City College Academy of the Arts

City College Academy of the Arts (CCAA) offers students in grades 6 to 12 the chance to earn up to two years of college credit at the City College of New York (CCNY). Students who are not ready for college may get hands-on training in careers such as nursing, plumbing and cooking at Co-Op Tech, a vocational program.

Students may attend Broadway shows, such as Hamilton, as they study theater and poetry. Juilliard artists come to the school to  teach students to play string instruments and learn about art and music. Likewise, Carnegie Hall artists teach students about music and put on shows, according to the school’s yearly Comprehensive Educational Plan.

Students interested in science may also gain hands-on experience. For example, middle school students embarked on an overnight trip to Massachusetts to learn about ecology and wilderness survival for a weekend.

One downside: There appears to be some friction among the staff. Only about half the teachers said teachers trust one another, and barely half said the principal and assistant principal worked well together, according to the NYC School Survey.

On the other hand, nearly all the parents who responded to the survey said they trusted the principal. Attendance is high and nearly all students graduate on time.

Next to Fort Tyron Park in Washington Heights, the school takes up one and a half floors of the Salome Urena Educational Campus. High school students take classes at CCNY or the main campus of Co-op Tech.

The school is part of the Early College Initiative at the City University of New York (CUNY), designed to prepare students for college by exposing them to college-level academics starting in middle school. By the time students begin 9th grade, many have already made significant progress toward a Regents diploma and have flexible schedules that allow them to take more classes from CCNY. While 9th-graders start off taking only art at CCNY, some 12th-graders are programmed as full-time students at CCNY and complete their senior seminar class from the college.

Students who would rather pursue a career may study at Co-op Tech, a vocational program that provides training and connections to internships in areas such as nursing, culinary arts or automotive technology. The school helps some students get internships with their city councilman, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital or at Isabella Geriatric Center, according to the school’s yearly plan.

The Children’s Aid Society offers weekly classes to parents on topics such as literacy, nutrition, technology and college readiness.

Starting in the sixth grade, all students take trips to CCNY and other CUNY schools; 8th-graders take part in a “Bridge to College” seminar and have the opportunity to visit JUMP Nation Weekend at SUNY Binghamton, where college students mentor middle schoolers and motivate them to pursue college, according to the Binghamton student engagement website.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: The school has team-taught classes, where two teachers work in the same classroom with both general education students and those needing special services. Nearly all students with IEPs graduate on time. 

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: Most graduates attend CUNY and SUNY colleges, but some have been admitted to private universities such as Fordham, Stanford and Princeton, according to the yearly plan. 

ADMISSIONS: Selection is by a lottery open to all students in District 6. For middle school, preference is given to students who attend an open house. For high school, priority is given to continuing 8th-graders, but limited seats are available to new students and admissions are screened. Attendance, punctuality, course grades and standardized test scores are all taken into account. (Isabel Corpus, web reports, May 2018)