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Our Insights

What’s Special

Graphic design and other technology programs

The Downside

History of low performance and turmoil

The Secondary School for Journalism, housed in the John Jay Educational Campus in Park Slope, has long struggled with poor attendance, low levels of student achievement and an ever-changing curriculum. It now has reinvented itself once again, shifting its focus to technology.

The school says it currently focuses on the intersection between science and technology, arts and the humanities and is preparing students to be “innovators, scientists, graphic designers and computer engineers.” It offers various computer labs and digital media, as well as a Great Books program.

Journalism has seen more than its share of turmoil. It originally was a 6-to-12 school but the Department of Education phased out the lower grades because of low enrollment. In 2017, the then principal was removed in the wake of charges he had changed student grades and let some take easy on-line courses to graduate. Journalism has clashed with another school in the building, Millennium Brooklyn, over space, and in fall 2018 students walked out of class to protest Journalism’s use of Summit Learning, an online system backed by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg

Meanwhile, attendance, graduation and college readiness rates lag not only behind the citywide average but also for those of schools with similar student bodies. Teachers generally give their colleague low marks; in a DOE survey a staggering percentage said that that teachers at the school do not trust one another. 

On the positive side, almost all students now say they feel safe in and around the school. Teachers believe order and discipline is maintained at the school. According to school surveys, teachers express support for Livingston Hilaire who, in 2017, became the school’s third principal in four years.

Journalism shares the John Jay campus with Millennium Brooklyn, John Jay School for Law and Park Slope Collegiate. The inter-scholastic athletic teams include students from all the school except Millennium. The campus offers a particularly extensive array of sports for girls.

Special education: The school offers ICT (integrated co-teaching) classes that mix special needs and general education students and has a small number of special education students in self-contained classes.  (Gail Robinson, DOE materials and press reports, November 2018)

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School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Academics

School
Citywide
How many students graduate in 4 years?
 
78%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
63%
How many English language learners graduate in 4 years?
 
73%
Average daily attendance
 
79%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
65%
From the 2022-23 School Quality Guide and 2022-23 NYC School Survey

Students

319
Number of students
Citywide Average is 617

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
81%
Students with disabilities
 
21%
Multilingual learners
 
41%
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Safety & Vibe

School
Citywide
How many students were suspended?
 
2%
How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
 
87%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
32%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
22%
How many teachers say they would recommend this school to other families?
 
90%
From the 2022-23 NYC School Survey and 2019-20 NY State Report Card

Faculty & Staff

School
Citywide
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
 
95%
0.1
Years of principal experience at this school
Citywide Average is 7
135
Number of students for each guidance counselor or social worker
Citywide Average is 191
How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
 
71%
Are teachers effective?
From the 2022-23 NYC School Survey, 2022-23 School Quality Guide, 2021-22 Report on School-Based Staff Demographics, 2023 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 2021-21

Computer Science

 
3%

Physics

Not offered in 2021-21

Advanced Foreign Language

Not offered in 2021-21

AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science

 
83%

AP/IB Math or Science

 
37%

Music

Not offered in 2021-21
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?
 
28%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
72%
How many students who have graduated from this high school stay in college for at least 3 semesters?
 
16%
From the 2020-21 and 2022-23 School Quality Guide

How many graduates who are eligible received Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) funding to attend a NYS college?
 
43%
This shows how well this school supports low-income students to get funding for college.
How many of those TAP recipients made it through college? Learn more
From unpublished, anonymized student-level data for the class of 2016-17 provided by the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) in coordination with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), brought to you by
How many students filled out a FAFSA form by the end of their senior year?
 
38%
From the 2022-23 FAFSA data released by Federal Student Aid, brought to you by Visit Understanding FAFSA for help with the FAFSA and financial aid.
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2024 High School Directory

CYBERaRTS Studio Academy (K29A)

Admissions Method: Ed. Opt.

Program Description:

The CYBERaRTS Studio Academy integrates vigorous STEM, Design Thinking and liberal arts courses to educate talented artist, media specialist, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians--inspiring them to become passionate problem-solvers who understand the impact of their work on society. We believe technology divorced from humanity is worse than no technology at all.

Offerings

From the 2024 High School Directory

Language Courses

Spanish

Advanced Courses

Algebra II (Advanced Math), AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, World Languages (Advanced World Languages)

Boys PSAL teams

Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball

Girls PSAL teams

Basketball, Cross Country, Fencing, Flag Football, Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball

Coed PSAL teams

Stunt

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

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

237 7 Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11215

Trains: F Line to 7th Av

Buses: B61, B63, B67, B69


Contact

Principal: Valrie Wauchope

Parent Coordinator: Susan Stein

Phone: 718-832-4200

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares the John Jay Educational Campus with three other schools

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? Yes

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