A major problem parents have is how to guide their middle school child to a safe and academically proficient high school. This post will help parents stay away from schools that have the best chance to potentially harm their child academically. The three types of schools are the Renewal high schools, high schools with a terrible administration, and diploma mill high schools with low academic proficiency. Some high schools may fall in more than one category. However, just being in one of the three categories should disqualify the school from consideration by caring parents who want a quality education for their child.
Renewal Schools:
The Renewal schools, which are academically struggling schools, are rapidly losing experienced and veteran educators to retirement, resignation, or transfer and are populated by"newbie teachers" who themselves suffer a steep learning curve to master the art of teaching. These schools suffer from classroom management problems, instructors struggling to learn the curriculum themselves, and are subject to an unstable school environment with high teacher turnover. Just take a look at this post to better understand why parents don't want their academically proficient child subject to the Renewal School environment.
Bad Administration:
Some of the highest teacher turnover rates are usually associated with terrible principalsand their administration. For example the neighborhood around a school like William Cullen Bryant High School is middle class, yet the school cannot attract the neighborhood students because of the Principal, Namita Dwarka, and her Assistant Principals. Instead the school is forced to reach out to the DOE to get enough "over-the-counter" students to keep their numbers up. Under her four year tenure as Principal, of the 173 teachers she inherited, she has seen 137 leave. You can read my post about her and other bad principalsHere.
Diploma Mills:
There are far too many schools that operate as"diploma mills" with very low "college and career readiness" rate. Many of the Rockaway High Schools fit into this category. In fact, almost all the high schools in Southeast Queens can fall into the diploma mill category. Add the Renewal Schools and you have unprepared graduates for the post secondary and the adult world.
Parents in the know and who have academically proficient children would be wise to avoid these schools at all costs.