New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities II

New Visions Charter High School for Humanities II (HUM II) opened in 2012 in the Samuel Gompers Educational Campus.Humanities II places special emphasis on courses in literature, history and writing, for those interested in careers such as law, teaching, journalism or the arts. The school is mostly safe and orderly, with average attendance rates, but has a ways to go in getting graduates ready for college-level work, according to school data and surveys.

School runs from about 8:30 am to 4:30 pm three days a week (the last hour and a half consists of electives and clubs), and to 3:45 pm two days a week. There is a required summer session before and after 9thgrade.

HUM II is modeled after a New Visions school with the same name that opened in September 2011 in the John F. Kennedy building in the Bronx.New Visions for Public Schools, a non-profit founded in 1989, has worked with the Department of Education and community partners to create more than 135 small schools in New York City.

At the New Visions schools teachers aim to strengthen reading, writing and speaking skills in the first two grades. Writing at the high schools is taught in six cycles, with a focus on different genres and skills; in the first trimester of senior year, for example, students write six essays in various styles. Writing is also practiced in other subject areas such as math and science, according to curriculum published online.

In a partnership withLincoln Center Institute students attend performances and visit art exhibitions related to their studies on a regular basis. Class size averages 20 students and there are two teachers in most classrooms.

Eighty eight percent of students graduated within four years in 2016, exceeding the citywide average. However, only 3 percent performed well enough to enroll at City University of New York without remedial help, compared to 25 percent borough-wide. Graduates have gone on to colleges such as SUNY Albany, Buffalo State College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Howard University, Hunter College and Yale University, according to the New Visions website. [photo supplied by New Visions]

Samuel Gompers Career and Technical Education High School closed because of poor performance and the building now houses three small high schools.

ADMISSIONS:Lottery, with a preference to District 7.(Lydie Raschka, web reports and data, July 2017