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Admissions

ED. OPT. OVERVIEW

At The Facing History School (FHS), our mission is to graduate students who are: a) lifelong learners with the skills and knowledge for academic and professional success and b) prepared for the responsibilities of being active, thoughtful participants and leaders in a democratic society.  We believe that our relevant, academically rigorous program and the supportive, caring structures we have in place make us more than just an excellent school, but an excellent learning community. With the guidance of our lead partner, Facing History and Ourselves, we ask our students to go on a four-year journey to help prepare them for the ethical and moral decisions of adulthood. Our school’s activities, structure, and curricula are centered around four themes: Identity, Caring and Responsibility, Decision-making, and Choosing to Participate.

As a member of The New York Performance Standards Consortium (www.performanceassessment.orgOpens in a new browser tab ) we are part of a coalition of high schools across New York State who have pioneered the creation of educational communities synonymous with active student learning, exemplary professional development and innovative curriculum and teaching strategies for 21st century students. We have devised a system of assessment which consists of eight components including alignment with state standards, professional development, external review, and formative and summative data. Student work is documented to show their work meets and exceeds New York State Regents standards through a system of rigorous commencement-level performance-based assessment tasks. Performance on these tasks is reflected on student transcripts and results are used for college admission. The tasks require students to demonstrate accomplishment in analytical thinking, reading comprehension, research and writing skills, the application of mathematical computation and problem-solving skills, computer technology, the utilization of the scientific method in undertaking science research, appreciation of and performance skills in the arts, service learning and school to career skills. Experts external to the schools, from universities and the business world, participate in reviews of student work. By using a performance-based assessment system, we insist that assessment must not stand apart, but be continually incorporated into the day-to-day work, and schooling, of every student. For this reason, we use multiple strategies to assess students.

Because we are a performance based school and believe that all students can be academically successful in our supportive environment, the most important criteria for us is attendance and punctuality.  

 

MySchools link

Priority Groups

  1. Priority to Manhattan students or residents
    (There were about 20 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.)
  2. Then to New York City residents
    (There were about 20 applicants in this group and all received offers last year.)
My Chances
Your chances of an offer are a combination of the number of applicants per seat and your priority group for this program.
 
Admissions Method
Ed. Opt. programs admit students across all academic levels. Students are grouped into Low, Middle, and High categories based on a composite of their academic data. One-third of offers are made to students in each category.