Curtis High School

Curtis High School on Staten Island’s North Shore is a relative rarity in New York City today – a large, diverse high school offering a mix of academic and career programs. Its size enables it to offer three foreign languages, many Advanced Placement classes, a variety of arts classes with seven full-time arts teachers, and more than thirty varsity sports teams.

Curtis is broken into nine small learning communities called houses – “many houses, one home” as a student says in a school video. These include houses focused on the academically demanding International Baccalaureate curriculum, Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps and various college preparatory programs, including legal studies and journalism. Some of the houses, such as visual and performing arts and the Computer Business Institute, also offer a career training component. Students in the nursing house graduate high school ready to take the New York State Boards for Licensed Practical Nurse and Nurses Assistant certification exams.

Most teachers look forward to work and recommend the school to parents, according to school surveys. An educator who visited the school for its Quality Review praised Curtis for its embrace of technology, for setting high expectations for students and for communication with parents. 

However, some teachers rely too heavily on question-and-answer sessions and don't do enough to adjust classwork to individual student needs, the reviewer said. Too many classes have desks in rows, impeding class discussions. 

Curtis — the borough's first high school — opened in 1904 and the building was landmarked in 1982. Overcrowding was a persistent concern but a new wing including eleven classrooms, a gymnasium, and a multimedia room opened in 2017, easing the problem. 

Special education: Curtis offers a range of special education services. With about two-thirds of its student with disabilities spending the bulk of their day in team-teaching classes with two teachers and a mix of special and general education students. There are also self-contained classes. Less than half of students with disabilities graduate in four years.

Admissions: Any resident residing within Curtis’ zone on Staten Island’s North Shore is admitted. Once admitted students can then select from houses with available slots. Students who want admission to a specific program must apply to that program. Students from outside the zone must apply program by program. While all are open to any New York City student, some give priority to Staten Islanders, with few, if any, openings available to children from other boroughs, Admissions criteria and availability vary. There are some openings for incoming 10th graders. (Gail Robinson, school website and DOE material, October 2018)