High School for Media and Communications

High School for Media and Communications, a small school housed in the majestic George Washington Educational Complex, serves many Spanish speakers who have just arrived in the country, as well as many homeless students. Most are far behind in their studies.

“We’re a low-performing school, in the process of being transformed,” Principal Juan Villar, who took the helm in 2015, told DNAinfo.

Villar has brought in electronic white boards, televisions and projectors. New consultants are helping to restructure the school and the curriculum, he said. Amp Up NYC reopened the music room with new guitars and pianos. There are classes in video and graphic design.

The school invites visitors to inspire kids, such as Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros, who is known for her coming-of-age novel The House on Mango Street, about a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago.

Kids take field trips to restaurants or places like the American Museum of Natural History to practice speaking English.

Academics have a long way to go. Instruction is uneven, and some lessons start late, according to the school’s Quality Review. The graduation rate is low and student performance is poor, even when compared to schools with similar demographics.

On the positive side, the building offers attractive extras: a cycling club, a rowing club, two swimming pools, two theaters, and a huge track and field shared by the four schools in the building.

It has a college center that runs workshops for parents, hosts one-on-one meetings and trains older students to help younger kids apply to college, according to an article in DNAinfo.

Students from the building have been accepted at Fordham, City College, Hunter, Lehman and Skidmore.

Other schools in the George Washington Educational Campus include: The College Academy, the High School for Law and Public Service and the High School for Health Careers and Science. 

ADMISSIONS: Based on the educational option formula, which is designed to ensure a mix of low-achieving, average, and high-achieving students. (Lydie Raschka, web reports, May 2018)