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Hostos-Lincoln Academy of Science

Grades: 6-12
Noteworthy

Our Insights

What’s Special

Free college courses, tiny class size, and lots of help for kids learning English

The Downside

Some students feel unsafe in neighborhood outside school

Hostos-Lincoln Academy of Sciences, a small school serving grades 6-12, offers students the chance to take free college courses at nearby Hostos Community College. Most students arrive in 6th grade with poor academic skills and many are still learning English, but the school does a good job helping them catch up and nearly half graduate with a two-year-college degree.

Free college tuition is a game changer in the South Bronx community where the median income is about $20,000, says long-time Principal Nicholas Paarlberg. “I tell our parents that when they start out with us that they start with $16,000,” the value of the two-year associate’s degree, he says. “Every time your child is late or misses homework, deduct $1.”

Two strategies have proven useful, particularly for the Latino students who are still learning English. First, a seasoned English teacher works individually with every student at some point, whether they are in his Advanced Placement English or in his class for English Language Learners.  “Kids have had bad experiences with reading,” says the teacher, T. C. Niemann, who goes by his initials T.C. “They learned that they were failures. We work on reverting the trauma and focus on high interest stories,” books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or articles such as “Should People be Allowed to Sell Their Kidneys?”  

Second, juniors and seniors spend their afternoon in one-on-one tutoring sessions with the middle school students. “It is great when the older classmen connects with the material and the student,” Niemann says. “It is common to hear them say, ‘This part was hard for me too when I was doing this.’”

Small class size in middle school means kids get lots of attention. The school takes part in the Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI), the city’s program designed to boost reading levels with intense instruction and a longer school day. Students also get small-group instruction in math. Hostos is addressing the very low math skills of incoming middle school students by creating “math teams” to ensure they know math basics.

On the day of our visit, 8th grade drama students received feedback on monologues they wrote themselves and had performed the day before. Seventh graders discussed Finding Someplace, the story of a 13-year-old fashion designer from New Orleans. In 6th grade, students built simple machines.

High school students interested in science may do research with college professors. The school’s science team has won awards at DNA barcoding competitions, which supports teens doing biological research

Some graduates have gone on to four year CUNY colleges like Hunter and Baruch as well as private colleges like Vanderbilt and Dickinson. Some have gone into nursing; others to get advanced degrees.

The full-time college advisor shared the story of a student with epilepsy and a love for theater who is now at SUNY Potsdam. The advisor worked to gain the trust of the student’s family to persuade them to permit the student to leave the Bronx for college. 

Hostos-Lincoln shares a building with University Prep Charter.

A downside: although students feel safe inside, about one-third of the students responding to school surveys say they don’t feel safe outside the school building.

SPECIAL EDUCATION:  About 20 percent of students receive special education services. All of the 8th grade classes are team-taught and students with Individual Education Plans may take Regents exams in 8th grade. Hostos also creates empathy in students by reading books like Out of My Mind, the story of a disabled girl who overcomes challenges. “It is better to create intrinsic empathy instead of preaching empathy,” says Paarlberg. 

(Jacquie Wayans, Oct 2017)

 

 

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School Stats

Academics

School
Citywide
How many students graduate in 4 years?
 
87%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
67%
Average daily attendance
 
87%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
33%
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide and 2020-21 NYC School Survey

Students

514
Number of students
591 Citywide Average

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
86%
Students with disabilities
 
23%
Multilingual learners
 
7%
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Safety & Vibe

School
Citywide
How many students were suspended?
 
0%
How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
 
100%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
23%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
8%
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey and 2019-20 NY State Report Card

Faculty & Staff

School
Citywide
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
 
86%
18.1
Years of principal experience at this school
8 Citywide Average
74
Number of students for each guidance counselor or social worker
226 Citywide Average

Teachers’ Race/Ethnicity


How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
 
85%
Are teachers effective?
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey, 2021-22 School Quality Guide, 2019-20 Report on School-Based Staff Demographics, 2021 Guidance Counselor Report, and this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Advanced Courses

Which students have access to advanced courses at this school? Learn more

Calculus

Not offered in 2019-20

Computer Science

Not offered in 2019-20

Physics

 
27%

Advanced Foreign Language

 
2%

AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science

 
10%

AP/IB Math or Science

Not offered in 2019-20

Music

 
2%
From unpublished, anonymized data from the 2021-22 school year provided by the New York State Education Department, brought to you by

College Readiness

School
Citywide
How many students graduate with test scores high enough to enroll at CUNY without remedial help?
 
73%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
77%
From the 2020-21 and 2021-22 School Quality Guide
How many students filled out a FAFSA form by the end of their senior year?
 
94%
From the 2022-23 FAFSA data released by Federal Student Aid, brought you by
How many graduates of this school received Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) funding to attend a NYS college?
 
39%
How many of those TAP recipients made it through college? Learn more
From unpublished, anonymized student-level data for the class of 2014 provided by the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) in coordination with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), brought to you by
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2021 High School Directory

Hostos-Lincoln Academy of Science

Admissions Method: Screened

Offerings

From the 2021 High School Directory

Language Courses

Spanish

Advanced Placement (AP) courses

AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Spanish Language and Culture

Girls PSAL teams

Cross Country, Outdoor Track, Volleyball

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

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

600 Saint Ann's Avenue
Bronx NY 10455

Trains: 2 Line, 5 Line to Jackson Ave; 6 Line to East 149th St

Buses: Bx15, Bx17, Bx19, Bx2, Bx21, Bx4, Bx41, Bx41-SBS, Bx4A


Contact

Principal: Nicholas Paarlberg

Parent Coordinator: Basilica Sanchez

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares the building with I.S. 584 and University Prep Charter HS

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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