New World High School

New World offers lots of support for teens still learning to speak English. Students come from 23 countries and speak 40 different languages or dialects, including Spanish, Arabic, French and Albanian.

The school was recognized by Stanford University for its success in teaching new immigrants and preparing them for college. Most students enter the school with poor academic skills but they make good progress: Attendance and graduation rates are well above the citywide average.

Mithat Gashi, formerly the assistant principal, became principal in 2017, succeeding Fausto Salazar who launched the school in 2005. A high school immigrant himself, from Ecuador, Salazar went on to earn a bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University and a master's degree in math from Lehman College. As a teacher, he designed the first bilingual math class at Christopher Columbus High School.

In September 2008 New World High School moved onto the 4th floor of a newly constructed building in Bronxdale, with a weight room, a gymnastics room and a large gym. The building is shared the Academy for Scholarship and Entrepreneurship, Bronxwood Preparatory Academy, and a District 75 school for students will disabilities.

Although students say they feel safe inside the school, only 70 percent said they feel safe in the neighborhood outside, according to school surveys.

ADMISSIONS: Open to New York City residents who have lived in the United States for less than three years. (Clara Hemphill, web reports, July 2018)