H.E.R.O. High (Health, Education, and Research Occupations High School)

Health, Education, and Research Occupations (HERO) High School is a six-year CTE (career and technical education) school serving grades 9 to 14. It is designed to get graduates ready for careers in community health work while they pursue both a high school diploma and an associates degree by taking free classes at Hostos Community College.

Founding principal Kristin Cahill, a native New Yorker, who started her career as an English teacher, in Oakland, California, set out to offer South Bronx teens a promising opportunity in health professions.

As early as 10th grade, students may take classes at nearby Hostos College, though the early college component starts in earnest in grade 13 (5th year at the school) when students are immersed in college courses. Though they spend their days at Hostos College, tudents in their 5th and 6th year at the school continue to get support from HERO staff including counseling and tutoring.  

To help students gain the confidence and skills to tackle college level work, teachers in some math and science classes use a “flipped classroom” model for instruction. Students are introduced to a new skill or topic by watch a lesson on video for homework and then practice what they learn in class the next day. Students who don’t have access to computersor the internet at home can watch the lessons on school computers.

Some high school subjects are specifically designed to complement classes taken at Hostos. For an example, students take a high school-level class in anatomy and physiology the year prior to taking a college-level version of the course.

A unique feature of the school are Friday trips to Montefiore Hospital, St. Mary’s Park, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and many other destinations. Students travel with their small advisory groups. At the hospital, they don glasses that blur vision to experience greater empathy for senior citizens, visit the pediatric emergency room or practice CPR.

Students relate these visits to health care problems that may be rocking their own families, such as diabetes or asthma, and to their classroom studies. Ninth-graders write a research report about a chronic disease and propose an action plan for how to reduce incidence of the disease. Tenth-graders work in groups as "consultants" for one of the school's partner organizations, conducting a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of a community program.

In addition to sports, after-school activities include over 20 clubs such as theater, visual arts, engineering and herstory (feminist perspective of history).

Attendance is a challenge for the school; almost half the students miss 18 or more days of school.

While most children feel safe at school, some teachers are concerned about order and discipline according to the NYC School Survey. The school provides restorative justice training for teachers, which encourages children to work through problems together. Trust, leadership and family ties are strong, according to the school survey.

Housed in the Samuel Gompers Educational Campus, HERO shares the building with Mott Haven Community and New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities II.

ADMISSIONS: Educational Option. The school seeks a range of low-, middle- and high-achievers. (Laura Zingmond, interview and DOE data, November 2019)