Languages, world commerce
would be specialties of school planned for Island college campus
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High school students who excel in the Romance
languages or who are particularly interested in international
businesses may have an additional opportunity to study at a new high
school located at the College of Staten Island (CSI).
CSI President Dr. Marlene Springer confirmed the
college is in the early stages of discussion with the city
Department of Education to create a small high school on the
Willowbrook campus.
College officials chose international business and
foreign language because of its strong faculty in those areas and
because it is a City University of New York (CUNY) "flagship" site
for international exchange programs, said Dr. Springer.
"Should we be successful, we are not going to be
competing with other existing Staten Island high schools," she said,
noting the science and technology programs at Staten Island
Technical High School and the performing arts program at Curtis High
School.
"I think we're filling a void. It gives Staten
Island residents one more opportunity for a varied curriculum," said
Dr. Springer, who serves as national chairwoman of the College
Consortium for International Students.
The cost of the new school would largely depend on
renovations to a building on the 200-acre campus. The campus has
already received $4 million in state funding to fix the roof and
electrical work of its 2M building, she said. But that building will
require further work and hasn't definitely been selected as the site
for the potential school.
Dr. Springer envisions 100 students per grade, for a
total enrollment of about 400. Although high school teachers would
be the primary instructors, college faculty might also give
additional lectures and seminars.
She couldn't estimate when the school might open, but said the plan
shouldn't be squashed despite the city and state's financial
turmoil. "You have to think about the future. You have to have it in
the planning stages," she said.
CSI's Discovery Institute already has a relationship
with every high school in the borough and offers training to
teachers.
CSI offers a major in international business, a
Modern China Studies program and a Center for International Service,
which sponsors a weekly lecture series, international trips and
exchange programs with Ecuador, Italy and Bulgaria, among other
nations.
