Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathematics takes a specific population recent immigrants from Latin America and does an excellent job of supporting their particular academic and emotional needs. The faculty encourages students to become leaders. The stated goal is for students to become "better human beings so you can help others." Academic expectations are high and community expectations are even higher. Students and teachers have a genuine mutual respect and work together as partners.

 "I don't believe in a diploma, I believe in making better human beings" said longtime principal Juan Villar. "Our job is to make the kids understand that they need to be honest and fair."

Building and location: In September 2008, the school moved to a new $41 million building in the heart of the Dominican-dominated Washington Heights neighborhood.. The beautiful state-of-the-art facility is flooded with light and each floor is painted a different, cheerful color. There are science labs and demonstration rooms, a generously proportioned gymnasium, and all "smart" classrooms, which are equipped with flat screen monitors mounted on the walls, interactive whiteboards, and computers. The comfortable and spacious library is stocked with new books and computers and has oversized windows that look out on leafy trees and a church with a stained-glass rose window. The librarian said that students stay after school and do homework on the big worktables or on the computers.

"This new space is overwhelming," said the assistant principal, Sarah Shams, who led us around the building. "We went from a cramped, dark warehouse to this! Students walk around in awe. It adds to the feeling of respect they have for the school."

School environment and culture: Students and teachers walk down the hallways together talking and engaging in light-hearted banter. "This is a very unique place," said the assistant principal, who doesn't speak Spanish but jokingly said a few choice phrases to students as she walked by, consistently making the students laugh.

One veteran teacher said that she liked teaching the newly arrived immigrants. "The students here aren't street-smart," she said. "They haven't gotten all tough as New York City middle schoolers. They are able to be mature high school students without that baggage."

Teaching and curriculum: By the time students graduate, they should be able to communicate formally in both English and Spanish, the principal explained. In 9^th grade, the students are all still "new arrivals" so they take their Regents exams in Spanish, but by 10^th grade, they are expected to take most of their state exams in English. The school offers six Advanced Placement courses, and the level of rigor in those classrooms was particularly high.

We watched the students in the Advanced Placement Physics class gathered around a lab table engrossed in a debate over a question their teacher had posed. When the bell rang signaling the class was over, the students didn't stop the debate until their teacher had to gently remind them that they had to move on to their next class.

In an English class that was decorated with dozens of bright, homemade posters, the teacher repeated almost everything she said in three different ways and the students were focused on her every word. When she asked a question, several hands went up. The teacher's personal cell phone number and e-mail address were posted in large letters on one wall.

In a computer lab, a senior worked on a letter to Hillary Clinton about universal health care. The computer screens were embedded in the tables, so they couldn't get damaged and didn't get in the way of the students watching the teacher.

The principal said that almost all of the students arrive at the school far behind academically for their age, regardless of the language. "There is a lack of preparation across the board. Many of them do not know how to read or write properly in Spanish." 

Family participation: Some 280 families attend parent teacher conferences, according to the parent coordinator. She said families were involved and supportive, and that the school also tried to support the families' transitions to the United States and the New York City school system with conferences, classes, and discussion groups.

The principal was less upbeat about family participation. "Teaching these kids is an isolated venture," he said. "We have no support from the families. They are often wonderful parents. Lovely, nice, extremely cooperative when you say that you want them to come to school, but the home life of many of our students is totally disconnected from what we are doing here." He was particularly frustrated with the widespread practice of pulling students out for annual extended vacations. 

After school: Activities include: student council, journalism, student government, yoga, karate, HIV/AIDS awareness, drama, video production and peer mediation. There is a baseball team for boys but no athletic option for girls. The school participates in City College's College Now program and offers afterschool and Saturday tutoring in science, math, English and social studies.

Special education: The school had no students who were classified as requiring special education services in 2008, according to the Department of Education.

Partnerships and Programs: The school has close ties with local Washington Heights based organizations, including the Washington-Heights Inwood Coalition, Alianza Dominicana, Dominicans 2000, and El Centro para el Desarrollo de la Mujer Dominicana.

After graduation: Thirty percent of the students go directly to four-year colleges, and 98 percent go to college, according to the college advising office. Six or seven students go away to college every year.

Admissions: Gregorio Luperon is open to Spanish-speaking Manhattan residents who have lived in the US for fewer than two years. Native Spanish-speakers who live in the Bronx and been in the country for fewer than two years may also apply. (Lindsey Whitton Christ, September 2008)

For the 2006-07 school year, Luperon is newly designated by the State Education Department as "in need of improvement." (January 2007)

Students at Luperon succeed because the school is bilingual and ethnically homogeneous, according to a Feb. 10, 2006, article in the Community Gazette for Community District 10. Having most instruction in Spanish -- students do not take all of their academic subjects in English until the 12th grade -- encourages parent involvement and allows students to remain on grade level in other subjects while learning English, according to the article. (February 2006)

The Department of Education announced in August 2005 that the city plans to build a new, $41 million building for the school. The building, currently slated for completion in the fall of 2008, will be located at the current site of Region 10's headquarters, at 165th St. and Amsterdam Ave., and will feature air-conditioning, a library, music and art facilities, and wireless internet access. (August 2005)