The Academy of Urban Planning, housed in the Bushwick High School building, is committed to helping kids who really need it, whether they are pregnant, are already parents, or come from foster homes. "You can have a great school by picking the right kids or you can have kids that you help overcome obstacles," said founding principal Monique Darrisaw, who led the school from its start in 2003 until early 2011, when Rodney Orji was named interim acting principal.

The Academy of Urban Planning has created an innovative urban farm on the campus grounds, in cooperation with GrowNYC and the Green Guerrillas, that has been incorporated into the earth science curriculum and provides students with internships and summer jobs through the Green Markets program. 

The school faces many challenges. Attendance is spotty, and students arrive with poor academic skills. The school was supposed to explore its theme of urban planning through a partnership with the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, but that organization went out of business in 2009. The facilities are just adequate: the building is drab and students must pass through metal detectors. A positive: students responding to a 2011 DOE survey overwhelming said teachers and staff know them by name, and four out of five students said their teachers inspire them to learn.

Bushwick High School for Social Justice and Academy for Environmental Leadership are also housed in the Bushwick campus.

Admissions: Priority is given to students who attend an information session. (Clara Hemphill interviews, September 2011)