can’t beat the system.

(more…)

As the high school application season heats up for 8th-graders and their families this weekend, the Department of Education is sponsoring fairs in all five boroughs. While not exactly relaxing, these fairs are much smaller than the citywide fair (held at Brooklyn Tech last month).

Students, who meet 8th or 9th-grade promotional standards, and who have not applied for high schools yet, can walk among the tables more calmly and speak to representatives from high schools in their borough. This might be the time to ask the specific questions you might not be able to ask on a school tour or at an open house.

And, it’s a good idea to tour the schools you are interested in before applying. Many schools will have flyers advertising their tour schedules, so you can collect those as well at the fair.

Check out the fair in your borough — and let us know how it goes. All fairs run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the Bronx, go to the Roosevelt High School building; in Brooklyn, Murrow High School; in Manhattan, the Martin Luther King building; in Queens, Frances Lewis, and on Staten Island, New Dorp High School.

If you still have questions, you can attend one of the DOE’s upcoming evening high school information sessions, running through Nov. 12.

A typical conversation between concerned parents and their high school students might, theoretically, begin with a casual inquiry about homework. A most unwelcome question about what plans are being made to get it done might come next.

Often, the child, typing furiously in front of a computer, might note that there is barely any homework, or that he or she is about to start.

“Get off Facebook,” the concerned parent might venture. “Do your homework first.”

“Okay, fine,” comes the reply. “I’m just saying Bye.”

Ten minutes passes. The furious typing continues. The backpack remains unopened.

“I thought you were getting off Facebook to start the homework?”

“I am! I’m just saying ‘Bye!”

“Why does that take so long?”

“Because there is more than one person on – everyone is on!”

It turns out, there might be as many as 100 or even more Facebook friends on at once, posting links and invitations to join causes along with photos and videos. They may be simply chatting online about their daunting adjustment, or search for a New York City high school. At the same time, many are texting, reading, and possibly even doing homework. (more…)

In July we wrote about community efforts to open a selective high school on the Upper West Side to be named after the late educator and writer Frank McCourt. Yesterday, Chancellor Joel Klein gave an official nod to the new school, announcing its proposed opening with a freshman class in 2010 in the Brandeis High School building.

The Frank McCourt school would be a small selective school, joining three other schools that opened this fall in the building, as Brandeis itself is being closed. The three new schools are Global Learning Collaborative, the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, and Innovation Diploma Plus, a transfer school for older students; like most new small schools, and unlike the proposed Frank McCourt school, they do not admit students based on their academic record. (more…)

Once you finally get passed the grueling search for a New York City public high school — the tours, tests, interviews and rankings finally over — a settling-in period begins. But getting information about how it’s going from your child can be even more difficult than isolating statistics on the Department of Education’s website.

High school can be a tough time socially and emotionally. Countless movies, television series, books, and documentaries are devoted to the topic of fitting in and finding high school happiness, if such a state exists.

So I have become especially curious since I learned about the overwhelming ratio of girls to boys at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, the audition-only school where my son is a freshman.

“Did you know your school was 74% female and just 26% male?” I asked him recently. (As if he hadn’t noticed).

I soon learned that most of his classes (of about 26-34 students) had only six boys, never more, and that he didn’t mind at all. (more…)

If you’ve got an 8th-grader looking for a high school — or a 9th-grader looking to change high schools — you may want to join the throngs at the citywide high school fair this weekend at Brooklyn Tech High School in Fort Greene.

Yes, there will be a crowd, but it’s a good opportunity to meet representatives from all high schools — including students — and ask your admissions questions. You can also collect information about upcoming school tours and open houses.

If you are new to the high school admissions process, you will benefit from attending workshops and talks offered by Department of Education enrollment officials throughout the day. It’s a good chance to pin them down on specific topics.

The fair is on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. See you there!

On the soccer field last weekend, the parent of an 8th-grader casually inquired what it takes to get into one of the city’s best high schools. I wanted to laugh, but that wouldn’t be fair, because as I started my own search with my son a year ago, I was equally curious and anxious.

“So, do you think Beacon wants straight As and4s on both tests?” the mother asked. Like many parents trying to unravel the mystery of high school choice in the nation’s largest school system, she wanted straightforward answers that would help her assess her son’s chances. If her son was not an outstanding student, (I did not ask) would his chances of being accepted at one of the top schools be diminished?

As the high school search begins for 8th-graders, the question of who gets in is especially disconcerting. The specialized high schools like Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, and Bronx Science are not for everyone, but the criteria is at least transparent: students take an exam, and if their score is high enough, they’ll get in. Students with poor grades who don’t test particularly well can be accepted, although those who get in generally have taken test prep for the exam. (more…)

Dear Judy

What is the best way to find out about high school open houses and tours? Is there an updated list on Insideschools.org? How many schools should we visit? Are open houses really helpful?

8th-grade parent

Dear 8th-grade parent:

Attending an open house or tour should be a priority for kids and parents looking for a high school but, try to narrow your list to a manageable number, based on your schedule. Your daughter may be excused from class to tour a school, but can you get a note for your boss?

The high school application allows you to apply to up to 12 schools, not counting the specialized high schools and charter schools. Our advice to families: don’t apply to a school you wouldn’t attend. Likewise, I can’t imagine sending a child to school without first checking it out in a visit. Students frequently venture out of their neighborhoods, and even their boroughs, for high school, so going on a school tour is a great way to test out the travel time and to check out the subway and bus connections. (more…)

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Dear Judy,

My daughter has been attending school in another state. Now she wants to finish back in the city. She will be going into 11th grade and she’s a good student. What are her options?

-Puzzled Mom

Dear Puzzled Mom (and others who are new to the city):

Eleventh grade is a tough time to make a change, particularly for high-achieving kids who have been attending school out-of-state. The selective exam and audition high schools, known as specialized high schools, do not accept 11th-graders and many other popular schools generally don’t have available seats.

Then there are the Regents exams: kids have to pass five of them to get a diploma. Principals have some discretion on whether to waive one or two exams, based on academic records, but be sure to ask about that when your register your daughter for school. (more…)

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Donya Rhett, PhD, aka “Bronx Mom,” is a frequent commenter on The InsideSCOOP. A resident of Morris Heights, she is the parent of a 10-year-old son and an (almost) 5- year-old daughter who both attend Central Park East 1. She also surveys the New York City public school scene as a clinical psychologist working in a school-based health center at a Harlem middle/high school campus. We’re pleased to welcome her contributions to The InsideSCOOP.

“Bronx Mom” is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, I am a mom. Yes, we live in the Bronx. And yet, I often feel very disconnected from my Morris Heights neighborhood because my children have only attended Harlem schools.

I tried to make an “educational home” in the Bronx six years ago when I first began searching for kindergarten for my son. Sadly, there were few choices in my district (10) that were accessible to us and would also be a good fit for my bright, very active child. Given the beliefs of some that families should stick with their zoned school, I thought I might shed some light as to why I, self-titled Bronx Mom, crossed district lines in search of the best fit. (more…)

If you have a rising high school freshman  or sophomore and  moved to the city after Oct. 31, 2008, you still have the chance to apply to some of the city’s most sought-after schools. You teen can register now to take the specialized high school exam, or audition for LaGuardia High School for the Arts, for entrance in September.

The nine specialized high schools are highly selective: eight of them base admissions on the results of an exam while LaGuardia requires an audition to one of its six arts programs.  There is at least one specialized high school in each of five boroughs, and you may register for either an audition or the exam (or both!) at any of the Department of Education’s borough enrollment offices. The exam will be given on Monday, Aug. 31, and auditions for LaGuardia will be held on Friday, Sept. 4. The last day to register is Aug. 27.

There are also high school  seats available for rising juniors at another selective school:  Bard High School Early College II in Queens, which offers students the opportunity to graduate with a high school diploma and a two-year degree from Bard College. Bard requires applicants to take an entrance assessment and schedule an in-person interview. To find out more, call (212) 995-8479 ext. 2043, (212) 995-8479 ext. 2041, or (845) 546-0364.

Is your high school still accepting students for September 2009? Let us know whom to contact below!

Dear Judy,

My son is entering 7th grade this fall. Should I be thinking about high school admissions already? What can I do to get prepared?

- Thinking Ahead Mom

Judy answers:

Dear Thinking Mom,

It’s never too soon for a middle school family to start thinking about high school. There are new choices every year as well as the popular tried-and-true schools to consider.

A smart move is to attend the high school admission process workshops that the Department of Education is holding for middle school families over the summer.The workshops are held Tuesday evenings at either Brooklyn Tech High School or Stuyvesant High School. The first session, an overview of options, is being held at Brooklyn Tech on June 30. The other sessions at Brooklyn Tech, on July 7 and 14, cover how to prepare for the specialized high school exam and how to prepare for auditions and portfolios for arts high schools. The sessions at Stuyvesant, starting on July 21 and going through August 11, will discuss large high schools, career and technical schools, new small schools, and charter schools.

You can also pick up a copy of the Directory of Public High Schools that the DOE publishes every year. It should be available at most middle schools and at the borough enrollment offices. The directory is getting fatter and fatter each year, and just browsing through the listings of more than 500 schools can be daunting. To help you narrow your search, check the Insideschools’ reviews in the Find a School section and purchase NYC’s Best Public High Schools by Clara Hemphill and the Insideschools staff.

Consider attending the citywide high school fair next October 3 and 4. At the fair, you and your son will have the opportunity to meet with representatives and often students from many high schools. It’s a hectic and crowded event, but it will help you to jumpstart your school search. Typically around February there are fairs to introduce new schools that will open the following September.

Whether or not you attend the DOE workshops, if your son plans to take the test or audition for one of the city’s nine specialized high schools you should get a copy of the Department of Education’s Specialized High Schools Student Handbook. The handbook should be available at one of the borough enrollment offices or from your guidance counselor in the fall (although most school copies will be reserved for 8th graders.) The handbooks have a sample Specialized High School Achievement Test (SHSAT) so your 7th grader can find out what he’s up against. You can get reasonably inexpensive prep books at our bookstore. I’ve also heard about students getting together in study groups to use these prep books instead of investing in expensive tutoring courses; some middle schools hold free prep courses for 7th graders.

Bottom line: The high school application, although filed in 8th grade, shows 7th grade scores, making 7th grade a very important school year. So while you and your son take some time to attend high school fairs and open houses, don’t forget about homework and attendance! With some advance knowledge, and good grades, you’ll be ready to go through the process for real next year!

You’ve got the whole summer to enjoy. Try not to let admissions anxiety get in the way!

Judy

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The high school graduation rate for New York State schools will be released at noon today in Albany, as part of a discussion with the state’s Board of Regents. As the mayoral control law sunsets (potentially) in eight days, and as Albany’s various Neros continue to fiddle away, the city’s graduation rate becomes an even more important marker for the effects of mayoral control.

In an unusual move, the NYSED has announced there will be no press conference on the graduation rate — but the Mayor is anticipated to make an education statement at noon today as well, so perhaps we’ll hear the city’s take on the 2008 grad rate then.

We’ll post links to the data and whatever information is released by the state and the city as soon as it’s available.

Update: A webcast of the State’s presentation to the Regents is here, along with the data released; while upward trends largely persist, the news is somewhat more encouraging for ELL students, and it looks like the Regents may reconsider the current phase-out of the Local Diploma, given the troubling split between Regents and Local grads in the 2004 cohort.

“I was looking for a challenging but not overly intense, neighborhood high school experience,” said an Upper West Side mom. “There just aren’t enough seats.”

This Thursday, June 11 from 6-7:30 p.m. the Department of Education is holding a public hearing in the building that now houses Brandeis High School, to gather feedback from the community on what kind of school they would like to see occupy the remaining 800 to 1,000 seats in the Brandeis High School building on West 84th Street.

Brandeis High School will be phased out starting in 2009; no new 9th graders will enroll, although current students will be permitted to attend until they graduate. In its place, three new schools will open in the building in September 2009: The Urban Assembly High School for Green Careers, the Innovation Diploma Plus school, a transfer school for kids 16 to 20 years old, and the Global Learning Collaborative. The three schools together still leave room for one more high school — thus, the Thursday meeting.

One idea to be presented by District 3 parents and others is the new Frank McCourt High School of Journalism, Writing and Literature, a new school of 800 to 1,000 students. Says their Facebook page writeup: “The Frank McCourt High School of Journalism, Writing & Literature is a new, college preparatory high school with a focus on creative and expository writing, journalism, digital communication, and literature. The school will also provide learning opportunities in Spanish (and eventually French) for students who are bilingual and/or biliterate.“

Planners say that the school will reflect the Upper West Side neighborhood: diverse in all ways and home to so many great writers and thinkers. The school’s rigorous, project-based curriculum will be strengthened through partnerships with neighborhood institutions, including Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Symphony Space, and Fordham University. Teachers drawn from New York’s literary, journalism, and digital media community will guide and inspire students to become great storytellers and literary critics.

“The school will open with a 9th grade of about 200 students and will add one additional grade per year for a target enrollment of 800 to 1,000 students. A full complement of math, science, and social studies curriculum, as well as extracurricular clubs and sports, will round out this exciting learning community. Admissions will be based both on grades and a portfolio application, with the goal of enrolling a spectrum of engaged students.”

Want to learn more? The hearing’s on Thursday, June 11, starting at 6pm, in the Brandeis building, 145 West 84^th Street, with details and more anticipated on Facebook.

That tough question is the title of a book by Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist with a focus on racial identity development. It’s also a question that a lot of us wonder about, even if we don’t ask it out loud. I’ve attended four diverse public schools in New York City and in all of them, self-segregation was common. I saw this in the cafeteria, on the street corners, in classrooms, and, most importantly, in the formation of lasting friendships. This has always seemed to me like a weakness of our schools, or even a partial failure of the integration project started in the 1950’s.

Tatum sees it differently. From a psychological standpoint, Tatum believes, the “black cafeteria table” is important. She believes that by the time black children hit puberty, if not before, they began searching for what it means to be black, especially if they are in a racially mixed school or community. Settings like the black cafeteria table, according to Tatum, offer a support group for black children who may feel isolated among their white peers — a place to find a postive black community and identity. Additionally, Tatum believes that a “race-concious parent” raising their black child in a mixed setting should actively seek out a strong black community.

Tatum describes this “racial immersion” as one of several stages in a person’s development. At some point during the book, I started wondering if she was advocating for the self-segregated cafeteria. What about integration? What I came to understand was that Tatum sees integration as the final step, once a person has become comfortable with their racial identity. This last point troubled me. (more…)

Q: My daughter had a very stressful first two years of high school, and her grades suffered. She transferred to a terrific school which, however, did not take all the credits she earned at her previous school. While she can graduate from this second high school in two years, it’s been suggested that she take another semester and use this to improve her GPA. Her SAT scores are good, and she is planning to take several SAT Subject Tests to prove her ability in these areas. Aside from my daughter not liking the idea of staying in high school longer than four years, what do colleges think of this? If she were to wait until the following September to start college, it would be five years from the start of her school career. What are her options?

A: Many students have a rocky start to their high school years. Colleges see that all the time — and what they like to see is improvement. An upward grade trend lets them see that a student has adjusted, re-grouped, and moved on. So it’s great that your daughter has found a better situation and given herself a fresh start.

At this point, there are several things she can do to prove that she can be successful academically. Getting higher grades at this second school will be a significant factor. I hope she is also getting involved in the life of her new school by joining in extra-curricular activities. And while high test scores are desirable, of more significance will be her ability to indicate that she can handle academic challenges over a sustained period.

Is spending an additional half-year in high school the best way to do this? A number of private schools — boarding schools in particular — offer something called a “post-graduate program” or PG, through which a student can compensate for a weaker high school record via an extra academic year. Sometimes an extra year of maturing, in a new environment, can indeed indicate improvement. On the other hand, it doesn’t make the earlier lack of success disappear, and colleges realize that these PG programs are for the financially privileged. Perhaps other students, too, could show improvement with an extra year but few can afford it, especially at a boarding school.

I can certainly sympathize with your daughter’s desire to graduate from high school. My suggestion is that she do other things to prove her true academic abilities. She could take a couple of courses this summer at a local college, a branch of CUNY or SUNY. This would indicate her ability to handle college-level work. And when she applies to colleges, she should not try to ignore those earlier two years of high school but include a letter acknowledging them and then indicating how she has moved on to take control of her academic life and re-create herself as a successful student.

If your daughter does decide to stick around for another semester of high school, but isn’t looking forward to it, she could always make more exciting plans for the second semester of that year. I have previously written about the growing popularity of the “gap year,” and your daughter could organize a “gap semester” during the spring of her fifth year to compliment and expand upon her extra-curricular interests and give her something fun to look forward to. But, if she doesn’t want to, I don’t think she needs to postpone college.

 Have a question for Jane?  Search archives | Contact the College Counselor

Last week, a  number of LaGuardia juniors found out that their math tracks are being abruptly ended. As a junior in trigonometry this year, I was expected to take pre-calculus in the fall, and take the Math B Regents Exam in January.  Now, because of budget cuts, seniors will not be allowed to take pre-calc. To learn the semester of content and prepare for the Math B exam, tutoring will be offered over the summer.  This is not really an option for people (like me) who have summer jobs.  Also, the only  math classes being offered to seniors next year are Advanced Placement classes.  For the juniors are in pre-calc this year, the situation may not be much better. Calculus may be cut next year, too, giving these juniors no way to complete their math track.  A letter is being sent to all colleges explaining the sudden death of advanced, non-AP math at LaGuardia.

When I expressed my concern, the assistant principal of math told me, “Write to the Chancellor and Mayor and ask them to stop taking our money away in the middle of the year.” I told her I already had, and that was the end of the conversation. But this conversation is far from over. My school has been forced to make hard choices because of circumstances outside its control. LaGuardia has done its best to maintain its unique dual mission to provide students with both good arts and academic educations. But no school should have to make the choice to end a curriculum like advanced math mid-year, without preparation or prior warning.

If, as the Chancellor and the Mayor insist, cuts must be made, they should not come from the classroom and force schools to make decisions like this one. How can these leaders say they’re committed to rigor and higher standards in education, and then limit funding for motivated math students?

Perhaps the cuts could come from the testing budget. It seems that tests are multiplying faster than rabbits;  kids as young as kindergarten are now being tested. Perhaps the needed savings can come from the production and administration of school Progress Reports, which are often inaccurate representations of a school.

The pattern is scary.  Mid-year crunches are resulting in the loss of teachers and classes, which are the last things that ought to be taken away.  If “students” were a budget item, we’d probably be the next to go.

For the past couple of years, the NYC Student Union has ended the school year with June workshops at M.S. 51, where many of us went to middle school. In these workshops, we teach 8th-graders, who will start high school in September, about the steps to creating change by constructively addressing problems in their schools and the education system. We also encourage them to join the Student Union when they start high school. We’ve a had a lot of success in the past, and we have some new ideas for improvement.

This year, we’re also hoping to reach out to more middle schools across the city.  If anyone works in, attends, or is a parent in a middle school and you think the school would be interested in hosting a NYC Student Union workshop, please get in touch with me, by commenting on this post, or  by email, at toni [at] taty.org.  Thanks!

Parents who responded to our high-school choice poll have strong opinions on the matter: More than half say there aren’t enough good schools for students and families to choose from, with demand strongest for progressive, rigorous high schools.

About 20 percent of responders say the system only works well for kids who are lucky enough to have strong adult guidance. Over 15 percent would welcome a return to zoned schools (and less choice). Less than 10 percent of parents say the system works just fine as it’s now constructed — a sharp counterpoint to the Department of Education’s claim of 86 percent satisfied customers.

This week, we’re asking about schools’ role in addressing online bullying. Weigh in; we welcome your thoughts.

In the Daily News, Merideth Kolodner profiles a family whose talented, accomplished son was not matched with any high schools on the first admissions round, echoing comments we’re hearing from readers and parents citywide. On TV, Cindy Hsu at CBS Channel 2 covered the story, and Brian Lehrer invited Insideschools director Pamela Wheaton on the radio to discuss the high school match process.

The supplementary round high school admissions fair is on March 31. Insideschools has posted a list of schools with open seats, as well as tips on individual schools. And the pressure’s on: Unlike the first round, which spanned months, decisions must be made quickly. The deadline to submit paperwork to guidance counselors is Friday, April 3.

My children came home from their middle school yesterday looking solemn and ashen-faced, and I knew immediately that something was up. They reported seeing hallways filled with sobbing 8th-graders who learned they did not get into their first, second or even third choice of high school. At least five, they said, were hysterical — they hadn’t been matched with any school at all. My 8th-grader, who got good news in February, felt terrible for some of his friends and classmates. My 6th-grader felt tremendous fear about what might happen to him. Some of the shut-out students had fine grades and test scores, so the kids now know that working hard in school doesn’t guarantee a successful high school match.

Earlier in the day, a press release from the Department of Education boasted that 86 percent (74,064) of the 86,169 students who applied for admission to a New York City public high school in 2009 were matched to one of their top five choices. Over half of the applicants – 51 percent (44,012) – received their first choice school, and 76 percent (65,780) got one of their top three schools.

Buried in the churn of seemingly good news was this incredible fact: some 7,455 students received no match at all. I’ve been writing about the high school selection process since September, and I can say there have been plenty of opportunities — exams, interviews, information fairs, notices about new high schools. Guidance counselors have been informative and helpful. I was both astonished and pleased at the many different types of high schools that exist. But through it all, the lurking fear remained — what happens if you don’t get a match?

I don’t think it’s fair for the DOE to claim success when close to 7,500 children in New York City didn’t get seats. I think that number is shamefully high. And I think there is something seriously wrong with this system. The high school admissions process is an enormously complicated and frightening ordeal that asks a lot of kids and parents. While it is true that many students had multiple fine choices, it is not okay to leave young adolescents out in the cold, sobbing in the hallways, feeling the sharp sting of rejection that in many cases was no fault of theirs.

InsideSchools wants to hear your story — as well your suggestions for a solution.

This afternoon, the city’s 86,169 8th graders finally got news about their high-school placements for September. According to the Department of Education, just over half got good news from their first-choice school, three-fourths got one of their top three picks, and 86 percent got one of their top five. (Students who received offers from the eight specialized exam high schools and LaGuardia got their news in February.)Despite a process that permitted student to rank up to 12 general-education schools, 7,455 students came home empty-handed, without having matched to a school on their list. These students will participate in a supplementary round, which launches with a school fair on March 31 from 6 pm - 9 pm at the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in Manhattan.While the first round of the high-school process spans months, the decision-making window in the supplementary round is short: Applications must be returned to 8th grade guidance counselors on or before April 3.