The International High School, a multi-cultural alternative educational environment for recent arrivals, serves students with varying degrees of limited
English proficiency. A collaborative project between the New York City Board of Education and LaGuardia Community College of The City University of New York,
this school offers a high school/college curriculum combining substantive study of all subject matter with intensive study and reinforcement of English.
With funding from the Ford and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations, International High School became one of the first early college programs in the country. Students combine high school and
college study and may elect to remain for a thirteenth year to obtain both a high school diploma and an associates degree.
The mission of The International High School is to enable each of our students to develop the linguistic, cognitive and cultural skill necessary for success in
high school, college, and beyond. We are committed to the following educational principles.
- Limited English proficient students require the ability to understand, speak, read and write English with near-native fluency to realize their full potential within an English-speaking society.
- In an increasingly interdependent world, fluency in a language other than English must be viewed as a resource for the student, the school and the society.
- Language skills are most effectively learned in context and emerge most naturally in purposeful, language-rich interdisciplinary study.
- The most successful educational programs are those that emphasize high expectations coupled with effective support systems.
- Individuals learn best from each other in heterogeneous, collaborative groupings.
- Career oriented internships facilitate language acquisition as well as contribute a significant service to the community.
- The most effective instruction takes place when teachers actively participate in the school decision- making process, including instructional program design, curriculum development and materials selection.
The school is organized around six interdisciplinary teams, evenly divided between lower leve (grades 9 and 10) and upper level (grades 11 and 12) teams. The teachers of each instructional team are
responsible for a group of students for a period of two years. Teams create curriculum, schedule students and teachers, develop strategies to support students, hire teachers, have a voice in shaping
school wide policies and determine assessment procedures. This interdisciplinaery structure has been responsible for improved student attendance and achievement.
The college campus setting provides us with many facilities not often found in public high schools. High school students take college courses with matriculated
college students for both high school and college credit, thus increasing their access to curricular offerings. By graduation, nearly all of our graduates have
successfully completed at least one college course. Our students typically bring a wide range of experiences, linguistic abilities, maturity, and the ability to
use resources around them to successfully negotiate the challenges they encounter in school and life.
International High School is a founding member of two highly regarded small school networks, The Middle College National Consortium and The Internationals Network for Public Schools. Currently,
as of June, 2011, there are eleven International High Schools in New York City and two in California and over 30 Middle College schools nationally.
