Hidden Gems
Some lesser-known schools also shine — including these six recommended by Inside schools, the DOE and The Post
University Heights High School 701 ST. ANN’S AVE., BRONX
Located in the heart of the South Bronx, this school cultivates a college-style atmosphere that emphasizes research over standardized test-taking. Students develop academic portfolios to demonstrate progress – and most state Regents exams are not required. That means students write extensively and do independent research starting in freshman year, and take early college courses from 10th grade. Graduates leave high school with up to 15 college credits.
Students enter either a humanities program or a STEM institute based on interviews, a writing sample, and middleschool grades. The school is open to all New York City students, but most students live in the Bronx.
Those in the humanities program have their pick of intriguing electives like entrepreneurship, theater, and photojournalism. STEM electives like engineering, 3D modeling, calculus, and neuroscience let science-minded students explore a range of related fields.
Kids grow food in an on-site garden to learn about nutrition and farm-to-table concepts. An executive internship program places them in local finance, fashion, medical, media, and tech businesses. A visiting authors initiative regularly brings in professional writers.
Curtis High School International Baccalaureate Program 105 HAMILTON AVE., STATEN ISLAND
This school-within-a-school in St. George offers academic achievers a top-notch, globally recognized curriculum and an intimate feel – plus all of the labs, clubs, and sports teams of a big, diverse neighborhood high school.
IB students at Curtis follow a course sequence in history, English, foreign language, math, science, and the arts that delves deeply into each subject. A new film class will have students analyze an international slate of movies, along with film texts and theories, and get hands-on with a filmmaking project.
To graduate with an International Baccalaureate diploma, students complete a 3,000-word research paper and present it to an academic panel, and organize a community service project. Last year, an impressive 83% of Curtis’s IB seniors completed all of the requirements.
Recognized by universities around the world, the IB diploma now carries benefits closer to home: CUNY will award IB diploma holders 30 automatic college credits, speeding students toward their bachelor’s degree.
Crowding problems at Curtis are easing this year with a $65 million addition to the centuryold, castle-like main building, with 11 classrooms, a new gym, a computer lab, and a multimedia room.
Humanities Preparatory Academy 351 W. 18TH ST., MANHATTAN
This Chelsea school provides a welcoming home for both older transfer students and incoming ninth-graders, with an inquirybased curriculum that rewards exploration rather than rote memorization.
One of five small high schools within the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex, Humanities Prep’s small size — just 225 students — makes for a nurturing atmosphere. Every student receives personalized counseling.
Students here, exempt from almost all state Regents tests, create portfolios of their work and complete independent projects to meet graduation requirements. Unusual approaches to core subjects grab students’ interest: math classes like “Math and Migration,” science courses like “Chemistry of Food,” and English themes like “What Makes a Hero?” inspire them to stretch as scholars.
The broad array of electives is constantly expanding. French and Arabic courses have just been added, and AP Environmental Science and AP US History are new this year.
Clubs include a staff-student band, a poetry/art “coffeehouse,” and a book club that hosts authors like National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson.
Queens High School for Language Studies 35-01 UNION ST., QUEENS
At this tight-knit school, every student is a language learner: half are Chinese speakers learning English as a new language, half are English speakers who immerse themselves in the Chinese language for all four years of high school. “It levels the playing field,” says Principal Melanie Lee.
That sense of equality pervades activities at QHSLS, which occupies its own wing in Flushing High School. Students of all backgrounds take leadership roles to organize school-wide activities centered around Lunar New Year, African-American History Month, Thanksgiving, and more.
“The whole community comes together, and it’s all student-led,” Lee says.
With a large immigrant population — up to 40% of students are recent arrivals — “We spend a lot of time preparing our students for the post-secondary process,” Lee says. Kids take a college access class that walks them through the application procedure, and every guidance counselor is multilingual. “The goal is to make them smart consumers who can identify their best-fit schools.”
The approach is paying off: 100% of the school’s first graduating class this past June had plans for post-secondary education, and 80% of them intended to enroll in four-year colleges.
Special Music School High School 122 AMSTERDAM AVE., MANHATTAN
With just 50 students in each grade, Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School High School provides a college-level conservatory education and top-flight academics for kids who sleep, eat, and breathe music. The K-12 school, a partnership between the city’s Department of Education and the Kaufman music education and performance nonprofit, graduated its first senior class in June with a 100% college acceptance rate and sky-high scores on state history and English Regents exams.
Students major in voice, composition, or any instrument — this year’s group includes euphonium and harp majors. Everyone takes a two-year sequence in music technology. Collaboration, improvisation, and music production are all emphasized, part of the school’s mission to prepare students for 21st century music careers.
The school shares the Upper West Side’s MLK Jr. Educational Campus with five others. Windowless classrooms are put to good use as specialized music facilities, including eight practice rooms, eight soundproof practice pods, a black box theater, and a recording studio. The building’s 750-seat auditorium is frequently used for performances, as is the Kaufman Center’s 450-seat conference hall one block away.
High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology 350 67TH ST., BROOKLYN
With several computer labs, CTE tracks in engineering and science research, and a software engineering program that exposes all ninth and 10th graders to coding, website design, and robotics, the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology meets its mission to prepare kids for the demands of modern careers. The Bay Ridge school also offers a range of accelerated courses, including 13 APs, College Now classes and honors tracks.
The brand-new rooftop greenhouse yielded several harvests in its first year of operation. Student members of the school gardening club helped maintain the facility and tend its plants, then hosted farmer’s markets to share the bounty with staff and school families. This year, all science classes will get hands-on lessons in hydroponics and explore urban sustainability.
Most students take part in a thriving program of extracurriculars. The theater club’s annual production is a major school event — last spring’s “Grease” featured a cast of more than 40 — and the school’s 18 PSAL teams include city champions in basketball, baseball, softball and soccer.