Q:  My son is a junior at a high school in Queens.  He is an excellent student and would like to go to a prestigious college.  But his high school is huge and the college counselors don’t have much time for each student.  On the other hand, my cousin’s son goes to a prep school near Washington DC, and my cousin says their college counselors are known for getting kids into the best colleges.  What chance does my son have competing against applicants like that?

A:  I went to a very large high school myself, in Queens, many years ago.  There were about 1500 students in my graduating class.  Now I work at a private school, and yes, there is a vast difference in the amount of individual attention teachers and counselors are able to give to students.  But statistics confirm that students in each setting are successful in the college admissions process.

Going to a private school in itself does not guarantee acceptance to any college; nor does attending a large urban public school in itself, assure rejection.  Applicants are looked at in the context of their school environment, so your son will not be competing against his cousin.

I recently attended an admissions information session at an Ivy league university.  The admissions rep pointed out that if they accepted students who were all exactly the same in background and qualifications, the freshman class would be pretty boring.  To keep their school vigorous and stimulating, they admit students who come from a wide variety of schools, communities, and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who bring an array of interests and talents to campus.  To do this, they recruit widely at both public and private schools.  Colleges really do reach out, some more effectively than others. (more…)

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

Our hearts go out to the families and students affected by the violence that took the life of a 13-year-old  freshman at the Humanities and  the Arts High School in Cambria Heights. According to The New York Times, young Kevin Miller was on his way to a McDonald’s restaurant after school on Friday when “shooting erupted during a fight between two students” from the nearby school. A 16-year-old has been arrested and charged with his murder.

Humanities and the Arts is one of four small schools in  a school building now known as Campus Magnet. It was founded after the large and troubled Andrew Jackson High School was closed in the mid-1990s due to a long history of poor performance and violence.  During the 2006-2007 school year, the entire campus was designated as an “impact” school, a city designation for a dangerous school that requires extra security guards; the building apparently came off the list a year later.

On Insideschools’ most recent visit to Humanities and the Arts last November, we found that student achievement was up and the building had benefited from a reorganization, which gave each school its own area for classrooms and separate times for lunch and gym. This tragedy, although it took place off school grounds,  is a sad setback for the challenged building.

When the City Council Education Committee held a hearing last week on the implementation of the new school governance law, it was the first time that student views on the law were heard by the Council.

High school senior Ben Shanahan and I testified on behalf on the New York City Student Union. Our message was simple: the changes in our schools’ governance have been made without any student input, they do not recognize the need for student input, and do not provide an outlet for student opinion. (While I believe in student voice on all levels, I am mainly referring to high school students in this post).

The law focuses on increasing the power of parents and superintendents in the context of mayoral control. A new citywide Council on English Language Learners was added to the existing citywide councils on special ed and high schools. The special ed and high school councils were set up by the mayor and have now been made official under the education law. Each of these councils have between 12 and 15 members. Generally nine or ten of those members are parents, and two or three are people who have knowledge or experience in the field. The final member is a high school senior: the only non-voting member on the council. (more…)

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…)

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!

In New York City where about half of the high school students don’t graduate in four years, transfer schools, which offer smaller class size, and programs tailored to individual students’ needs, are an increasingly important option for students who haven’t been successful at a traditional high school.

Since Fall 2005, the city’s Department of Education has opened 19 new transfer schools designed to help struggling students earn their high school diploma. While most transfer schools have long waitlists, new schools typically have empty seats waiting to be filled. Four new transfer schools will open in September bringing the total number in the city to 41. Programs fill up quickly, so now is the time to contact the schools and apply.

Here’s a rundown on the newest schools. East Brooklyn Community High School will open in a new building in Canarsie. It is targeting students who have been truant or who have dropped out of high school, and will provide intense counseling for students and their families. Innovation Diploma Plus, opening in the Brandeis High School building on the Upper West Side, will accept students ages 16-20. Emma Lazarus High School for English Language Learners is the first transfer school to exclusively serve students who are not proficient in English. The school will accept students with zero credits, and who have attended high school for one year. The High School for Excellence and Innovation is the first transfer school to open to 8th graders who are over-age for their grade and who have failed to graduate from middle school.

Unlike regular high schools which require students to apply through a central application process in the fall, transfer schools accept students on a rolling basis throughout the school year and students apply directly to the school. Transfer schools differ from regular schools, in that class sizes are usually very small, there are more social services to support students, students can enroll and graduate mid-year, and they can earn credits by taking non-traditional courses after school or on the weekend. For example, a student may take bowling on Saturday to earn gym credits. Some transfer schools accept only students who have accumulated a minimum number of credits and coursework, while others accept students with no credits.

A few transfer schools, such as The Urban Academy, James Baldwin School, and Humanities Preparatory help a range of students, including kids who didn’t fit the mold at their original high school and are looking for a different environment.

Other special programs assist students who are facing difficult life challenges. Young Adult Borough Centers (YABC) offer evening classes for students age 17.5 and older with at least 17 credits. There are also programs that provide daycare for teen parents, help court-involved youth, and programs for students with substance and drug abuse.

Every student in New York City has the right to attend school to obtain a high school diploma through the school year in which they turn 21. To find a transfer school in your area, use the advanced search in our Find a School section.

Break out the popcorn– it’s movie time in Advanced Placement classes around the city!

It’s common knowledge that after the AP tests, which take place in early May, AP classes become a total joke. At LaGuardia, stories are passed down about the dumbest, most irrelevant movies teachers have shown for the last month of school, or which AP teachers expect you to actually show up in class after the test. It would be a lie to say that some part of me does not enjoy this payoff for hard work, but I do think it reflects directly on the test-prep culture that we all have entered. Though APs are test-prep courses by nature, I’ve learned information and study skills that will be useful for life. And unlike most standardized tests and the SATs, I find the AP tests to be measures of real learning and understanding, not of a student’s ability to test well. Learning how to write essays or speak Spanish for the AP test are skills that I will need, and use, forever. But in these last few weeks of school, when all teaching and learning in AP classes ends abruptly, I wonder if my teachers feel the same way. If the AP skills are life skills, why do teachers stop teaching the day after the test?

It seems to me that when the focus of a year is a test, teachers do not push themselves to go beyond. A month of school is a lot of time to waste just because “we took the test.” We could still be learning: The AP Composition test is over, but I have hundreds of essays left to write in my life, not to mention the other ways I will to need to organize and present my thoughts. There are hundreds of good books left to read and analyze, and hundreds of countries I plan to visit where I will need my Spanish skills.

I think the time after the test should be prized teaching time. To me, it seems like every good teacher’s dream: with no test at the end, teachers can teach whatever they want , however they want, and at whatever pace the students need.

Students and teachers complain a lot about the limits of standardized testing, but why don’t we take advantage of the freedom that comes once the big test is over? I would encourage AP teachers and students alike to take advantage of this time of looseness to teach and learn in new, interesting and creative ways. It’s a luxury we can’t afford to squander.

With all the attention focused on kindergarten overcrowding, it’s important not to forget the middle school students who have yet to be matched with a high school they want to attend. It’s time for the Department of Education to stop boasting about how many more students got their first choice and imagine for a few minutes what it must feel like to be graduating next month and assigned to a high school you don’t want to go to — or still be scrambling to appeal a placement.

This is not an outcome a city, where less than half of high schoolers earn a diploma on time, can find acceptable. And the Department of Education simply has to find a way to place students like those detailed in this week’s Daily News story. Students like Ostap Paviliv, an honor student from Sheepshead Bay, or Max Hellerstein, a high scoring 8th-grader who got assigned to a fashion high school. What sense does that make? And what about Phoebe, middle-schooler from Manhattan who scored in the top 2 percent of all 7th-grade students and got exactly zero of her six first-round choices?

It’s outrageous that high-achieving students who have worked hard and fully expect to graduate and go on to college are in this limbo. The DOE’s response — that only 9 percent of 8th-graders did not get a match — is wholly inadequate. There needs to be a system in place that helps each and every one of these students find a proper placement.

Over the summer, some students with high school seats will move or perhaps choose parochial or private  schools instead.  High school seats will open at desirable, strong schools. Unmatched or mismatched students, who in some cases are near the top of their class, must be a DOE priority. It’s wrong to leave them stranded. These are kids and parents who believe in public education.  This city cannot and should not fail them.

The Times, the News and the Post all cover the 45 percent rise in students who qualified for kindergarten gifted & talented programs — but none cite the clash between the numbers of citywide-eligible students and the quantity of available seats. With more than 1300 qualifying children and fewer than 300 seats, we’re eager to hear how Department of Education will address the shortfall.

Meanwhile, eighth-graders shut out of the high-school admissions process went through a second, supplemental round this spring, with decidedly mixed outcomes. The difficulties in high-school placement are by no means confined to ‘difficult’ students. Kolodner quotes solid B students who didn’t get matched with the schools they wanted, as well as a student who scored in the top two percent on seventh-grade standardized tests yet was closed out of all six of her first-round choices.

Parents struggle to explain (and to understand) mismatched placements; one refrain we hear often asks how parents can encourage their children to work hard because their efforts will be recognized and rewarded, while the ‘choice’ process continues to exclude, and alienate, thousands of families.

All eighth and ninth graders who applied to high schools should have a placement by today, although they may not all be pleased with their assignment. The 7,455 students who were not matched in the first round of the high school process were asked to re-rank their preferences from a list of schools with available space. They could have listed up to 12 choices, but students and parents complained the options were limited. In the supplementary round, all students were matched with a school, regardless of whether they had ranked it or not.

“Any students who didn’t get a placement in a school that they had ranked were given a place at a school with available seats,” said Andrew Jacob, a spokesperson for the Department of Education. One parent posted that her child was placed at a school she didn’t rank. “The supplementary round is back and my daughter was accepted to a school,” the parent wrote. “The letter should have said “congratulations you have been excepted [sic] to a new school that you have never heard about, does not exist yet and that you did not apply to.”

Students who want to appeal their assignment from either the main admissions round or the supplementary round must meet with their guidance counselor and explain their reason for the appeal before the form is due on May 7, according to Jacobs. Students must list three programs or schools in order of preference.

(more…)

“Senioritis” can hit hard — and there seems to be nothing anyone can do about it.  As one former LaGuardia senior said to me,  “It comes all at once, and it’s really painful.”  But at least one city high school has found the answer to those appallingly unproductive last few months of high school: Internships.

At the Institute for Collaborative Education (ICE),  second-semester seniors have internships instead of classes.  They can choose an internship that suits their interests, so that they  have a daily, real-world activity that  keeps them engaged and challenged.  As an added bonus, they gain experiences in a potential future work field that can help prepare them for college – and improve their resume.

My friend Maya, who is a second-semester senior at ICE, has two internships that mean a lot to her, at a fertility center and a photography center.  So instead of cutting math class for two months, she’s getting these awesome life experiences.

I think more high schools should consider internships for second-semester seniors, because being productive beats waiting for the time to pass any day.

The Department of Education is “discharging” an increasing number of students, who are not counted in the graduation rates but may have dropped out of school, according to report released today by the Public Advocate’s office. Up to and above a quarter of all children of color and with special needs, including students who are English language learners, are documented as high-school discharges, as are 21 percent of students overall. That works out to one in five students who start high school and then are ostensibly ‘discharged’ to other schools or other locations, with little precision or transparency on causes and outcomes. These numbers are on the rise since a seminal report in 2002.

The Times offers a cogent analysis; internet education wonks will recognize one of the report’s authors, Jennifer Jennings, as the “unmasked” Eduwonkette, whose anonymous columns, supported by careful, meticulous research, challenged the DOE on a regular basis.

One particularly troubling observation documented in the report is the high discharge rate for students in the first year of high school — before they’re 17, the legal age at which students may elect to end their public education and drop out. It is unclear what this surge represents, but the report charges that younger, struggling students are being pushed out of high schools that are trying to improve Progress Report grades. Without these students being counted, school statistics may increase, which offers schools “perverse incentives to discharge students,” according to the report. Regardless, what is crystalline is that far too many kids are unaccounted for, and that graduation rate calculation and reporting is undoubtedly influenced by this practice.

Last week one of my teachers raised a topic that brought up some difficult questions: He reminded us that if he knew a student was cutting him or herself, he was legally required to report them to a higher authority. He expressed his own contradicting feelings on this issue, which prompted an extremely emotional class conversation. In general, my classmates understood the reasoning behind the rule; school authorities have a responsibility to keep young people safe. But teachers are not necessarily trained in dealing with serious issues, like cutting, that may be life-threatening to the student and surely signal deeper troubles. However, many students were extremely opposed to the idea of being sent by a teacher to the guidance counselor against their will. Though there are wonderful exceptions, I have heard from students in many different schools that going to “their” guidance counselor is something they generally seek to avoid.

I think one of the biggest problems is that guidance counselors in many schools do not know their students on a personal level. Big schools and low budgets make it hard to get enough personal attention to every student. I believe in the idea of a small-group advisory period each week, led by counselors, who would have the chance to get to know students and build relationships over time, before a crisis. Additionally, individual meetings should be arranged at some point so every student can meet their guidance counselor.

I know there are some really great guidance counselors out there, and I respect their efforts and their important role in students’ lives. However, many schools need to find a way for counselors to become more involved with their students — not on a disciplinary level, but on a personal one — and really provide the ’safe space’ students need.

My brother and I are almost fluent in Spanish, which is our second language, largely because our parents both speak fluent Spanish and we have traveled to a lot of Spanish-speaking countries in our lives. Many native English speakers do not have the opportunity to travel and don’t have parents who speak a second language, so they rely on their schools to teach foreign language. That is unfortunate, because in my observation, it is very difficult to reach any real proficiency in a second language from our public school foreign-language curriculum.

As far as I can tell, learning to speak a foreign language is not a serious priority in New York City’s public schools. There is no expectation of fluency, or even mastery. Second language is not taught at all in many elementary schools. At my old middle school, M.S. 51, language classes covered the same things three years in a row. As former M.S. 51 student Abby Beatty said, “In eighth grade I was still learning “¿Quien cocina el taco? Mi mama cocina el taco.” ( Who cooks the taco? My mom cooks the taco.) Many high schools, including my own (LaGuardia), only require one year of language.

The idea that learning another language is not as valuable as doing math or studying history is a bad message to send to kids. Learning to speak another language is beyond valuable, it is essential in a city as diverse as New York, and in a world where students in other countries begin to learn English in grade school. New York leads the world in art, fashion and commerce; why can’t our schools lead the country in foreign language education?

[Editor’s Note: State and city graduation requirements mandate a single year of foreign language instruction in high school, no more.]

Q:  My daughter was honored by being nominated to be a National Youth Leader.  Participating in the program is very expensive.  I would hate not to let her attend because I believe it can open doors that would really benefit her. I want the best for her, but I really can’t afford it.  Am I expecting too much from the program, such as future scholarship opportunities if this program is listed on her resume?  Or should I wait and invest that money in college?

A:  You are a kind and wise parent!  Both of your instincts are right on target!  You want the best for your daughter, including helping her to enhance her experience and her college-admission profile.  At the same time you are correctly wondering if a high-priced program is really going to provide a high-level benefit.

This is not to minimize the fact that someone obviously thought highly enough of your daughter to submit her name to the program’s organizers, who write to high school principals and guidance offices asking for nominations of top students.  So someone at your daughter’s school — an administrator, counselor, or teacher — felt that she would be an excellent candidate.  The qualities that inspired someone to nominate her may be those qualities that will also make her a great college applicant.  But the success of her college applications will not depend upon her possible participation in this particular program.

Programs such as the National Youth Leadership Forum and the Congressional Youth Leadership Council can also procure lists of names from the College Board;  if a student checks, for instance, interests in law or medicine on the SAT registration form, programs dealing with law and medicine can ask for targeted lists.  Also, students who have participated in the programs are asked to suggest the names of others they think would enjoy the experience.

Every spring students have come to me with ‘nomination’ letters they have received, along with glossy folders and colorful brochures.  The programs often have the words ‘National’ or ‘Leadership’ in them (and have logos using symbols such as the Capitol dome or am American eagle), and they feel flattered.  The opportunities outlined in the mailings — traveling to the nation’s capital, networking with officials from government agencies, meeting students from all over the country — are exciting.  But what’s the difference between an “honor” and an “opportunity”?  An honor should not have a price tag attached to it.  An opportunity might or might not have a price tag.  Unfortunately, the college-admissions frenzy that has developed over the last 20 years has also spawned a huge ‘opportunities’ industry.  While there are many worthy, stimulating programs out there, for the most part they are money-making enterprises.

(more…)

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

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.

While thousands of parents and students showed up at the supplementary round high school fair on Tuesday, many of the schools on the Department of Education list of available seats were not represented. We asked a few schools how many seats they actually have available. This is what they reported:

-The new, long-awaited Sunset Park High School has 25 seats left.

- The new, selective Cinema High School has only filled 15 out of their 80 seats. They will not hold another audition for applicants but will instead consider grades and test scores. The principal said they would look at applications with fresh eyes, so students who applied in the first round and didn’t get a seat at Cinema can apply again.

- The acclaimed Dual Language and Asian Studies High School has only 10 unfilled seats.

- Manhattan Business Academy has 58 seats left.

Some families at the fair were hopeful that they would get a good match in the second round, others remained very angry. Several families protested the process outside, refusing to enter the building.

A family from the Bronx said their son has good grades, but his middle school counselor “isn’t competent at all.” They described the process as “disappointing. It’s a public education- why all the rejection?”

Families have until Friday, April 3 to hand in new applications to their school’s guidance counselor. Those unhappy with the match they get in this round may appeal.

More than 80,000 8th and 9th graders have opened thin envelopes with news about where they had been accepted to high school. There was good news for 86 percent of the applicants - they matched with one of their top five choices from a list of 12. Another five percent were accepted at schools they ranked 6th or below on the high school application. That still left 7,455 students without a match and scrambling to figure out what to do next. Students who were not accepted anywhere must fill out a new application, choosing up to 12 schools from a list of schools that still have seats to fill. Those students are invited to attend a fair from 6-9 p.m. on March 31 at Martin Luther King Jr Educational Complex in Manhattan, where they can meet with school admissions counselors and school representatives.

Applications are due back to guidance counselors by Thursday, April 3; students should be notified where they have been accepted by April 30.

(more…)

The 7,455 eighth grade students who did not get matched with a high school in the first round are scrambling to research their options and find a good fit. The Department of Education has given middle school counselors a list of schools with available space. Some schools have space for incoming 9th graders, others have 10th-grade spots — and some have both (there’s a key to decode the programs, but no way to discern the numbers of seats still open).

Watch Insideschools today for the 2009 version of this article, with our recommendations for high schools parents and eighth graders might look at again. As always, we welcome your questions, comments and concerns, and we will do our best to answer quickly.

Dear Judy,

What is the use of taking an Advanced Regents diploma? Do colleges even know what a Regents exam is? Wouldn’t it be just as well to take the five basic Regents exams and not bother with more? Or not take them at all?

– High school parent

Dear High School Parent:

For a long time, passing Regents exams was not the only way to get a New York State diploma. For many students, demonstrating competency in major subjects meant passing an easier Regents Competency test (known as the RCT). Then politicians began questioning the true value of a New York State high school diploma, and imposed Regents exams on all students to raise the standards. The New York State Education Department also offered an advanced Regents diploma to those students who followed a more rigorous curriculum. Take a look at Insideschools’ basics on diploma requirements for the specifics.

It’s true that Regents exams are unique to New York State, but in response to the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) many states have now established exit exams to set standards for their diplomas. In that sense, New York has a leg up with college admissions officers, who have encountered Regents for a long time. Importantly, even if the colleges do not look at the Regents scores at all, and even if you never take the Regents exams themselves, the course load you take to qualify for an Advanced Regents Diploma includes exactly what college admissions offices look for: challenges and effort beyond the basic standard. Just read what City University says on its website to all its applicants: (more…)

 Have a school question for Judy?  Search archives | Contact Judy

Over February break I was down in New Orleans with a group called the New York to New Orleans Coalition. As a student activist and a true believer in the strength of youth, it was the most inspiring experience of my life.

A little background on the organization: after Hurricane Katrina, Beacon High School brought group of students to New Orleans to work on reconstruction. After a year or so, Beacon stopped organizing these trips, but a few kids knew there was still work to do. So they started their own non-profit and began taking kids down themselves on every school vacation and every week of the summer. More than 100 students applied to go on their trip next month. Half had to be turned away because they could not be accommodated.

NY2NO is a completely student-led organization, started by kids who are now seniors at Beacon. Their vision is “to create a network of young people who are interested in organizing and mobilizing across New York City. NY2NO works in solidarity with those most affected by the social, racial, and economic inequalities in both New York and New Orleans. Through this, the youth breaks down barriers and works together to combat racism and classism and move towards an egalitarian society.” Despite the idealistic connotation of the word “egalitarian,” the organizers of NY2NO are practical, forward-thinking, active, thoughtful, and above all passionate.

NY2NO’s work in New Orleans is unique in a couple of ways. They go to rebuild, and to be part of a larger movement against racism. The week begins with a levee tour, where I learned that the levees of the Lower Ninth Ward are like ant hills compared to those of the French Quarter. The rest of the week is spent doing work in the Lower Ninth Ward, which still bears wounds from the storm. Mornings are spent on physical work, like gutting houses (yes, three years later, houses still need gutting) and working on community gardens (there is one supermarket, which is more of a deli, in the whole Lower Ninth). Afternoons are spent going door-to-door asking people about what they need, what their community needs, and just generally talking to the residents. Many people find themselves in two-hour conversations that end in tears on both sides.

Forget New Orleans’ stereotyped reputation: NY2NO trips are not about a bunch of teenagers hitting up the music and clubs on Bourbon St. My group spent every night talking about the best ways to combat racism, the idea of “solidarity not charity,” the emotions that were coming up from the day’s work, and the dynamics of our group as a reflection of society. We talked about how NY2NO could be more effective as an organization, how the environmental and education problems of New Orleans were present in New York City, and a million more things. Our trip quote was “If you have come to help me then you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work together.” We kept this idea at the heart of all the work we did and conversations we had. After the occasional tears and frustration, I always felt a renewed faith in my generation, as did everyone else I talked to.

The trip brings out the best in everyone: We built real friendships, relationships that challenged our intellects and made us consider how de facto segregation is enforced in our society. A month later, I’m still getting a new Facebook message every few minutes from someone on the trip. NY2NO was a life-changing and unforgettable experience. If any readers are in high school or have children in high school, I give this trip my highest recommendation.

Most 6th-graders aren’t yet thinking about high school, but students who aspire to attend the city’s most selective high schools, should start planning now. The Specialized High School Institute, a free 16-month, tutoring and test-prep program geared to help kids prepare for the specialized high school exam, is accepting applications for its 2009-2010 program. Eligible students should have received an application from their school guidance counselor. The application due date is Monday, March 23.

To be eligible for the program, which is sponsored by the city Department of Education, students must be in the 6th grade, qualify for free lunch under the Federal Title 1 program, have scored a level 3 or 4 on the 5th grade state ELA and math tests, and have at least a 90 percent attendance rate. Last year 2000 students participated in SHSI. Sandy Ferguson, executive director of middle school enrollment, said he anticipates that about the same number will enroll this year.

The DOE pre-selects students based on the above criteria, and applications for those students are sent to the student’s school, said a Bronx middle school guidance counselor who asked not to be identified. At his school, where more than 90 percent of the nearly 900 students are poor enough to qualify for free lunch, only four 6th graders are eligible this year.

Admitted students will attend five-week summer sessions in 2009 and 2010. Breakfast and lunch are included, although the schedule is still being finalized, Ferguson said. During the school year students will meet on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays.

In past years, some parents have complained that their school’s guidance counselor was unaware of the Specialized High School Institute application and thus their children missed the deadline. When asked if parents could submit their application directly to his office, Ferguson replied, “No, there’s a process and they should follow it.” Parents who haven’t received an application but think their children are eligible should contact the school’s guidance counselor. Non-public school students should mail their applications to the Office of Student Enrollment.

Got a question about the process? Contact Paul Shapiro, SHSI program director at PShapiro2@schools.nyc.gov or e-mail SHSI@schools.nyc.gov.

In January, Toni wrote about a citywide meeting for high-school students looking to explore student government. The meeting will take place tomorrow, Thursday, February 26th at 5 pm at 50 Broadway; visit the student union website for details and directions.

The student leaders are hopeful for a strong, energetic turnout. Please pass the word along to any adolescent or teen activists in your household…

Q: I read your column about scholarships for minority students. What about websites for Asian Americans? Any scholarships here?

A: You could start by looking at the websites for Asian American Alliance and Asian Pacific Fund, but the best thing is to go to a comprehensive site that has a database of thousands of scholarship opportunities. FastWeb has one of the most complete listings, and you can also search for scholarships on collegeboard.com.

There is a great deal of information out there — you just need to do the research. And remember that ethnicity is just one of many factors on which you can do a search. There are scholarships for veterans, children of veterans, musical students, tall students, left-handed students, students who will be the first in their families to attend college, students who invent things — and many others.

One thing I will warn everybody about: Ignore any offer you read about or receive that offers you scholarships for a fee. Scholarship information is free. Applying for scholarships should be free too. Don’t let anyone charge you. Likewise, “honor” societies that may inform you of your “nomination” or “selection” for membership — for which there is a charge — are not truly honor societies. They are businesses, trying to profit from students’ college-admission anxiety. Look near the end of any such offers; if there is a price mentioned, just toss the papers.

Good luck in your scholarship search. It involves work, not just to research, but to enter, as essays are sometimes required. A $500 prize may not seem like much, but if you win several small awards, they can certainly add up!

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

Harlem parents seeking alternatives to their zoned public schools will find options at the Harlem Education Fair on Saturday, Feb. 28. Unlike the city’s Department of Education fairs, which only feature public schools, this fair, sponsored by Harlem Success Charter School network and several community groups, will bring together 52 schools, including private and parochial schools.

“I don’t think children should be condemned to failing schools because of their zip code. It’s my right as a parent to choose my child’s school. I helped organize this fair because parents need to know they are not bound to their zoned school, they have options,” Sabrina Williams, a member of Harlem Parents United, a group of parents whose children attend Harlem Success Charter Schools, wrote in an e-mail to Insideschools.org.

In New York City, most elementary school students attend their zoned school, which is determined by a student’s address, but many parents remain unaware that their children have other options. Central Park East, whose representatives will be at the fair, admits students based on their interest in the school, not on their test scores or their zipcode. Other schools, such as the Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science and Engineering middle school, accept students who score above average on state tests. Like new posh restaurants, charter schools in Harlem are sprouting up and spreading across the neighborhood each year. Representatives from 22 charter schools, which admit students through a lottery, will be at the fair.

Organizers expect as many as 3000 people to attend, due to extensive mailings reaching homes in the far reaches of the Bronx as well as Upper Manhattan. Harlem Parents United members slipped fliers under apartment doors in every Harlem public housing building, organizers said.

The fair, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Nat Holman Gymnasium at City College (138^th St. and Convent Ave.), will also include free food. Chancellor Joel Klein is expected to attend and speak. Also in attendance will be representatives from community organizations such as Advocates for Children, Insideschools.org, the Children’s Aid Society, and the Children’s Scholarship Fund.

Dear Judy,
My daughter did not get into any of her main round choices despite having a 96+ average. She got into Brooklyn Latin but does not want to go there. I have serious concerns about the school’s neighborhood. Do we have a chance to go back to the main round, secondary round or for an appeal? I feel like the specialized high school process was presented as a method to find out early about your main round choices but no one mentioned this scenario.

Thanks for any help on this,

Disappointed in the 1st round

Dear Disappointed in the 1st round:

You still have a couple of days to reconsider. Acceptances are due Feb. 26. Think through the decision carefully. Try taking the trip she would take to Brooklyn Latin again. Speak to current students and listen to what they have to say about the neighborhood. Call the precinct to find out if there are incidents involving kids from the school or others in the community. Check out what other parents have to say on the Insideschools.org forum. If she still rejects Brooklyn Latin, your daughter’s application will be automatically entered in the main round.

Realize that once she turns down a specialized high school, she cannot change her mind about it. But, importantly, she can amend the application to reorder her choices, or add new ones, including the new schools that are opening next fall. According to Bonnie Gross, director of high school admissions, she not only can, but should revise her application. But remember: don’t list anything you would later rule out.

Results of the main round are due March 25. At that time, if the placement is unsatisfactory, there is still another chance to submit a supplementary application, and results are due out April 30.Then, there is an appeals process, so somewhere along the way your daughter has a good chance of getting into a good high school.

Another option: 9th graders can reapply to high school. Your daughter can take SHSAT test again, for possible placement to a specialized high school in 10th grade, and apply to other high schools as well.

Act fast and good luck.

Judy

 Have a school question for Judy?  Search archives | Contact Judy

In a caravan that’s likely to draw mighty media scrutiny — and perhaps a few earnest protesters — Education Secretary Arne Duncan will tour the Explore Charter School in Brooklyn at noon today, hosted by Chancellor Joel Klein, Mayor Bloomberg and UFT/AFT president Randi Weingarten. The DOE says classes are in session — no president’s week vacation for this Flatbush school — and to expect remarks on the federal stimulus bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, that will focus on New York’s education budget shortfalls.

Conducting the visit at a charter might be considered a pretty strong predictor of future directions in education reform; Chicago’s charters, though, haven’t outstripped the city’s conventional high schools, despite longer days, fewer high-need students, and Duncan’s abiding commitment to charter education. Time — and the midday press op — will tell.

By a margin of nearly three to one, parents say that DOE should mail high-school placement news home, to preserve kids’ privacy (and prevent public embarrassment, teasing, and the real disappointment that many kids endured in schools and on sidewalks last week, when SHSAT offers went out). Only 21 percent of parents endorsed the “tell-them-in-public” model — while 60 percent wanted the news mailed home, and another 15 percent thought guidance counselors could help ease potential disappointments.

This week, we’re curious about your vacation plans: Is President’s Week a welcome break — or a crazy-making scramble for child care, mini-camps, and playdates, not to mention Netflix overload?

While awaiting word from the city’s specialized high schools this week, I found myself saying meaningless words to my anxious 13-year-old:“If we lived in the suburbs,” I told him, “You and your classmates would never be going through all this drama. You would all just go to the neighborhood high school.” My little speech meant nothing, however, because we have no intention of living in the ‘burbs, even if the New York City public high school process can drive parents to it.

By the time many city kids are ready for high school, they’ve developed an appreciation for riding the subway alone. They are ardent little city dwellers who can meet friends from dozens of different neighborhoods and all five boroughs at museums and movies and skating rinks without asking parents for a ride. Besides, most don’t want to move to the suburbs. But that doesn’t mean they like an arduous high school process of endless tours, tests, interviews, essays, ranking and a giant sorting out that seems arbitrary and mysterious.

Letters went out last week to the 29,000 applicants who took the exam for the eight specialty schools or auditioned for Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. Some kids opened their letters with a mob of classmates, others found out in the office of their guidance counselors; others got handed the letter on the way out; some got the letters intercepted by their parents and some have still not heard.

Lots of parents don’t appreciate this system. Jennifer from Yorkville, posting on InsideSchools.org, expressed a widespread wish for a system of academically strong and varied neighborhood high schools and noted that she does not understand how school decisions are made.

How, for example, could a kid with a 70-average and a disciplinary record get into Stuyvesant? (Answer - the probably very bright, possibly under-motivated child tests well and the specialized exams are based only on one exam)

How can so many brilliant artists be turned away from LaGuardia? Why do so many talented actors and actresses get rejected, while some accomplished students with terrific grades and great test scores get turned down at their first, second and even third choices? How do schools like Beacon and Bard that are flooded with applicants that look similar on paper make the calls?

They never say, and I don’t have the answers, but if you think parents are mystified and anxious this week, just check in on Facebook posts. If you don’t have your own Facebook to compare notes with other parents, ask your child to share — if they are willing. You will see status updates about tears and depression, along with posts expressing anger, happiness and disgust about having to wait until late March for a “match.” The Facebook friends are offering one another words of comfort, like “everything happens for a reason,” or “Not everyone likes Stuyvesant anyway.”

There are discussions of how the wrong kids get in, along with notes and advice comparing the different schools and lots of the standard: “You rock dude!” and “congrats, ur awesome!”

The news in my household was what my 13-year-old music-obsessed son wanted: acceptance into LaGuardia. His joy was tempered in part by the sobbing in his school from those who were disappointed.

The main round matches won’t be announced till March. That’s enough time, as the city debates mayoral control, for parents and policy makers to think about revamping the high school system.

Eighth-graders across the city learned this afternoon whether they had been offered seats at the city’s specialized high schools, including the eight testing schools, for which student take the Specialized High School Admissions Test, and LaGuardia High School, which requires auditions.

Of 29,000 applicants citywide for the exam schools, 5,404 were offered seats. Less than half of that group (2306 students) were offered admission at their first choice school.

Students who made the specialized exam school and LaGuardia cuts (where 1,041 kids got 1,167 offers, as applicants often do multiple auditions) also learned about their high school placements to non-specialized high schools. But the vast majority of students who participated in the specialized high school process — nearly 23,000 — went home empty-handed, to wait for March 26th, when all applicants will receive their results.

Watch our weekly poll tomorrow for more on high school decision-making, and by all means, let us know how things unfolded at your child’s middle school, either in the Comments string or on our Forum.

This weekend, the DOE is hosting a fair for New High Schools, at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn — but they still haven’t published a complete, official list of all the new high schools that will open in September 2009, although representatives say there will be a handbook listing all the new schools at the fair. It’s hard to know what will motivate parents to trek to a fair with incomplete knowledge of the schools that will be available.

Today’s announcement lists seven high schools, including two Career and Technical Education High Schools, two transfer schools for older students, and two new high school charters. That’s what’s known today, Thursday, two days ahead of the fair. All of these schools will apparently be represented on Saturday.

The Manhattan Business Academy will open with a 9th grade class, in the newly renamed High School for Humanities Educational Complex (currently, Bayard Rustin) at 351 West 18th Street; it will share space with the Landmark High School (an established school moving into the building before September) and Bayard Rustin High School, as it phases out.

The Business of Sports School, a new small Career and Technical Education (CTE) school, opening with 9th grade in the High School of Graphic Communication Arts building, 439 West 49th Street.

City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, a small CTE school opening in the George Westinghouse CTE High School at 105 Tech Place, Brooklyn.

Emma Lazarus High School, a transfer school, opening in the MS 131 Building at 100 Hester Street, where it will share space with MS 131 and Pace High School.

East Brooklyn Community High School, a transfer school, opening in a new building at 965 East 107th Street, Brooklyn, where it will share space with a new middle school, the Science and Medicine Middle School.

Believe Northside Charter High School and Believe Southside Charter School, two new high-school charters that will share space at JHS 126, 424 Leonard Street, Brooklyn.

Click here for a link to current information on all the new schools, at every level, organized by district.

Historically, most New York City high school students have been eligible to earn Local or more rigorous Regents diplomas. But reforms set in motion over a decade ago by New York State Regents now require all high school students, beginning with the current freshman class, to meet the more stringent Regents standards for graduation — a challenge the city’s schools, and students, are ill-equipped to meet, according to a report released today by the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice.

While overall graduation rates have been inching upward, Regents diploma rates fall far short: 52 percent of students graduate in four years, according to the DOE, but only 37 percent earn Regents diplomas. Among students of color, Regents rates are lower still: 28 percent of African-American and 26 percent of Hispanic teens earn Regents (with boys consistently earning fewer Regents credentials than girls).

Schools that serve struggling communities, which the report describes as high-poverty schools, graduate many fewer Regents students than do low-poverty schools (32 percent vs. 58 percent) and offer only about half the advanced-study opportunities, limiting options for even the most ambitious, motivated students. Small high schools post comparatively higher grad rates (78 percent, according to a New Visions report referenced in the CEJ study) — but less than half of their grads, or 36 percent, earn Regents credentials.

Big picture: 10,000 recent graduates would not have qualified for diplomas, under the new, more rigorous standards. Approximately 22,000 current high school students attend schools where three-quarters of the student body do not graduate with Regents diplomas. These students are predominantly poor; their economic and personal futures, without sufficient academic preparation for college or “promising jobs,” are bleak. (Graduation and Regents-diploma rates are lower still for students with disabilities and those learning English, but the CEJ report primarily addresses the mainstream population.)

The report recommends that the DOE “redesign and expand time for learning,” including a longer school day and broad enrichments for high school students. It also endorses remaking low-performing schools into “community schools,” which would provide academic instruction as well as medical, social, and emotional supports to students and families. (How communities would access their schools in the climate of citywide school choice, where zoned schools are at a minimum, is a puzzle for another time.)

The CEJ, under the auspices of the Annenberg Institute, knits together a broad coalition of parent and advocacy groups and has had marked success in prior efforts to improve science instruction (securing $444 million for middle and high school science labs), middle-school reform (a $30 million DOE grant to address low-performing schools) and improving teacher quality and mentoring. One can only hope that the powers that be attend to the group’s current publication — before it is too late to prepare tens of thousands of New York City students to meet the high standards set by the city and state.

DOE officials have announced the phase-out of Brandeis High School, one of the last remaining “comprehensive” — ie, large and struggling — high schools on the Upper West Side. Current students will be permitted to remain in school; Brandeis will graduate its last class in 2012. (It’s not yet clear if students will be able to transfer to other high schools, as is permitted when schools are closed by No Child Left Behind regulations.)

Three new schools will open in the Brandeis High School building this fall: Two high schools, the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers (a career and technical education school) and the Global Learning Collaborative will each open with a 9th grade class and gain a grade a year. Innovation Diploma Plus, a transfer school for older students, will enroll students considered overage and undercredited - those who are at least two years behind in earning credits toward graduation.

The new schools will have information available at the New High School Fair this weekend at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn; it’s hoped that DOE will be able to provide additional details on these schools and the others that are new to the system before the fair begins.

Update: Detailed coverage of the Brandeis phase-out is here, here, and here. Once again, parents, school leaders, and community representatives were not consulted prior to DOE’s decision to close the school.

Rejection isn’t easy to take, no matter how it arrives. When my toddler son didn’t get accepted to a neighborhood pre-school more than 10 years ago, I was new to the concept of competition for education — a commonplace of New York City life. And because he could not read the letter, I saw no reason to explain: “Umm, you weren’t allowed to play Lego and learn the alphabet at School X because too many other three-year-olds wanted to do the same thing and there wasn’t enough room…”

Now, before high school, the stakes are much higher. On Thursday, about 27,000 eighth-graders will learn if they’ll be offered seats at one of the city’s eight specialized high schools. Fewer than 6,000 students scored high enough last year to earn entry. This year as last year, another 9,000 applicants vied for just 664 spots at Fiorello H. Laguardia. And this week, the kids who took the tests and auditioned will get their placement results.

Many parents worry about especially fierce competition this year, as private-school students and their families consider free public options. Regardless, thousands of bright, talented and deserving students may not be admitted to these schools at all. Those that do may have to settle for second and third choices.

How and where students learn the actual news can be public or private. Middle-school guidance counselors are the first to learn, on February 5th, the same day results are distributed to students. At my son’s school, kids can choose how they want to hear the news, and whether they’ll get word in front of their equally nervous friends, with middle school staff on hand. “In the past, our students have been very supportive of one another,” wrote my son’s guidance counselor in a note to parents. The school also offered to contact parents before the letters go out “so you can be aware and support your child.”

All this reminds me, in the pit of my stomach, just how it felt when I was hoping for a thick envelope from my first-choice college a lifetime ago. But now, I won’t be opening the letter. I’m grateful to my son’s middle school for taking the envelope out of my hands.

I hope the students will be kind and supportive of one another, no matter what news they get. And I hope that those who are disappointed by the specialized schools will match at high schools that suit their needs and interests.

I haven’t been through the entire process yet, but I can’t help wondering if there is a better system for matching students to city high schools. Suggestions, anyone?

Q: I need assistance in choosing a good, affordable SUNY college that offers film. Any suggestions?

A: Your question addresses two issues: affordability and film studies. You are in luck. SUNY schools are affordable, certainly more so than private colleges, and that’s because, as state educational institutions, their mission is to provide high quality education at an accessible price to residents of New York State. A typical SUNY education tuition, room, meals, books, everything runs about $18,400 a year. That’s before financial aid, grants, and scholarships are applied. Private colleges today cost anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000 annually, so a SUNY education is a terrific value. Talk to SUNY financial aid counselors about how to help make college affordable.

Don’t forget about CUNY! The City University of New York offers excellent academics at an affordable price.

You didn’t say whether you are interested in film studies or in filmmaking. I have suggestions for both and you have several options, both at SUNY and CUNY.

First the CUNYs:

Brooklyn College offers film production, film studies, and screenwriting

City College offers film and video production in its Media and Communication Art Department

The College of Staten Island offers a BA in Cinema Studies

Hunter College has a program in Film and Media Studies

Queens College (the College Counselor’s alma mater) offers a BA in Film Studies

Three SUNY campuses offer degree programs in film:

Binghamton: has a Cinema Department where you can study both the history and mechanics of filmmaking

Buffalo: the Department of Media Study offers courses in digital art, world cinema, film history, and robotics

Purchase: You can learn filmmaking techniques, editing, scriptwriting, directing, and production in the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program

As you can see, you can learn everything about the history of cinema and about how to create your own movies right here in the city, or at several locations throughout the state. I suggest that you visit the CUNY campuses to check out their programs first, then arrange to visit Purchase, which is in Westchester County. Speaking with professors and students in these departments will give you a more complete picture. Have fun!

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

About 27,000 eighth graders and their parents will learn next Thursday, Feb. 5, whether they will be offered seats at the city’s eight specialized high schools, based on the results of the SHSAT, or specialized high school admissions test. The test, administered in October and November, is long, hard, and challenging: Fewer than 6,000 students scored high enough on the 2007 exam to earn offers to the specialized schools. Students who applied to LaGuardia High School will also hear news next week.

In fact, some students may hear good news from two (or even three) schools: Those who meet the SHSAT bar will also receive word of their non-specialized, general-ed high school placement, and have three weeks to choose which school to attend. Kids who auditioned for LaGuardia and were accepted may also hear from two other schools: The specialized test school that accepted them and their standard match.

Most students, though, didn’t take the SHSAT, and won’t hear news on their high-school placement until early March. In the meantime, the DOE is rolling out new high schools at a New High School fair in early February, where it plans to introduce at least a dozen new high schools in every borough save Staten Island. We’ll have more on the new schools as particulars are available — decisions are still being made, according to DOE sources, and final details have yet to be nailed down. The fair is slated for Feb. 7 and 8 at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn.

The timing of the New High School fair, before placements are known, means that many families that might be eager for new options a month down the road will still be waiting for first-round placement news. Will people who don’t yet know they need new schools take the initiative to attend a new school fair? (In February? In Brooklyn? I’m skeptical.) The deadline for applying for a new school is February 26 – the very same day SHSAT and LaGuardia offers are due back to school counselors. That’s a solid week before matches will be announced. How are families to know whether to pursue a new school if they don’t yet have first-round results? But although the timing may be awkward, it’s not new. Every year the DOE announces new high schools in February and high school placement decisions in March.

Welcome occasional blogger Lauren Young, a journalist whose son attends a New York City Universal Pre-K program.

Which is the smarter choice: To send your child to school with a lot of other bright kids, or to place her in a more mixed environment, with students of varied academic achievements? BusinessWeek recently named America’s Best High Schools in conjunction with Great Schools. Plenty of the finalists for the “Best Overall Academic Performance” award are special schools that draw the brightest kids in the area. Indeed, in New York, the top-ranking school on this list is New York City’s own Stuyvesant High School, which serves “academically gifted students” (who also happen to be terrific test-takers).

I understand the lure of gifted programs. But I’m also a firm believer in the notion that a rising tide lifts all boats. When schools pluck the most brilliant kids out of the educational system and lump them together, I think it creates a leadership void for the students who are left behind.

A few years ago, we moved to a neighborhood in Brooklyn because it had the locally zoned elementary school (P.S. 29) with an excellent academic reputation. Since our son began school last fall, I feel much more connected to our community. It’s virtually impossible to walk down the main drag in our neighborhood or go to the playground and not see folks we know from school. That’s why I ultimately opted not to sign up our son for the gifted and talented test. Even if my kid is “G&T,” I don’t want him attending a school miles away from our home. (It’s hard to believe, but not all parents think their children are geniuses, by the way.)

What’s your educational philosophy? Should smart kids be sifted out of the academic system, or is it better to mainstream bright kids with everyone else?

I always know when the New York State tests are coming up, and not because I hire tutors or visit the many websites that offer practice tests and tips, including the state education department.

It starts with my younger son’s sniffles. They become more pronounced in the days before the test. A sore throat is next, then complaints of a headache.

A visit to the school nurse follows. The whole body, it seems, is aching.

Later, I can count on a night-time visitor. I will be quizzed on how many hours of sleep are needed to be considered a good night’s sleep. (Answer: more than I got with so many interruptions). A request to stay home follows, and a new round of questions begins: “Do the sixth-grade tests count for high school?” the sixth-grader asks between sniffles.

After years of taking tests, he’s attuned to the concept that fourth-grade exams matter because middle schools see them. And because he has an eighth-grade brother, he’s overheard all the conversation about finding a high school in our household and knows that high schools do take into account scores on the seventh-grade exam.

So how do I answer? My first impulse is to be reassuring: relax, don’t worry, you’ll do fine, just do your best.

As a veteran New York City public school parent, though, I know the best schools are highly competitive.

There aren’t enough seats in the best schools for all who choose them. So as much as I’d like to downplay the tests, I do hope my sons will bring home high scores.

I know, too, that you can’t possibly fully prepare a child for the city’s specialized high schools and tell them their score isn’t important, when in fact the score determines who gets into prestigious and coveted institutions like Stuyvesant or Bronx High School of Science.

The annual tests our children begin taking in third-grade have not been without controversy: a coalition of parents, educators, and other state leaders have long called for a break and a review of what they call “excessive high stakes exams.”

The schools my children have attended have managed to balance test preparation with the rest of the curriculum, so it hasn’t seemed oppressive. (Well, to me, of course. The kids have complained mightily about vacation packets of practice exams.)

I think I may have dodged this year’s “do-they-count?” question with a promise to rent a movie or watch the mindless and annoying American Idol and by focusing on the good news that there’s usually no homework during test week.

I’m not sure it will quell my sixth-grader’s anxiety. I will ask how the tests went, but I’d still rather talk about what books he’s reading and what he’s learning in class.

And if he wakes me up again this week with a stomach-ache or sore throat, I’ll tell him the truth: High schools do not look at the sixth-grade tests.

Which means he can start worrying now about his seventh-grade exams.

Q. My daughter is a high school junior. We want to start visiting colleges this year, and we want to know of programs or colleges offering scholarships to minority students (we are Haitian-Americans). We have heard of a program called “Posse” do you know anything about this? Also, my daughter plays the cello. What about academic or music scholarships? Thank you for any leads you can offer.
A. You and your daughter are at exactly the right point to start researching both colleges and scholarship opportunities. First you’ll need to research potential schools that can offer your daughter the academic, cultural, and social life that will help her thrive; then over spring break, on occasional weekends, and over the summer, you will need to make some campus visits so you can see things for yourselves.

At the same time, you need to research scholarship possibilities. Scholarships and grants, as opposed to college loans, are gifts. They will allow your daughter to pursue her education with reduced financial burdens. There are two kinds of scholarships: institutional and non-institutional. Institutional scholarships are those awarded by a specific college or university. Almost all schools have some form of scholarship, and these can range from full-tuition to a token amount; generally, all applicants to these schools are automatically considered for scholarships when they apply for admission.

The non-institutional scholarships are offered by outside organizations, and these will require research and separate applications. The application process usually begins at the start of the student’s senior year. Again, this outside help can range from full tuition to small grants of $100 - $500. The Posse Foundation is one of a number of organizations that seeks out talented public high school students “with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes.” In partnership with a number of colleges and universities, Posse offers these students 4-year, full-tuition scholarships. Students must be nominated by their high school or by community-based organizations.

Another great resource is BlackExcel.org, which offers a scholarship directory for minority students. You can find many leads here!

Some other organizations that seek out minority students include the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, and the Gates Millennium Scholars.

And there are even more opportunities! The college office at your daughter’s high school probably has the College Board’s comprehensive Scholarship Handbook 2009. This is for all students, not just minority students, and lists 2,100 scholarship programs offered by organizations nationwide. They are indexed by state, by organization, and by subject area. So you can look up, for example, science scholarships, math scholarships, scholarships for students who are leaders in community service, and scholarships for military dependents. In some cases, essays are required, while in others there are specific forms to complete. Your daughter can also go to the “Paying for College” section of the College Board’s website to perform her own scholarship search. The more information she provides at this site, the more she will find scholarship information attuned to her interests.

Your daughter’s musical talent could possibly be another source of scholarship funding if she plans to major in music, colleges may ask her to audition and then make awards based upon her musical talent. Specific talents and interests are another whole area of scholarship potential. The website of Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music offers a long list of music scholarships offered by many different organizations.

There are many organizations, large and small, that are committed to assisting all students in financing their educations. Unfortunately, the financial situations of a number of these groups may have changed during the current economic crisis. Still, there will be many viable opportunities. Now, in the middle of your daughter’s junior year, is the perfect time to start the research!

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

Merideth Kolodner writes today about a population many prefer to overlook — the thousands of pregnant teens who are, by rights, entitled to be enrolled in high school — citing a new report by the New York Civil Liberties Union (linked here).

The DOE’s “P Schools” (p=pregnancy) were recently phased out, after 40+ years of difficulty. P schools, created in the 1960s, were designed as safe havens for girls who couldn’t attend their regular schools once their pregnancies became visible. Intentions were good, but problems were rife: Unpredictable enrollment (new students arrived any time the decision was made that they should move, and other teens left once they gave birth) and pitifully limited academic progress meant that many girls earned less than a semester’s credit over the year they were expected to attend P school.

Particularly troubling, on a micro scale, is the tone of some of the comments that follow Kolodner’s story, showcasing a profoundly callow absence of empathy. The young mothers giving birth, and their children, deserve better, both from individuals and from the city’s schools.

It isn’t easy getting information from a 13-year-old, which is one reason I’m at least mildly curious about the interviews my son had as part of the torturous high school application process.

“So how did it go?’’ I asked, after he at least managed to find the high schools in question on his own and arrive on time. “I don’t know,’’ came his non-committal reply.

As a New York City public school parent and veteran of pre-school hysteria, I’ve been down this road before. Ten years ago, I remember dressing him in little checkered overalls and tiny red shoes for his first “interview,’’ at one of the highly competitive pre-schools in our neighborhood. I crossed my fingers and hoped his potty training would hold up, and that he would not grab another child’s toy or start screaming. After successfully steering a plastic fire truck on a gym floor, he was accepted into a lovely church nursery school and spent three joyous years playing Lego, learning letters, and building sand castles.

Segue to elementary school at PS 150 in Tribeca, where all fifth-graders got preparation for answering middle school interview questions. He managed to get through that okay as well.

But high school interviews are different. The stakes are far higher now as the most selective and coveted schools rank their top candidates in a process that has included everything from separate exams to portfolio and report card reviews and recommendation letters.

“So what did you talk about?’’ I persisted. “Nothing much,’’ he replied. I can only hope he was a bit more articulate to whoever was sitting across from him and taking notes at the time.

“We talked about a lot of stuff,’’ I finally got. A little probing revealed some fairly creative and interesting questions on the parts of the reviewers, who have typically included teachers, former students, parent coordinators, and school officials. Some interviews were more like a conversation, with book questions and a discussion of popular movie like “Twilight’’ and shows like “South Park.’’

One question caught my attention. “If you could design the perfect high school, what would it have?’’ It wasn’t asked of me, but I’ve decided to take a crack anyway. I’ll have to keep the answer within both public school and New York City limitations. (Forget about outdoor space, athletic fields, a campus, and class sizes under 20.)

How about a challenging curriculum and a rich menu of performing opportunities in the arts, including music and drama, along with classes (preferably) or clubs in studio arts, photography, and video?

Why not add well-equipped science labs along with community service options, field trips, and opportunities? Oh, I would really appreciate an exciting choice of after school activities, an array of sports teams (both competitive and intramural) and a caring, kind cadre of teachers and administrators who know most kids by name. Advanced placement and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs are highly appreciated as well, as are guidance counselors who understand the college application process in and out but are also sensitive enough to elicit responses from simple questions like: “How did it go?’’ What about schools that offer excellent, challenging English language studies for new speakers — over and above the International High Schools — and strong learning options across all city high schools for kids with special needs?

An eighth-grader enduring the maddening admissions process and trying to get a top public school education in New York City might be afraid to answer that question.

And I can’t say I blame them.

Last week I forgot to bring a lunch to school and found myself standing in front of the vending machines in the LaGuardia High School cafeteria. I expected to find a small, reasonably healthy snack to get me through the afternoon, but when I looked, what I found was chips, cookies, Pop Tarts, pretzels and Rice Krispies Treats. The one healthy drink - a bottle of water- was sold out.

Although the evidence that child obesity affects school performance is limited, nutrition clearly affects academic performance. Anyone who’s taken a test on a morning they’ve missed breakfast will tell you so. Poor nutritional status and hunger interfere with cognitive function and are associated with lower academic achievement. While school health classes encourage balanced and nutritious diets, the vending machines’ crunchy, sweet and salty contents completely contradict this message.

Schools are concerned that if they change vending machine selections to be more healthy, they will lose money. However, in many cases where healthier options were given to kids, there was no decrease in sales. I also know from talking to kids in my school that there are a lot of people, especially girls, who would be grateful for healthier choices in the vending machines.

Being overweight is really difficult. A lot of kids today are interested in eating well, and it’s important that schools encourage this, not just in the classroom, but in the lunchroom, too.

Editor’s Note: DOE has, in recent years, revamped its vending offerings to more healthful choices — some may remember the days when soda pop and high-fat chips were de rigeur in every city school — but snacks still rule at lunchtime, often in lieu of ‘real’ food. All school cafeterias are supposed to have fresh fruit (and salad!) on hand daily, for healthier alternatives to lower-fat snacks, but getting kids to take the fruit is as much a challenge as leading the proverbial (sated) horse to water…

If anyone tells you the high school process in New York City is relatively painless, don’t believe them. Would you believe someone who told you they breezed through high school and loved every moment of it?

Essays, interviews, test and portfolio preparation and auditions eat up nights and weekends for you and your 13-year-old. Taking tours (when you remember to sign up and aren’t shut out) guarantees being late for work. Open houses mean waiting on line. As the deadline (Dec. 2) approaches, another parent’s opinion may have to substitute for real information.

Students can list up to 12 choices, although they’ll get just one offer. Students are assigned to high schools based on how they rank them and how they are ranked by the schools. Harvard University’s Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons, whose territory includes New York City, told me he’s always known “that it’s much more difficult to get into any school in New York than it is to get into Harvard.’’ I’m sure I’ll be better at this by the time we are looking for colleges, but I feel like I fell down on the job this fall: We are putting three high schools on the list that we hope would be acceptable, based on reports from Insideschools.org, even though we couldn’t make the tours.

Conversations around lists and rankings are starting to sound remarkably familiar and repetitive. For example, if Beacon really is everyone’s first choice for a non-specialty high school, can what they are doing please be replicated and spread out a bit? After all, Beacon received 4,600 applications last year for just 262 spots. New York City parents are willing to do the hard work of finding, touring, ranking and then supporting good public high schools — as long as we are assured of having good choices. Schools that offer a rich program of arts, clubs and sports, along with plenty of advanced courses and an enthusiastic staff will naturally have enormous appeal to both parents and to kids. High schools like Millennium, where the student tour guides gushed about how happy they are, made a huge impression. Schools with overcrowded classrooms where we watched students doze through lessons were less appealing, as was a school where kids appeared to be working extremely hard but never cracked a smile.

With choice comes the hope that you will find a good fit for your child at a time when fitting in counts enormously. High school can be a really painful time, and in case you don’t recall, try renting some old films about high schools like the 1985 John Hughes classic “The Breakfast Club.’’ Stereotyped characters are all there: the jock, the nerdy geek, the popular beauty queen, the angry misfit. The giant suburban Illinois high school in “The Breakfast Club” has little in common with the kinds of schools we’ve been touring in New York City, but the harrowing and heartfelt pain of trying to fit in seemed instantly recognizable. And after all the hard work we’ve done already, no matter where any of our kids end up, they’ll have to figure it out.

by Liz Willen

As a veteran of both middle school and high school tours (not to mention the many college tours I’ve been on as an education journalist), I’m getting really sick of the will-my-child-get-in question. It’s become as annoying as the incessant “are we there yet?” mantra from the back seat of the car.

Of course, in the highly competitive world we inhabit, it’s only natural to freak out a bit about high-school admission, particularly when criteria are so vague.

Top New York City high schools that don’t require the specialized high school exam – schools like Baruch College Campus High School and Lab School for Collaborative Studies, for example – might ask for an average of 85 and above and 3s or 4s on the seventh-grade math and ELA exams. Since thousands of students meet these requirements, the number of applicants far exceeds the spaces. No wonder parents and kids are anxious about who will make the cut.

In the interest of holding public high schools and educators accountable and making sure that all high schools – not just the most coveted ones – are performing, I’m going to suggest moving the conversation toward judging and evaluating schools. In that contest, it’s important to know that New York’s not alone. Most U.S. high schools aren’t doing so well.

Judy Codding, president of America’s Choice, provided a host of useful questions and some data about U.S. high schools at a conference for journalists on high school reform. (In the interest of full disclosure, I helped run it, for the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media.)

Codding presented some frightening numbers about the state of U.S. high schools. For example:

• Two out of 10 students who leave middle school are not ready for a rigorous high school core curriculum

• Teachers indicate that they spend a quarter to a third of their time each year re-teaching what should have been learned in earlier grades

• Approximately 1.2 million students who enter ninth grade fail to graduate four years later

• While nationally 70% of students graduate from high school on time, just over half of African-American and Hispanic students meet that goal (NB: In New York City, the numbers for boys of color are even lower. -hz)

• Three out of four high school graduates who take a core curriculum are not prepared for entry-level college courses

• Nearly a third students entering post-secondary education need remedial courses in one or more subjects

Codding, who has served as a high school principal in communities from Pasadena, California to Scarsdale, New York, suggests asking for statistics and data on every tour. Some other tips:

• Ask how prepared the incoming ninth-graders are and what the school is doing to make sure they get prepared.

• Ask about the teachers. Are most of them brand new? Did the principal get a say in who he or she hired? How are they assigned to classes? Do the strongest teachers teach the brightest kids? Who works with the school’s most challenging population?

• Ask how student performance is tracked, and what policies and practices either need to be put in place or removed to improve student performance?

• Ask about the school’s four-year graduation rate (this information is also posted on the Insideschools’ profiles in the gray box with other helpful school statistics).

Sheer numbers dictate that not all of our children will be accepted into the top tier schools. Let’s push instead to improve the options within all city high schools. One way to do that is by visiting a larger variety of schools and asking lots of questions – and holding educators accountable for the answers.

As the high school search for my eighth-grader intensifies, I’ve been reading up on some interesting and relatively new schools. All are far from where we live and not at all convenient: Frank Sinatra High School of the Arts (which will soon move to Astoria); The Brooklyn Latin School in Bushwick and the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in the Bronx, for example.

I cannot get my eighth-grader to even visit, and a small part of me can’t blame him. If you worked on Wall Street and lived a few blocks away in Tribeca, you might not care much about great deals on homes an hour away, in Flushing or Marine Park.

It’s not surprising that a kid who has always attended schools less than 25 minutes away can’t fathom the thought of spending more than two hours a day squeezed in on a subway, even though tens of thousands of city kids do it every day. Without trying, I’ve raised something of a real estate snob when it comes to choosing a high school. But in the same way that economic reality can interfere with real estate dreams, sheer competition intrudes on the high school search and forces many students and their parents to search far and wide for options. The competition for the top high schools in a city where the supply for quality public education in no way comes close to meeting demand.

For example, while glancing through the most recent edition of Clara Hemphill’s “New York City’s Best Public High Schools,” I nearly choked when contemplating the competition at top schools, including specialized high schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science. Last year, 27,720 students sat for the SHSAT exam; 5,391, or just under 20%, scored high enough to make the cut.

Non-specialized schools are in high demand, too: For example, the DOE’s high school directory says that Bard Early College High School received 2886 applications for 152 seats. At the familiar swath of popular Manhattan schools — Beacon, Baruch, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lab and Millennium High Schools — applicants regularly outstrip available seats: 4600 applicants for 262 spots at Beacon, 3418 applicants for 140 places at Millennium. (Ed note: It’s important to remember that students rank up to 12 schools on their high-school application, so someone who applies for Beacon can and probably does apply to the other schools listed above, inflating what’s already staggering to a new level.)

The “getting in” question is sure to come up on tours of these selective schools and unfortunately takes up conversation better devoted to teacher quality, course offerings, school philosophy and curriculum. But who can blame parents, when the competition is so fierce and the choices within Manhattan so coveted?

By the time it comes to finding a college, we’ll all be seasoned pros. Small comfort during this intense, competitive, confusing process.

It looks like the city and the schools might get four more years of Bloomberg and Klein; when push came to shove, the City Council’s Education Committee was proportionally more supportive of the mayor than the Council as a whole.On the other hand, 10 public school teachers filed a law suit on Wednesday arguing that the change breached voters civil rights. And in a second lawsuit, the city was sued after police handcuffed a 10-year-old special education student.

Other high profile school news: The $80 million data-management system the DOE bought hasn’t been working all fall (although a homegrown data-tracking system is thriving in Brooklyn) and well-regarded sociologists continue to question the city’s progress reports, which are due out soon for high schools. Crime may be down, but grand larceny is up in city schools, and a bureaucratic mess between the DOE and the Department of Sanitation is playing out on one truly messy Brooklyn street. Also in Brooklyn, a teen with special needs has been assigned to two schools, neither of which provided her with mandated services.

In good news, a new playground - the first of several to come - opened in Brooklyn thanks to a hefty donation. And New York was highlighted as one of the cities that requires green standards for new school buildings, plans for two of which were unveiled yesterday – and should be built cost-free to the city. And it turns out that 270 classic New York school buildings, some built a century ago and still in use, can be credited to one man.

In light of the DOE’s new policy on military recruitment of high school students, one elderly warrior-for-peace assembled her own army to fight back. A school in the Bronx is trying to harness the popularity of online communication into academic purposes, and the highly selective Hunter College High School has seen its applicant pool decline. Klein shared his philosophies and policies with a packed-house in Bridgeport, Conn., while an opinion piece in the Daily News argued that school’s budgets should be cut but the union is bribing politicians in Albany to keep the money flowing…

Just in time for this weekend’s administration of the SHSAT (specialized high school admissions test) — and perfectly poised to increase the anxiety of the nearly 30,000 students who’ll sit for the exam (and their parents), a new study says that variations in the high-stakes admission test, meant to prohibit cheating, scramble the results so significantly that many students who should have been offered seats in the specialized high schools were bounced instead. It also documented a preference for math and science whiz kids, over kids with across-the-board high scores — the kids college admissions counselors call BWRKs, bright well-rounded kids who are strong students if not prodigies.

DOE testing guru Robert Tobias, now an education professor at NYU, takes the long view: “If the issue is, could some kids who score lower on the test be successful at these schools, quite frankly the answer would be yes.” His circumspection is tepid comfort for the kids who will learn, come February, that they didn’t cut the SHSAT mustard. But it’s the honest truth, just the same.

Saturday was one of those perfect Indian summer days. The beach beckoned; the greenmarkets overflowed with pungent basil and ripe produce; tourists marched in droves over the Brooklyn Bridge to see the waterfalls. I pulled my reluctant 12-year-old out of bed and headed to the jam-packed citywide high school fair at Brooklyn Tech.

“But I don’t want to go to Brooklyn Tech,” he complained. The fair, I replied calmly, would be a chance to ask questions of hundreds of students, counselors, principals and others about their high schools all over the city.

The Department of Education has provided lots of opportunities to learn about the high school process, which is far more daunting, overwhelming and confusing than the one we just participated in to find a middle school. The fair was one of them, and I did learn a few things. I spoke to some energetic and devoted teachers at the up-and-coming Brooklyn Latin, and I came away totally impressed. I learned more about specialty high school exams and how to rank the schools. I discovered there are lots of new and innovative high schools worth checking out. I finally found out when some open house dates might be for schools on our (well, let’s be frank) on my list.

“So what did you learn at the high school fair?” I asked my son as we huffed up and downstairs to find schools that interest him. It came as no surprise to find they were also the schools with the biggest crowds: for example, Bard, Beacon, Millennium, Stuyvesant and his current obsession, LaGuardia. “I learned a lot of people want to go to LaGuardia,” he said.

When we got home, he spent two hours practicing for his audition in November. Our next step will be to visit some open houses and to have another one of those “you can’t put all your eggs in basket,” talks. It’s great to know what you want – even if you have yet to see it or experience it — but it’s also important to get a good sense of different high schools and what they offer.

The first step in our family’s New York City public high school search did not involve delving into our growing piles of books, papers and test prep brochures, gathered at various information sessions.

We watched the movie “Fame,’’ that 1980 classic set at the old New York City High School for the Performing Arts, which became the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. It seemed like a better idea than shoving a pile of materials in front of my 12-year-old and pointing out that there are more than 400 high schools to choose from. “So, where do you want to go? Take a look and rank them from 1 to 12!’’ My musician son has thought very little about high school (didn’t we just choose a middle school?) but he does know about LaGuardia, even if we’ve never set foot in the place and can’t figure out when the next open house is.

“Fame” is a bit outdated. The students looked about 25, as far as we could tell, but we followed their hopes, dreams, and struggles with rapt interest. Afterwards, we talked a bit about competition, and about what auditions for LaGuardia might be like. We discussed the wisdom of entering high school with enormous focus and ambition at such a young age. Well, maybe ‘discussed’ isn’t the right word, I probably talked about the importance of combining passion for the arts with the strongest academic and college-preparatory curriculum possible; my son probably nodded and did his best to ignore me. It’s time to take the next step, so we’ll head to Brooklyn Tech on Saturday for the citywide high school fair. Even though there are more than 400 high schools to choose from, I have a feeling the crowds will gather in front of about 20 of the best-known. I doubt it will be as much fun as watching “Fame,’’ but at least it’s a start.

We’re happy to welcome back Insideschools guest blogger and school-search veteran Liz Willen. And for the record, LaGuardia has open houses for accepted students; the school does not offer public tours prior to admission.

Yes, the new-school dust is still swirling, but for families of eighth-graders, the high school admissions process looms large on the horizon. Much of what you’ve heard is true: The process is daunting and potentially confusing; it can be hard to know which of the city’s 400+ high schools might best serve your child; and yes, this is the kind of decision that can have a profound effect on your child’s life and future. High stakes? No kidding.

The DOE hosts a behemoth, two-day citywide high school fair and fairs for each borough (dates and times to come); we’ll have more on the blog next week on how to navigate a fair without feeling swamped. OSEPO’s high school admissions head, Evaristo Jimenez, took questions on the DOE website (responding mainly with generic ’see the directory/talk to your counselor/go to registration centers’ answers); Insideschools’ guide to high school admissions walks you through the basics; and faithful readers will be glad to welcome back Liz Willen, whose Middle School Muddle will morph into High School Hustle this year. We’d also be glad to hear from readers about the process — what works, what doesn’t, and what surprises them along the way.

Stay tuned for more on fairs and open houses, and look for details on our Open House calendar, which is updated often in this pre-tour season. The process is intense and demanding, but at least it’s fairly short-lived: By mid-December, your child will have completed his or her application and the decision-making will shift to the schools and to DOE.