{"id":37764,"date":"2021-06-25T10:56:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T14:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/?p=37764"},"modified":"2021-08-14T13:58:08","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T17:58:08","slug":"why-we-didnt-choose-the-nyc-specialized-high-school-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mominthecity.com\/why-we-didnt-choose-the-nyc-specialized-high-school-offer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Didn’t Choose The NYC Specialized High School Offer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Why<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We waited until the last minute to make our decision regarding where our youngest son Sean will attend high school this fall. Like many NYC students, Sean received two offers. We ended up choosing our local high school instead of the NYC specialized high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, my husband and I thought that we would go with the specialized high school. Sean didn\u2019t have a school preference but the specialized high school was the school that I had wanted my older son Michael to attend instead of Townsend Harris that he chose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why We Didn\u2019t Choose the NYC Specialized High School<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After attending the specialized school\u2019s open house and driving by the school, we changed our minds. The top things that made us change our minds were the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The school was too academically focused.<\/strong> Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 academics are important. My husband Reggie and I value education. (Reggie is a high school math teacher. I served on my district\u2019s Education Council.) However<\/strong>, we don\u2019t think that academics is everything \u2013 or even the most important thing.

Of the 7+ types of intelligence<\/a> that people can have, both of our sons were blessed with the types that schools value. They are more than just their \u201cschool smarts\u201d though. That\u2019s why I didn\u2019t like the fact that the principal wouldn\u2019t give a clear answer regarding how many hours of homework a kid should anticipate a night. When she also shared that many of their students quit extracurricular activities because they wanted to study, alarm bells started going off in my head. This type of school might be great for families who want academics to be at the center of their teens\u2019 lives. That is not us.

\u201cBut your oldest son goes to Townsend Harris\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/a> That is true. Townsend Harris is currently the top-ranked public school in NYC. I have had some concerns about how \u201cextra\u201d the school can be overall but<\/strong> I must say that Townsend Harris cares about a variety of things (physical health, volunteering, extracurriculars, etc.) in addition to academics. Plus, their overall homework expectations (2 to 3 hours tops) were expressed when we went to their open house. I appreciate that the school has stuck to its word over the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The school isn\u2019t in the best location.<\/strong> We drove by the school after Sean\u2019s graduation last week. The area was too busy and the walk from the subway looked unappealing \u2013 trash, having to walk under a bridge, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No thank you. Sean hasn\u2019t been in physical school for almost a year and a half. My husband and I (especially I!) feel better with him being nearby. He can walk to the local high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Lastly, there aren\u2019t enough Black people at the school.<\/strong> Only 3% of the students in the school, which is small anyway, are Black. Having others who look like you isn\u2019t our top concern\u2026but it is a concern. It can be exhausting being \u201cthe only one\u201d or \u201cthe only one of a few\u201d in spaces.

Purposefully, I\u2019m not mentioning the name of the specialized high school. A Chalkbeat<\/em> article, \u201cShe got into one of NYC\u2019s top high schools. Four years later, she wishes she hadn\u2019t.\u201d <\/a>confirmed my concerns though.

This is not an issue that is unique to this particular specialized high school though. Only 9% of the seats in NYC\u2019s 9 specialized high schools went to Black and Latino freshmen combined. Keep in mind that 41% of the students in the overall school system are Latino and 22% are Black. I find that to be very problematic. (You can read NBC New York\u2019s<\/em> Specialized High School Offers to Black, Latino Students in NYC See Decline<\/a> post for the breakdown.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NYC<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Side Rant About the Specialized High School Test:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the racial disparities, there are just some kids who don\u2019t test well with these types of tests BUT are straight-A students. I was in the room one day while Sean\u2019s teacher was talking to some of her students about the test results. One kid shared, \u201cI bombed the test and didn\u2019t receive any offers.\u201d Another kid shared about how his friend studied so hard and aced the practice test but did poorly on the actual test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really appreciated the way the teacher responded. She encouraged the students not to worry about it. She shared how they didn\u2019t even have these tests in Long Island where she went to school. NYC is my heart but we can be so extra! (I didn\u2019t have these types of tests as a teen in Virginia either.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not saying to get rid of the SHST. Rather, I\u2019m saying that teacher recommendations could\/should be factored in for those who miss the cutoff by a few points \u2013 ESPECIALLY for the ELL (English Language Learners) students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main reason that I didn\u2019t seek another term on the Education Council was that some things just don\u2019t make practical sense to me. I love public school education but there is no way that you can convince me that ELL (English Language Learners) students should take the exact same tests as students whose first language is English. Even with translation help available, things get lost in translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School Choice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back to my main point\u2026 the reasons mentioned above are why we chose our local high school. It is overcrowded and not as well \u201cgraded\u201d academically but we decided to give it a chance. Sean has a few friends in the honors\/STEM program that he will be a part of there so we think that he will be happier and do well. At the end of the day, he\u2019s not getting married to the school. \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2640\ufe0f If it\u2019s an awful fit, we\u2019ll switch him out. It\u2019s always good to have choices!<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We waited until the last minute to make our decision regarding where our youngest son Sean will attend high school this fall. Like many NYC students, Sean received two offers. We ended up choosing our local high school instead of … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy We Didn't Choose The NYC Specialized High School Offer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We needed to decide which high school our son Sean will be attending in the fall. 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