Housed in an office building just a few blocks from Wall Street, the High School for Leadership and Public Service has had a revolving door of principals and an uneven record of academic performance. Students and teachers say that the school has improved since Philip Santos, the fourth principal in seven years, arrived in 2011, but it still has a way to go.

Santos, previously a social studies teacher and assistant principal at Samuel Gompers High School, has a good rapport with students. An early sign of success: the school had its first dance in several years, and there were no negative incidents that dances had sparked in the past. “Last year there was no discipline but this year it’s better,” said one 10^th grader. “The deans are on you now and it does affect you when you realize that they already have a job and it’s on you to make sure you stay on track.” A dean walks the halls herding students into the classrooms at each change.

Santos is focused on improving instruction and has created classes in the school’s theme, which it didn’t have before. He added a required leadership class for 9^th graders—he even teaches one section in his office. His plan is to build this course into a 4-year sequence that focuses on the individual and the community through the lenses of leadership and public service.

Since the school was founded in 1993, it has boasted a strong partnership with Syracuse University. Advocates from the college help fundraise, mentor students and intern at Leadership and Public Service. Selected students spend several weeks at Syracuse in the summer after 11^th grade living the “college life”—they take classes and sleep in dorms. Though most graduates go to CUNY and SUNY schools, many also go to Syracuse. A full-time college counselor organizes college trips.

Though the school has only three years of math and science classes, it has a surprising number of Advanced Placement classes. Santos added an online physics class for interested seniors in 2011 and hopes to build up the academics in the coming years.

Classroom management was an issue at the time of our visit, just a few months into Santos’ first year. We saw classes with chatty students out of their seats and few working on their assignments. Teachers and kids complained to us that some students skip classes and abuse drugs and alcohol to a point where it interfered with their schooling. Eighty percent of students responding to the 2010-11 NYC School Survey said kids use alcohol or drugs while in school.

Gym classes take place in a padded room in the basement. Dance, chorus, theatre and visual arts classes expand options for students. Seniors can go out for lunch. Though the school has lockers, they were not in use at the time of our visit.

A few PSAL sports (basketball, softball) and artistic clubs like photography, chorus, poetry, journalism and chess keep students busy afterschool.

Special education: There are self-contained and ICT classes and students who attend Resource Room.

Admissions: Educational option formula designed to ensure a mix of low- average and high-performing students. The school serves students from all five boroughs. (Aryn Bloodworth, November 2011)