J.H.S. 210 Elizabeth Blackwell

JHS 210 is a large, neighborhood school that offers an interesting array of courses.

Since her arrival in 2016, principal Bonnie Butcher has replaced the school’s house program with five career academies:  Graphic Arts and Computer Science; Visual and Performing Arts; Health Professions; Law and Humanities; and Engineering and Architecture. Children take classes tailored to their academy’s theme as such as robotics and coding in Engineering and Architecture or criminal justice and legal writing in Law and Humanities.

Many students also participate in the Advanced Regents Program that lets students take the algebra and earth science Regents exams and the Spanish proficiency exam. As a result, 58 percent of students graduate from 8th grade with some high school credits.

The alma mater of rapper Nicki Minaj, MS 210 students take dance, theater and music as elective classes and may participate in an after-school program offering academic enrichment, talent programs and sports.

Math and English test scores hover around the citywide average.

Most students feel safe in class, though more than one third of students don't always feel safe in hallways, bathrooms or lockers, based on their responses to the 2016-17 NYC School Survey. Almost 80 percent of teachers responding to the survey do not think order and discipline is maintained at the school.

Only 31 percent of teachers say Butcher is an effective leader and only 39 percent said they would recommend the school, based on their responses to the survey.  Parents give her much higher marks, though still lower than those garnered by most principals around the city.

To improve the school’s tone and culture, the staff is instituting “progressive discipline strategies,” according to the school’s 2016-17 Comprehensive Education Plan.

ADMISSIONS: Zoned neighborhood school. (Gail Robinson, web reports, August 2017)