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Our Insights

What’s Special

School promotes love of learning—not test prep

The Downside

Limited upper level course offerings, especially in high school

The Institute for Collaborative Education (ICE) is a small, progressive secondary school that strives to teach children to love learning, not just to take standardized tests. Children may act out scenes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar as part of their study of Ancient Rome, use earthquake data to map fault lines on their computers, or play in the middle school's award winning jazz band.

ICE belongs to a consortium of 30 New York state high schools whose students are exempt from taking most state-mandated Regents exams. (Middle school students must take the state English and math tests, and high school student must take the English Regents.) Children are evaluated based on their written essays and oral presentations called portfolios.

The school is based on the philosophy of the education reformer Theodore Sizer, who believed that small schools that teach a few subjects well are more effective than large schools that attempt to teach many subjects.

The small size is both the school’s strength and its weakness. With just 60 or 70 students in each grade, ICE is an intimate place where teachers get to know students well. Parents say there is a “family feel to the school” and students get an unusual level of support from the college office. At the same time, course offerings are limited. Only two years of high school Spanish are offered. There are no Advanced Placement classes. (Students may arrange to take courses at nearby colleges.)

Seniors have internships, rather than regular academic coursework, for their entire second semester, working at architects' offices, law firms, art galleries and a science research labs at local universities.

It's an informal place. Students call teachers by their first names and sometimes use slang when speaking to adults. Blue jeans are the rule, on adults as well as kids. Kids can be boisterous during class changes. But there is real learning going on, and kids seem happy and engaged. There are some non-traditional activities (like testing the water quality of the Bronx River in a biology class) as well as tried-and-true reading assignments like Macbeth or The Great Gatsby.

Seventh-graders take an integrated math/science class called "smath," where they build models of roller coasters and catapults; 11th-graders may take statistics and an introduction to neuroscience course that's so popular that a few graduates have gone on to study neuroscience in college. Students have won awards from the NYC Science and Engineering Fair for projects such as one on the effect of transracial adoptions.

Peter Karp, a former science teacher, became principal in 2012, replacing founding principal John Pettinato who retired after 20 years at ICE.

The Institute for Collaborative Education occupies the 5th floor and part of the 4th floor of the former Stuyvesant High School, which it shares with Health Professions and Human Services High School and a District 75 program for autistic children.

College acceptances include Brown, Colby, Sarah Lawrence, Yale, the University of Chicago, Cornell, Penn State, Middlebury College, Hampshire College, Bard, Bucknell, and College of the Atlantic.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: The school offers both “push in” and “pull out” special education teacher support services (SETSS). There are a few team-teaching classes in the high school.(Clara Hemphill, September 2018; admissions update, 2022)

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School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average
Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Is this school safe and well-run?

From 2022-2023 NYC School Survey

How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
83%
80% Citywide Average
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
47%
51% Citywide Average
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
100%
77% Citywide Average
How many teachers say they would recommend this school to other families?
100%
0% Citywide Average

From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card

How many students were suspended?
0%
1% Citywide Average

From this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Are teachers effective?

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
65%
79% Citywide Average
Years of principal experience at this school
10.6

How do students perform academically?

From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database

How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
50%
42% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
81%
51% Citywide Average

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

How many students graduate in 4 years?
97%
91% Citywide Average

Who does this school serve?

From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Enrollment
476
Asian
7%
Black
20%
Hispanic
21%
White
42%
Other
10%
Free or reduced priced lunch
31%
Students with disabilities
24%
English language learners
1%

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

Average daily attendance
92%
86% Citywide Average
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
20%
45% Citywide Average

From the 2020 School Directories

Uniforms required?
No

How does this school serve special populations?

From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report

How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
100%
84% Citywide Average
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2024 High School Directory

Institute for Collaborative Education (M82A)

Admissions Method: Screened With Assessment

Requirements:

  • Essay - 100%

Program Description:

Humanities (History & Literature), Mathematics, Applied Sciences, Spanish, Arts & Electives. This program requires students to complete an assignment as part of admissions. Soon, you will be able to upload your completed assignment through MySchools. Learn more at https://www.schools.nyc.gov/AssessmentHS

Offerings

From the 2024 High School Directory

Language Courses

Spanish

Advanced Courses

Algebra II (Advanced Math), Calculus (Advanced Math), Chemistry (Advanced Science), Physics (Advanced Science)

Boys PSAL teams

Baseball, Basketball, Soccer

Girls PSAL teams

Basketball, Indoor Track, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball

Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

345 East 15Th Street
Manhattan NY 10003

Trains: 4 Line, 5 Line, 6 Line, N Line, Q Line, R Line to 14th St-Union Square; L Line to 1st Av

Buses: BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, M1, M101, M102, M103, M14A-SBS, M14D-SBS, M15, M15-SBS, M2, M23-SBS, M3, M34-SBS, M34A-SBS, M8, M9, SIM10, SIM11, SIM1C, SIM3, SIM31, SIM33, SIM33C, SIM3C, SIM4C, SIM6, SIM7, SIM9, X27, X28, X37, X38, X63, X64, X68


Contact

Principal: Peter Karp

Parent Coordinator: Carolyn Cohen

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares the former Stuyvesant Campus with two other schools

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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