Science Skills Center offers some challenging science classes, but the school has been plagued by poor attendance, declining enrollments and some safety concerns.

More than one-third of students responding to the Learning Environment Survey said they do not feel safe in the halls or on the property outside the building, known as the Waters Edge Educational Campus. Many teachers said they do not trust the principal, according to the survey. Teacher turnover has been high.

On the positive side, most students graduate on time and the percent of students scoring high enough to avoid remediation at CUNY is higher than average for NYC. There are Advanced Placement classes in biology, calculus and computer science as well as College Now courses, according to the high school directory.

Students may apply to one of four programs, three of which are selective: Gateway for Pre-College Education, Lead the Way (engineering) and Humanities and the Arts. Entrance to the school's general science and math program is via the educational option admissions formula designed to ensure slots for students of all achievement levels. Although the selective programs give preference to students with good grades in middle school, there has been little demand for them and entering students generally have low levels of skills. The school's enrollment has declined by nearly half since 2006, when it had more than 900 students.

Science Skills was founded in 1993 with grant money from the National Science Foundation and New Visions for Public Schools. Students dress professionally on Wednesdays, according to the School Directory.

Afterschool, students may participate in track and cross-country along with a variety of clubs including robotics, architecture and chess.

Special education: There are several team-taught classes.

Admissions: Students who have an average above 80 percent with scores of 3 or higher on standardized tests get preference at three of the four programs in the school, according to the high school directory. (Aryn Bloodworth, DOE statistics, December 2012)