Located on the campus of LaGuardia Community College, International High School provides teen immigrants who are new to the country a supportive environment of English-language immersion. All students take college courses at LaGuardia before they graduate, and 60% percent elect to stay at the school for an extra year to earn an Associates Degree in addition to their high school diploma.

Building and Location: International’s classrooms are on a basement level of Laguardia’s building and lack windows, but they are decorated with colorful posters of students' work, which give the school the warmth and intimacy of an elementary school. Each student has an orange locker, which line the halls of International’s small section of the building.

School environment and culture: At International, students are grouped heterogeneously, mixing together students of different national origin, native language, and level of English proficiency. Diversity abounds; students come from 63 countries and speak 40 languages. In one classroom, the countries represented included Albania, Bolivia, China, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Korea, and Vietnam. To promote conversation in English, students are discouraged from sitting next to peers who share their native language.

Each week, teachers meet for two back-to-back periods to plan lessons while their students meet with their guidance counselors. This guidance seminar helps students manage academic challenges and guides them through the college admissions process, according to Principal Lee Pan. If you know her origin, might be interesting to note something like, “herself an immigrant and native of ???” If not, no biggie.

Teaching and curriculum: International is organized into six instructional teams, in which 75 students are grouped with four teachers and one counselor for two years. Each team has its own theme, such as “American Dream” and “Origins,” around which teachers plan an interdisciplinary curriculum. Most staff members are multi-lingual, and each team has a few bilingual para-professionals who provide students with extra in-class attention and support.

Classes last for 70 minutes, instead of the typical 42. Students work in small groups, and lessons are interactive and project-based. For example, an administrator mentioned a government class in which students, who were studying different forms of government, had to take a photograph that would represent each government type visually. Students get a lot of practice speaking English through oral presentations required for most projects. Many assignments also include a native language component.

As a requirement for graduation, seniors at International present a portfolio of their work to a panel of teachers and their peers; portfolios include an example of creative work, a research paper, a comparative literature essay, and a native language piece. Upperclassmen take college courses at LaGuardia Community College, and they may elect to remain at International for a fifth year to obtain both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree.   

After school: Student clubs meet during the school day. There is an after-school tutoring program, and a number of sports teams.

Special Education: International does not serve special education students because new immigrants are not formally evaluated for special needs before entering the education system.

English language learners: International uses an immersion model for language acquisition, so all classes are taught in English. There are several periods each week designated for small group instruction to meet students individual needs, and there is an after-school literacy class on Wednesdays for the most recent arrivals. International also offers “Students with Interrupted Formal Education“(SIFE) an extra class for targeted support.

After graduation: According to the principal, 88% of students attend college; most of them enroll in four-year programs. Students tend to stay in New York, but attend a wide variety of schools, both public and private.

Admissions: Open to students who have lived in the country for fewer than four years and whose native language is not English. Incoming students typically score under the 20th percentile on the Language Assessment Battery (LAB) test (minimum English proficiency is indicated by a score in the 40th percentile). (Cristin Strining, February 2009)