A Good School But Getting There Is A Chore - School #21

I was sent to a small school in a college building in Western Queens and was very impressed with the school. The teaching staff is a mixtures of veteran and "newbie teachers" with a collaborative administration, a rarity in my travels this school year.

The student body is diverse with a majority Hispanic population and an increasing number of White and East Asian students coming to the school every year since its start.  The students wear professional attire and are well-behaved.  It was a pleasure to be at the school as there were no students walking the halls, or disrespecting the rules of the school.

The staff is friendly and supportive and work with the school administration to run a academically proficient school culture. This is shown by the above average "college and career readiness scores" despite being an unscreened school. Like all small schools course selection is limited and few extracurricular activities.

The downside is the late start time and the long commute by mass transit or by car in rush hour traffic that can take over an hour or more to get there from Eastern Queens. Of course there's no parking, unless you want to lay out $14 daily.  Furthermore, the school has no gym and Physical Education is given in a large room. There's no SAVE room for suspended students (they have a zero tolerance approach with regard to student misbehavior).  Instead, the students are dumped into the Dean's office for the day.  Like many schools I've been to, the Earth Science classes are taught by a non-certified teacher in the subject.

If it weren't for the late start time and commute I would consider it an "A-"  school but since this is an issue I must drop the grade a bit.  I would be happy to work there.


"GRADE "B"