Information fairs scheduled for new international
high school
Sessions are set
on Island and in Brooklyn for facility to open in fall on CSI campus
Staten Island Advance - February 9, 2005
The first of three borough informational fairs for
eighth-graders interested in enrolling in a new internationally
themed high school on Staten Island will be held tomorrow at the
Petrides Complex, Sunnyside.
The High School for International Studies, on the Willowbrook campus
of the College of Staten Island, is among 52 small schools opening
this fall under the Children First reforms ushered in by Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein.
The 108-member incoming freshman class will be randomly selected by
computer, said the city Department of Education, but priority will
be given to students who attend one of the fairs.
"Students who are informed about what the school mission is are
given priority in the matching process," said Dr. Francisco Soto,
dean of humanities and social sciences at CSI. As head of 10
academic departments at the college, Soto and his faculty will work
collaboratively with teachers from Region 7 at the high school to
develop curriculum.
"We want students who are committed to international studies and
studying a foreign language for four years," said Soto.
Tomorrow's fair at Petrides is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Brooklyn School of the Arts will host a
program detailing all of citywide small schools from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m.
Information sessions also will be held at Dreyfus Intermediate
School, Stapleton, on Monday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and at CSI's
Center for the Arts on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The high school will be housed in Building 5N of the Willowbrook
college for the next three years. After that, the school may be
moved to another part of the sprawling campus or relocated to a site
on Marsh Avenue in New Springville, where an educational complex is
planned.
The school will be funded by the city, with a portion coming from
the Asia Society, a Manhattan-based not-for-profit organization
which is creating 10 internationally themed secondary schools
throughout the country. Development of the society's plan is
supported by a $7.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation.
"In the 21st century, international knowledge and skills are no
longer a luxury for a small number of diplomats and business
leaders," said Michael Levine, executive director of education at
the Asia Society. "They are a necessity for every student."
Eighth-graders who submitted their 12 choices for high schools in
December and applied to a specialized school will know by Feb. 18 if
they received their first-rank picks, according to the Department of
Education Web site.
However, students opting for a nonspecialized school will not be
informed prior to the March 1 deadline for applying to the High
School for International Studies.
Students turning in a revised list of school choices will have their
December school selection rankings superseded by the new
application.
In addition to attending the fairs, further information about the
international high school can be obtained by visiting the school's
Web site at www.csihighschool.org or calling (212) 327-9311.
By Diane O'Donnell
Reprinted here with permission from the
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