Long Island City High School

Long Island City High School, commonly abbreviated L.I.C. or LICHS, is a public high school in New York City, located in Long Island City in the borough of Queens. The present building was built in 1995. The school has an enrollment of around 3,500.

Long Island City High School
Address
14-30 Broadway Long Island City , New York United States
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Enhancing Education Through Technology
Established	1927
School board	New York City Public Schools
School district	30
School number	Q450
Principal	Vivian Selenikas
Grades	9–12
Number of students	3,126
Nickname	L.I.C.

Demographics

Long Island City High School is one of the most diverse schools in Queens. It has many students Of Latin American, European and Asian descent. As of the 2009-2010 school year, Long Island City High School was 59% Hispanic/Latino, 10% Asian, 27% Black/African American and 4% White.

Background

The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the New York City Department of Education, and has an overall 59% graduation rate which includes special education students and ESL (English as a Second Language) students. The highest graduation rates in the past few years have been the class of 2010 with 70% and the class of 2011 with 89%.

Long Island City High School has a significant population of first-generation immigrants as students.

The school also has award winning courses in music and culinary arts. The Music department consist of various levels of strings, orchestra, band, and choir. The band and choir have both been recognized by NYSSMA, the New York State Music Association, as well as individual students in classes such as Opera and strings. The Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay has visited this school to shoot his show Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

Originally, Long Island City High school had a total of 13 periods, which was reduced to 12 on the 2006-2007 school year, and has currently been reduced to 11 periods.

The former principal, William Bassell, has won the Americans for the Arts award and several other awards for this support of the arts in education. He has opened the new LIC building, which has 2 large gyms, a dance studio, a custom made culinary cooking kitchen for cooking classes, and an Olympic sized swimming pool.

Overcrowding in Long Island City H.S has caused several issues. This overcrowded school is a nest of all types of things such as increased class sizes and locker room delays. The overcrowding also forces some academic classes to be held in computer labs.

Long Island City High School has over 18 AP Classes, Honors Program, Opera and Orchestra, Dance and Theatre, Visual Arts, and over eight Foreign Languages. It also has over 20 multicultural and interdisciplinary clubs, over 20 teams and a growing ARISTA (National Honor Society) chapter.

The school is divided into PLE's (Personal Learning Environments)which help the students in keeping them with specific groups of teachers but those trends are often broken when students end up with classes in other PLE's, for example a child in a certain academy getting an Honors/AP course would grant them a class in that academy and broadening the teachers they are exposed to. As of the 2010-11 school year the schools change to appointing Mr.Vladimir Hurych as acting principal and shortly after the title was granted to Mrs. Maria Mamo-Vaccela, the academies took on new names such as Nova, Aurora, Quasar, Mariner, Voyager, and more as the school took a new approach to education in finding the facts/ main ideas in every possible subject as well as the importance of Non-fiction reading.

Long Island City High School is also a testing center for the Specialized High Schools Admission Test (SHSAT).

Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corp.

The High School includes an Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps Program (JROTC).

The BullDog Battalion, JROTC Program, was first established in 2002. The School's Army JROTC, "Bulldog Battalion"s drill team Sons of Liberty & Daughters of Liberty are both National High School level Champions in the National High School Drill Team Championships. The JROTC was able to achieve an honor unit with distinction award and has since held that achievement.

The Drill Team have been invited to many events such as escorting Mayor Bloomberg during and Color Guard team for Giants games in the past. The most notable event they participated, was in 2008, when Sons of Liberty & Daughters of Liberty, and both teams were chosen over all the schools in the nation by Ashanti to perform with her and Ja Rule on Good Morning America.

Mission statement

The school's mission statement is as follows:

Long Island City High School provides a resoundingly high level educational experience to all students. As a school with a successful history in preparing youngsters for achievement in the twenty-first century, Long Island City High School ensures that all its students take the courses which challenge their minds to the utmost. In addition to encouraging four years of study in math, science, and foreign language, we encourage active study of art, music, culinary arts, and technology. Consequently, students supplement the traditional academics and athletics with a healthy balance of aesthetic activities.

Notable alumni

• George Onorato {1946}, former Democratic New York State Senator.
• Al Bianchi (1950), former NBA basketball coach.
• Michael N. Gianaris {1988}, Democrat NY State Senator

External links

• Long Island City High School
• Long Island City High School BullDog Battalion