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Rockaway Collegiate High School
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Rockaway Park NY

Our Insights
What’s Special
Variety of supports for students
The Downside
Low achievement
Rockaway Collegiate High School opened in September 2011 in the Beach Channel Educational Campus to give students extra time and support to help them succeed in high school and beyond. It tries to bring what it describes as a “college bound culture” to the low-income Rockaway community.
To aid this, Rockaway is a community school providing an array of services for students and their families in collaboration with Partnership with Children. The school also works with a family services organization called Sheltering Arms to provide counseling to some students and their families.
Students in 9th grade are programmed for a double period of algebra, and tutoring is available during, before and after school. School staff has sought out various techniques, such as use of visual material, to help all students, but particularly low-achieving ones.
Many students arrive substantially below grade level and continue to struggle academically. The school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan notes that Rockaway Collegiate students are slow to amass credits and that pass rates on some Regents exams are low. About two thirds of students graduate in four years, and only about a quarter are considered ready for college-level work. Fewer than half enroll in a college or career training program within six months of high school graduation.
The school has faced many challenges. A year after it opened, Hurricane Sandy struck, forcing students to leave the Beach Channel Education Campus for months. More recently the Department of Education placed a charter school in the building, over the opposition of many in the community. And an article in the New York Post highlighted a lack of order and discipline in the school. Rockaway Collegiate also has had three principals in five years.
The school offers several Advanced Placement classes, dance and visual arts. The photo above shows students on a field trip to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (photo from JBWR website). Rockaway Collegiate shares the Beach Channel campus with the charter school – New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities IV – as well as a 6-12 school – Channel View School for Research – and Rockaway Park High School for Environmental Sustainability. The campus has extensive athletic facilities, and fields a variety athletics teams that compete as the Dolphins.
Special education: Rockaway has both team teaching classes with a mix of special and general education students and self-contained classes for students with disabilities.
Admissions: Rockaway Collegiate serves mostly the surrounding community and gives priority to Queens students but will accept students from anywhere in the city. It does not screen applicants. The school usually does not fill all seats and has some openings for in-coming 10th graders. (Gail Robinson, DOE material, September 2018)
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School Stats
Is this school safe and well-run?
From 2018-19 NYC School Survey
From 2017-18 NY State Report Card
From this school's most recent Quality Review Report
From 2018-19 School Quality Guide
How do students perform academically?
From 2018-19 School Quality Guide
Who does this school serve?
From 2019-20 Demographic Snapshot
From 2018-19 School Quality Guide
How does this school serve special populations?
From 2018-19 School Quality Guide
Programs & Admissions
From the 2021 High School Directory
Program Description:
Starting in the ninth grade, students learn to read complex texts and are required to write in all subject areas showing a connection across all contents. In the 11th grade, students can begin to earn college credits and take college courses.
Academics
Language Courses
Spanish
Advanced Placement (AP) courses
AP Calculus AB, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Spanish Language and Culture
Sports
Boys PSAL teams
Baseball, Basketball, Football, Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball
Girls PSAL teams
Basketball, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball
Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools
Contact & Location
Location
Contact
Other Details
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