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Our Insights

What’s Special

Small, lively classes and well-rounded curriculum

The Downside

Cramped facilities

Park East High School is a small gem with lively classes and a demanding curriculum. A collaboration with several nearby high schools ensures that students get a well-round high school experience that includes extra-curriculars such as sports, arts and student clubs. Students get lots of attention and virtually all graduate on time including students with disabilities; the majority are well-prepared for college.

In July 2021 Dr. Suzy Ort  became the school's interim acting principal, replacing longtime principal Kevin McCarthy who retired at the end of the 2020-21 school year.  Prior to taking the helm, Dr. Ort worked at Park East for 19 years, as an instructional coach and more recently as an assistant principal.

Teachers at Park East have mastered the art of helping students catch up and excel in high school. Writing is taught in a separate class that students take in addition to English. All students take four years of math and science. The strongest students may take Advanced Placement classes, but nearly all take tackle subjects such as  algebra 2, chemistry and statistics. Ninth-graders take the equivalent of three semesters worth of algebra, by taking it for two periods during one of their semesters freshman year.

Many teachers offer “open honors.” Rather than track some students into separate honors classes, all students learn together and those up to the challenge may opt in for honors, where they take on additional, more advanced work.

Students say the curriculum reflects different ethnicities, races, and cultures in a positive way and that lessons are relevant to their own lived experiences, according to the annual NYC School Survey. Ninth-graders read about the experiences of marginalized groups through selections such The Bluest Eye, Rainbow Boys, and The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Tenth-graders pick a book to read, which they discuss through blog posts with students at neighboring schools, and then present projects based on their readings at a fair where students from the different schools meet for the first time. Examples of texts students have chosen include Evicted, which explores the trauma of unstable housing, and Just Mercy, the memoir of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative.  

Park East offers computer programming in variety of settings, including traditional computer science courses (high school level and Advanced Placement) as well as digital art classes, which incorporate elements of coding and robotics.

The school is housed in a cramped building that was once a music school designed with a lot of small rehearsal studios. Despite its limitations, the school’s physical plant has a huge advantage: Most rooms are too small to hold the 34 students that many public high school classes have. Instead, class size is often less than 20, and students get far more attention than is typical in New York City schools.

Juniors take a trip to Washington DC. Students raise money to fund trips abroad. Recent destinations include England France, Spain, Portugal and Peru. The guidance/college office provides students and families with a lot of support through the college admissions process. All students participate in small-group advisories.

Park East offers a lot of extracurricular activities because it shares resources with several other small high schools in the neighborhood. Students may take some classes and afternoon clubs and particpate in joint sports teams with the partner high schools (Central Park East, Young Women's Leadership, Frederick Douglass Academy II and Heritage), collectively known as East Harlem Pride. There's also an East Harlem Pride college fair attended by college reps from all over the country. Park East fields a football team with Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Small group instruction provides students with IEPs and those who may just need extra help with personal attention and assistance with the transition into high school. After school tutoring and Saturday Academy help is also available. In 9th and 10th grade, all students with IEPs have an extra resource period programmed in their schedules where they may receive small group attention. The school offers ICT (integrated co-teaching) classes, which are led by two teachers, one of whom is certified in special education. Park East’s graduation rate for students with disabilities is significantly higher than the citywide average. (Laura Zingmond, October 2019; updated with new principal, October 2021)

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School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Academics

School
Citywide
How many students graduate in 4 years?
 
99%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
100%
Average daily attendance
 
94%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
19%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school offers enough activities and services for their children's needs?
 
100%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school works to achieve the goals of their students' IEPs?
 
100%
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide and 2020-21 NYC School Survey

Students

385
Number of students
Citywide Average is 599

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
80%
Students with disabilities
 
24%
Multilingual learners
 
3%
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Safety & Vibe

School
Citywide
How many students were suspended?
 
1%
How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
 
95%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
24%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
19%
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey and 2019-20 NY State Report Card

Faculty & Staff

School
Citywide
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
 
86%
1.2
Years of principal experience at this school
Citywide Average is 7
127
Number of students for each guidance counselor or social worker
Citywide Average is 157

Teachers’ Race/Ethnicity


How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
 
92%
Are teachers effective?
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey, 2021-22 School Quality Guide, 2019-20 Report on School-Based Staff Demographics, 2021 Guidance Counselor Report, and this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Advanced Courses

Which students have access to advanced courses at this school? Learn more

Calculus

 
5%

Computer Science

 
5%

Physics

 
36%

Advanced Foreign Language

 
17%

AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science

 
28%

AP/IB Math or Science

 
15%

Music

 
30%
From unpublished, anonymized data from the 2021-22 school year provided by the New York State Education Department, brought to you by

College Readiness

School
Citywide
How many students graduate with test scores high enough to enroll at CUNY without remedial help?
 
86%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
99%
How many students who have graduated from this high school stay in college for at least 3 semesters?
 
96%
From the 2020-21 and 2021-22 School Quality Guide
How many students filled out a FAFSA form by the end of their senior year?
 
95%
From the 2022-23 FAFSA data released by Federal Student Aid, brought you by
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2024 High School Directory

Park East High School (M17J)

Admissions Method: Screened

Offerings

From the 2024 High School Directory

Language Courses

French, Spanish

Advanced Courses

Algebra II (Advanced Math), AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Spanish Language and Culture, AP United States History, Biology (College Course [Uncredited]), Calculus (College Course [Uncredited]), Chemistry (Advanced Science), Comp Sci/Math Tech (College Course [Uncredited]), Econ/Gov (College Course [Uncredited]), ELA (College Course [Uncredited]), Math (College Course [Uncredited]), Physics (Advanced Science), Science (College Course [Uncredited]), Social Studies (College Course [Uncredited]), US History (College Course [Uncredited]), World Languages (Advanced World Languages), World Languages (College Course [Uncredited])

Boys PSAL teams

Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Football, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Volleyball, Wrestling

Girls PSAL teams

Basketball, Flag Football, Golf, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball

Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

230 East 105 Street
Manhattan NY 10029

Trains: 6 Line to 103rd St

Buses: BxM1, BxM11, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, M1, M101, M102, M103, M106, M15, M15-SBS, M2, M3, M4, M96, M98


Contact

Principal: Suzy Ort

Parent Coordinator: Vickiana Ramirez

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? No

This school is in its own building.

Uniforms required? Yes
Metal detectors? No

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