NEW YORK—With the growing trend of specialization in high schools, choosing a high school can be like choosing a career. It is a big step for little feet. At the fifth annual Citywide High School Fair this weekend, 14,000 families passed through rows of tech high schools, theater high schools, and business and finance high schools.
Assistant principal at LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, Dr. Nina Lasky, said her students can decide to be doctors or lawyers and are not limited to a future in the arts. The school’s curriculum is well-rounded enough that students can get into the best colleges in any field.
Ashley Thomas, a senior at LaGuardia, wants to continue her education in visual arts and enjoys being surrounded by a majority of students with the same interest. Referring to the few classmates who want to be doctors or scientists, she noted, “That’s random.”
“My doorway is open right now,” said 12-year-old Surat Hurapan.
He sees a wide range of possibilities for his future but admitted, “It feels like when you’re choosing a high school, it’s like you’re choosing what you’re going to be when you grow up.”
Hurapan was most interested in Stuyvesant High School—as were many others, since it is considered one of the best schools in the city—and Aviation High School in Long Island City. Aviation’s motto is, “We are not just a school, we are a career!”
Hurapan’s mother liked the uniforms at Aviation and thought the school would set her son on a good career path, where he would “maybe make good money.”
Parents will have to make the final decision about which path to set their children on by Dec. 2, when high school applications are due. The Department of Education helped parents make informed decisions with this weekend’s fair, and there will be additional fairs in every borough on Oct.22–23.
Stuyvesant was in high demand, but Parent Coordinator Harvey Blumm did not want to discourage parents by providing specifics on what it takes to get into the school. He told parents to just put down their choices in the order of preference, without worrying about admissions.
Stuyvesant is one of nine large, high-demand specialized high schools in the city. Prospective students must take a Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) to be admitted. They can register for this test up until Oct. 12.
Students must list their high school choices, from first to last. The higher they score on the SHSAT, the better chance they have at getting into their first choice. About 28,000 students take the test, and 800 to 900 students get into Stuyvesant each year.
Earl Dolphy, a stage technology teacher at Talent Unlimited High School on the Upper East Side, said his school of 500 students is a more tight-knit environment than the specialized schools with thousands of students. “Our students have names, not numbers,” he said.
It was not hard for Tara Rivers to choose a career path for her son, Malique. He has been fascinated with trains since he was a toddler and told her one day, “I don’t want to ride trains—I want to build trains.”
They were looking for a high school that would best prepare him for a career in engineering and one that offers Japanese language classes so that Malique can go where many trains are built.
