Herbert H. Lehman High School

After years of struggling with poor discipline and low academic performance, Lehman High School may be making a comeback. John Powers, formerly an assistant principal at Bronx High School of Science, became principal in 2015 and has hired some of his former Bronx Science colleagues to help reinvigorate the teaching. Attendance, while still below the citywide average, is increasing. Teachers feel more positive about the school, according to annual surveys.

Lehman High School, open to all who live in the attendance zone school, has just 750 students, a sharp decline from 2008 when it had more than 4,300.

The gigantic Lehman Campus building, which houses more than 4,000 students, is divided into six schools. The principals of all six schools meet frequently and plan together to expand opportunities for their students. For example, each small school opens its Advanced Placement classes to all students in the building. The schools share sports teams and a newly renovated library. The principals are all committed to restorative justice, the practice of improving discipline by encouraging students to make amends to those they have wronged, rather than simply punishing them.

Other schools in the building include: Renaissance High School for Musical Theater & Technology, Pelham Lab High School, Schuylerville Prep,Bronx River High School, and Westchester Square Academy.

Although many students fail to graduate on time, the top Lehman students have been admitted to very selective colleges, including Yale University, William and Mary, and Sophie Davis, the CUNY School of Medicine, Powers said. And teachers take care to ensure that even students who drop out of high school have opportunities by, for example, helping them enroll in the Job Corps training and GED program, Powers said.

Special education: Nearly one-quarter of students receive special education services. The schools offers self-contained and team-teaching classes.

Admissions: Zoned school. Out-of zone students also admitted. (Clara Hemphill, telephone interview, June 2017)

[Photo by Jim.henderson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons]