Bard High School Early College
| Bard High School Early College | |
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| Established | June 2001 |
| Type | Public secondary, college |
| Affiliations | Bard College, Bard College at Simon's Rock, NYC Department of Education |
| Principal | Michael Lerner |
| Dean | Martha J. Olson[1] |
| Founder | Leon Botstein |
| Students | Approx. 560 students |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | 525 E Houston Street, Manhattan , NY 10002; 30-20 Thomson Ave., Long Island City 11101, New York City, New York, United States of America |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Black, white, and red |
| Mascot | Raptors, Bardbarians |
| Newspaper | The Bard Bulletin, The Bardvark |
| Website | www.bard.edu/bhsec |
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Students graduate with a high school diploma, an A.A. in liberal arts, and 60+ college credits.
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Bard High School Early College (BHSEC), is an alternative public secondary school in New York City, USA, that allows highly motivated and scholastically strong students to begin their college studies two years early. BHSEC has two campuses - BHSEC Manhattan, which opened in 2001, is located in the Lower East Side, Manhattan in a building previously occupied by Public School 97, and BHSEC Queens, which opened in 2008, located in Long Island City.
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[edit] History
Founded in 2001 as a partnership of the New York City Department of Education and Bard College and funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the school accepts students into the ninth grade and allows them to earn both a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts (AA) degree in four years. BHSEC was the first school in the Gates Foundation's Early College High School Initiative, which aims to improve education in the United States by introducing smaller public high schools which help remove the barriers to a college education by offering students a college education in a high school setting. Many of the teaching philosophies that BHSEC has implemented were developed at Bard College at Simon's Rock, the oldest and most highly regarded early college entrance program and the only accredited four-year early college to date.
Many graduates of BHSEC transfer their 60+ college credits to another college or university and finish their Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in two more years; others opt to study for three or four years in their subsequent institutions. The tuition-free school is open to all New York City residents and attracts a highly diverse student body. Admission is highly competitive and is based on grades, an essay and math exam, and an interview. In admitting the class of 2001, 900 applicants made it to the interview stage of the application. Approximately 6000- 8000 applicants vie for approximately 148 seats each fall. In fall 2008, a new school, BHSEC Queens, opened and is located in Long Island City to offer more gifted students in New York City an early college education.
As of June 2009, seven classes have graduated since the school's opening in 2001, and the first class to have gone through all four years of the program graduated in June 2005.
[edit] High school
In the BHSEC program, students spend what is traditionally ninth and tenth grade finishing the bulk of their high school work. Students take the five Regents exams required for the High School Regents diploma, which they receive in addition to the Associates of Arts degree from Bard College. Unlike most New York City high schools, however, BHSEC does not offer courses tailored to prepare students for the Regents, nor are there any Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered (as the last two years are spent in an accredited college program). In order to complete the high school curriculum in two years, courses are taught at an accelerated pace.
During the freshman fall semester, students are enrolled in Introduction to Foreign Languages, where they experience three foreign languages: Latin, Spanish, Chinese. At the end of the semester, students choose the language they wish to study further.
Additionally, in freshman year, students sample the arts that are offered. Students take visual arts and theater for one half a semester each, and take music and dance together, on alternating days, for a semester. At the end of the year, they are given courses to choose from for the following year. Some of these courses are drum circle, chamber music, studio art, Chinese calligraphy, theater for social change, storytelling, the search in research, and rock ensemble. Introduction to the Arts is similar to the Introduction to Foreign Languages course, where each class contributes to the final grade. This program began in the fall of 2006.
As of the fall 2008 semester, the high school science curriculum has been revamped. 9th graders take a full year's course of Physics and then can either choose Chemistry or Biology for 10th grade. In the following year, they will take the subject that they opted out of in 10th grade.
BHSEC does not rank its students and does not honor titles such as Valedictorian, nor does it implement a Dean's list.
[edit] Early college program
The two years spent in the college program are denoted First Year and Second Year. As a college program, students may select their courses based primarily on their academic interests and preferences for certain professors; however, they must also meet the college program's core requirements. These requirements include four semesters of seminar, in which students read and discuss seminal works of western thought, from Plato and the classics through Shakespeare and ending in postmodernism. Students are also required to complete two semesters of math, two semesters of laboratory science, one semester of history, one semester of literature, and two additional semesters of either social science or literature, two semesters of a foreign language (at least one at intermediate level) and three arts credits. Students may also create their own courses with the independent study program, provided that a faculty member is knowledgeable in the subject. Every semester, a student must take 14-18 credits. With permission from the dean, students may take more than 18 credits in a semester. Students can also transfer credits from other universities to meet their requirements for the college program.
BHSEC's college program offers classes that are more specialized than in the high school program, such as Linear Algebra, Reason and Politics, Novels of Dostoyevsky, Philosophy of Religion, Physics of Sound and Music, The Social Contract and Its Critics, and Culture and History of Food. These courses are taught by college professors, many of whom have published books and articles in their fields.
[edit] Faculty
The majority of BHSEC faculty members at the school hold PhDs and all faculty have a master's degree or higher (2003-2004 Annual School Report). Faculty often choose to teach courses in the area of their current scholarly research. A full list of faculty is available on the school's website.[2]
BHSEC is known for having close student-faculty relationships in addition to a faculty-student ratio of 20:1 which is much less common for a public high school in New York City.[citation needed]
[edit] Student resources
[edit] Library
The library was opened in November 2004. It uses a fully automated catalog which can be accessed online [1]. The library has added a small collection of classic movies in circulation. There twenty-five wireless laptops available to students for work and research, with printer access.
Beginning in spring 2007 term, a Student Lounge was created and the Learning Center merged into the library. This effectively shifted socializing to the Student Center and renewed the academic purpose of the library space. However, as of the 2007-2008 school year, the Student Lounge is out of service because the construction of a new elevator for the faculty and physically disabled students has decreased the number of available classrooms. The room that was formerly used for the Student Center is now used as a classroom.
[edit] Learning Center
In fall 2004, BHSEC opened the Learning Center including a Writing Center, where students can come for assistance in writing papers from faculty and student volunteers, and a Math Center for math help. Some professors are willing to take into consideration the time spent in the Writing Center working on their papers into grading. All BHSEC's professors and instructors are accessible during their office hours and are willing to meet before and after school.
At the beginning of the spring 2007 term, the Learning Center was relocated to a portion of the library and its former location became the new Student Center to re-separate the library from socializing. The Student Center then became a classroom due to the construction of an elevator.
[edit] Student life
While studies occupy much of BHSEC students' time, they are also participants in community events.
BHSEC has the Community Council, a student government consisting of three representatives from each grade and faculty representatives. The council is responsible for the organization of events and activities for the school and acts as the school community liaison between the administration and the students. Some of the programs organized in the 2005-6 academic year by the Community Council were the Spring Community Day (a celebration of the school's diversity and culture) and the Pink Dance (a dance for the students with the majority of the proceeds funding breast cancer research).
[edit] Clubs
BHSEC extracurricular activities include student organizations and volunteer opportunities. Clubs range from BHSEC's old club: philosophy club, to the food lover's club, to the award-winning step team. A full list is below:
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[edit] Sports
Bard High School Early College Manhattan and Queens have twelve varsity PSAL sports teams: boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball, boys and girls track, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls tennis, and boys wrestling [2]. In 2009-10, BHSEC Queens won the CSAA New York City Girls' Basketball Championship,won the CSAA New York City Girls' Soccer Championship, and reached the quarterfinals in girls' volleyball. Three BHSEC Manhattan teams were playoff teams: the boys' soccer team reached the PSAL quarterfinals; the girls' soccer team attained the second round of the playoffs; and the boys' basketball team the first round. Other sports teams include boys flag football, boys baseball, girls softball, table tennis, golf, ultimate frisbee, handball, and rugby.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ "Staff" on BHSEC website
- ^ Faculty List
- ^ http://www.bardbulletin.com
- ^ http://www.bardnews.com
