My school is referenced in this article .... Bronx High School for Law and Community Service .....
Hard work earns Bronx High School of Science borough's best graduation rate
BY Tanyanika Samuels
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, June 24th 2009, 4:00 AM
Monaster/News
Principal Valerie Reidy and students from the Bronx H.S. of Science, known nationwide for producing Nobel prize-winning scientists and other notable graduates.
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It's one of the highest-ranking schools in the city, so it's no surprise the Bronx High School of Science had the best graduation rate in the borough.
Still, it's not a distinction school officials take lightly.
"We take our mission very seriously," said Principal Valerie Reidy Tuesday. "We're a college preparatory school, so we impress on our students the need to graduate and realize their dreams."
With a 98.3% graduation rate, Bronx Science leads in the Bronx after city officials announced on Monday the greatest percentage of city high school graduates in 22 years.
Officials boasted a 56.4% graduation rate for June 2008, up 3.6% from the previous year, according to Education Department statistics.
Bronx Science is known nationwide for producing Nobel prize-winning scientists and other notable graduates.
In continuing that tradition, Reidy credited teachers who "break their backs" to make sure students are learning.
"While we're focused on our teaching, we also ask, 'Was it learned?' It all pays out in the end when we see the graduation and college acceptance rates."
At the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, school officials can boast a 94.3% graduation rate.
"Our graduation rate is a testament to the hard work of our talented teachers, our talented students and our parents, who care tremendously about the progress their children make," said Principal Alessandro Weiss.
The school partners with Lehman College, which gives students a taste of college life, and with the nonprofit Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which sponsors school trips to study American history.
"It takes all the links in the educational chain to result in this level of success," said Weiss.
At the other end of the scale were schools with the borough's highest dropout rates: Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the South Bronx (35.3%); Bronx High School for Law and Community Service in Belmont (31.6%), and Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers, a vocational school in the South Bronx (29.3%). Principals at those schools did not return calls for comment.
Also on the list were Evander Childs High School (41.4% dropout rate), which the city shuttered in June 2008, and the Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Soundview (34.2%), which will close this month.
Both institutions suffered from absenteeism, safety issues and low graduation rates.
In each case, the city Education Department replaced the large school with several smaller schools to help improve student performance.
tsamuels@nydailynews.com
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Teacher Lens
I am filled with emotions ranging from fear and sorrow to great anticipation and joy. Today I am wrapping up my Saturday school courses with evaluations and an reflective activity built around Rosa Parks.
Yesterday, one of my freshmen asked me once more if I was really leaving. He said he thought I was joking. It provoked thousands of tears inside. While I know that I will help my students from another level... I also feel that I’m letting down students who have been let down their own life….. But I do find relief by thinking that they also probably have not known anyone personally to embark upon this journey who also shares their experiences in many regards ….. Though this is true … I’m still in a period of great grief!
Thursday, I was counseling one of my students who recently left a gang …. They already retaliated by breaking his noise …. And will not stop until they have his life …. He is scared …. He already has to stay confined to certain parts of the Bronx and strategically plan his arrival and departure from school ….Yet he can not reconcile the idea of being “manly and masculine” alongside the idea of being safe …. However, I believe I at least got him to begin considering exiting the Bronx to go to Florida to finish high school and start a fresh life …. I told him I can not stomach attending the funeral of another student. Then he said something to the effect … I’m a role model here …. To which I informed him he needed to give that up until he was stable and had something bright to pass on … his main focus today should be improving his life.
I look at my students and I see so much potential, hope, and pain. But I also can picture the roads that some of their current decisions lead. I am forever changed after seeing my students in a casket.
excuse grammer and spelling .... I wrote this in the interim of a presentation
Yesterday, one of my freshmen asked me once more if I was really leaving. He said he thought I was joking. It provoked thousands of tears inside. While I know that I will help my students from another level... I also feel that I’m letting down students who have been let down their own life….. But I do find relief by thinking that they also probably have not known anyone personally to embark upon this journey who also shares their experiences in many regards ….. Though this is true … I’m still in a period of great grief!
Thursday, I was counseling one of my students who recently left a gang …. They already retaliated by breaking his noise …. And will not stop until they have his life …. He is scared …. He already has to stay confined to certain parts of the Bronx and strategically plan his arrival and departure from school ….Yet he can not reconcile the idea of being “manly and masculine” alongside the idea of being safe …. However, I believe I at least got him to begin considering exiting the Bronx to go to Florida to finish high school and start a fresh life …. I told him I can not stomach attending the funeral of another student. Then he said something to the effect … I’m a role model here …. To which I informed him he needed to give that up until he was stable and had something bright to pass on … his main focus today should be improving his life.
I look at my students and I see so much potential, hope, and pain. But I also can picture the roads that some of their current decisions lead. I am forever changed after seeing my students in a casket.
excuse grammer and spelling .... I wrote this in the interim of a presentation
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