East Side Community School

It’s a neighborhood school where most students live in-district, enter in 6th grade and stay through 12th. It’s a progressive school that’s exempt from administering all but the English Regents exam and requires students to complete lots of projects and presentations. East Side Community does a good job of helping struggling learners stay engaged and on track for college while also challenging high performing students.

The school benefits from the steady leadership of Mark Federman, who has been the principal since 2001. Federman has made it a high priority to create an inclusive environment for all and is very committed to making LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning] students feel safe and at home.

East Side Communitiy is a member of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a group of schools exempt from administering all but the English Regents exam. Eleventh- and 12th-graders must complete PBATs (performance based assessment tasks) on topics of their choosing, which involve extensive research and reading as well as writing and presenting papers in English, math, history, science. For instance, in history students write a lengthy research paper, which they present and defend before a panel of teachers; in science they design and conduct an original experiment and then present their findings before a panel as well.

In all grades students participate in roundtable discussions at the end of each semester, where they reflect on what they learned and present their work for in-depth discussion.

East Side Community students take the same range of courses as those offered at most city schools, but teachers delve more deeply into fewer topics and encourage students to be flexible thinkers and connect their work to real life situations. For an example, 8th-graders complete a math project where they calculate the costs of selling t-shirts for a hypothetical fundraiser. In addition to crunching the numbers in different scenarios, students must present their work in multiple formats such as equations and graphs.

Tenth grade history classes use a curriculum designed by Facing History, an organization committed to examining history through a social justice lens. Lessons emphasize ethical decision-making and the importance of being upstanders (participants) rather than mere bystanders of societal events. In classes students tackle weighty questions such as “What makes someone an outcast in society and how society allows this.” 

Each day in grades 6-10 students read books of their choosing for the first 30 minutes of their double period of English. They’re expected to reach approximately 40 books each year; 11th- and 12th-graders tackle lengthier and more challenging books and typically read 25 books each year.

Daily advisories help teachers keep tabs on students social and academic concerns. Teachers offer extra help during free periods, before and after school and some high school students help out in middle school classes.

Students learn Spanish in traditional classes or study other languages online through Rosetta Stone. 

Elective classes may vary by year but typically include options such as visual & digital art, photography, music, chess, coding, theater, skateboarding, sports marketing, dance, yoga, and journalism. Middle school students take classes in chess and may join the chess team.

High school students can take Advanced Placement classes at the school as well as courses at Hunter College Those studying calculus also complete an advanced math portfolio (in addition to their required PBAT in math). Middle school students can contract for honors, where they take on challenging assignments in addition to their regular coursework and receive an honors designation on their transcript for each class in which they complete the additional work.

The Young Women’s Leadership Network's College Bound Inititative funds a full-time college counselor and a robust college advisory program. The college office sponsors trips to colleges, host visits from college representatives, runs college awareness programs beginning in 6th grade and offers individual support to students and parents with completing college and financial aid applications. Graduates attend a range of schools from CUNY and SUNY colleges to private universities.

The school occupies four floors of a massive, old building in the East Village and shares the facilities with Girls Preparatory Charter School. There is an outdoor yard and a small gym.

The Beacon Program, a city-run youth service program, and East Side Community host a nice range activities such as dance, debate, jewelry making, graphic novel writing, photography, several musical bands, crew/rowing, cycling, yoga, school newspaper, Model U.N., and gay-straight alliance. East Side Community fields both middle and high school sports teams. Students also help maintain a community garden located next door.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: There are both self-contained and ICT (Integrated Collaborative Teaching) classes. Math and English-focused learning specialists also work with students with special needs, English language learners and other students needing extra support. (Laura Zingmond, via web reports, September 2018; updated 2020)