Science Park High School (Newark, New Jersey)

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Science Park High School aka Science High School is a public magnet public high school located in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey. The school opened in 1974. In 2005 it had an enrollment of 575 students.

Science High School was the 53rd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools^[1].

The school selects applicants based an application including test scored in reading and mathematics, and also requires an entrance test.

Ethnically, the student population is 40% black, 30% Hispanic, 28% white and 2% Asian/Pacific Islander.

For 32 years the school was located at 40 Rector Street, which was originally the Ballantine Brewery. After being a brewery it was acquired by Rutgers University-Newark and was converted into a facility for chemistry research and training. Finally in the 1970s, the Newark Public Schools leased the structure and converted it for use as a school. Science High School left the building in 2006 to move to Science Park High School, which was constructed near Newark's Science Park and has have a capacity of 800 students and a 6-acre campus.

The property on which the former Science High School resided, was originally a beer factory with a unique Art Deco architectural design. There is not yet a certain plain for the property. There were plans to reuse it as a facility for the new "American History High School", however it is being considered for sale by the city of Newark to a development company run by Newark native Shaquille O'Neal, who wants to build a 30-floor condominium and retail complex in the heart of Newark's historical district.

1 Problems
2 40 Rector Street
3 The Infamous Science Park High School Story

[edit] Problems

Although Science Park is very comfortable and technologically advanced. It lacks the safety of 40 Rector St. Now Science Park's proximity has increased to the vocational school, central high school and other schools know to have gang activity. Also, near Newark's affordable housing districts.

Already five students have been troubled since the opening in November 20, 2006

3 assaults 1 robbery 1 unknown

Mayor Corey Booker nor Marion Bolden have addressed this issue.

More security has been suggested along the bus stops that takes you towards the downtown Newark (34: South Street) and the one that takes you towards U.M.D.N.J (34: Montclair)

[edit] 40 Rector Street

First Floor Rooms 101-102, 104, 106-107, 109, 110; Junior Locker Room; Staff Locker Room; Main Office & Principal Office; Vice Principal Office; Computer Labs (110/104) and Math Lab (102); Cafeteria; Faculty Lounge

Second Floor Rooms 201-203, 205-208, 210-213, 216; Math, Science, English Department Chairs; Physics/Chemistry Office and Stockrooms; Math and Phys Ed Office; Computer Lab (216)

Third Floor Rooms 302, 312, 314-317; Student Service Wing; Social Studies Department Chair

Fourth Floor Rooms 400-404, 410-411; Lecture Hall (400)

Fifth and Sixth Floor Condemned for instructional use. Stock Rooms

External YWMCA Gym (GYM); St. Phillips Building (STP1-STP4); Trinity Building (For Drama); Tony's Parking Lot (For Parking)

Issues at Science High

Science High School faced many serious problems as a result of the space limitations of the Rector Street Facility

With less schedule flexibility than most schools in the city, the school had an extended schedule with classes beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 2:57 PM. The school could not handle the common practice of block scheduling (preferred by the district), and had a set of nine class periods and a homeroom. The staff worked in shifts to accommodate their job description being that they are only required to be present for 8 of the 9 periods and during homeroom. The reason for the scheduling problems was due to lack of classrooms and to accommodate the mandatory two periods of science classes.

The physical space within the building neglected the school of many necessary facilities such as lockers in the hallways, an attached gymnasium, a suitable cafeteria, and enough classrooms. The school improvises on these problems to the best of its ability.

Among these improvisations was the use of the YMWCA located across the street for Physical Education classes. The school was allowed use the gym for 5 periods of the day. Also, the building leases classrooms in another building. The main building contained 4 areas designated as student locker rooms for storage, though there was not much room in these areas to hold but so many students at once.

Lunch had been a problem in the school for a long time. In the early nineties, the district allowed Science High School to adopt an open lunch policy. This policy allows students to go to restaurants in the school area under contract that they will return in time for their next classes. Another problem with the lunch program as a result of space is that the earliest lunch period is the fifth class period (Beginning at 11:15 a.m.). Being that the periods were 45 minutes long, there was discomfort among many who either become hungry after the fifth period or grew increasingly hungry before their eighth period (1:30 p.m.) lunch. Another innovation for the lunch program was the use of a multi-purpose classroom (used as a classroom for part of the day) for eating lunch.

Science High School's small size allows students to get the most out of the faculty and interact with each other easily. Although the new school will be a vast improvement in every way, many students, including alumn, believe that the current school's small size actually contributes to its family-like atmosphere, which might be lost in the new school.

[edit] The Infamous Science Park High School Story

The Science Park High School was promised for a long time to the Science High family. The existence in the Rector Street facility at all was only supposed to be temporary. After a walkout in June 2003, more pressure was put on the NPS (Newark Public Schools) and New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation (NJSCC) to get the new facility built as promised. The expected completion date was pushed forward several times, eventually landing in January 2006. Issues with the SCC budgeting caused this project as well as another Newark project, the new Central High School, to fall behind. The students, however, were assured that the facility would be complete in time for the 2006-2007 school year. The January deadline alone was overdue in the first place being that classes had to be rented out to accommodate the population that year

In May 2006, it became evident to the student population that the school would not be completed in time for the upcoming school year which had presented a problem for the school had accepted its largest freshman class ever (over 200 students while the norm was less than 150). This resulted in several contingency plans being made and rumors being spread. The agitating confusion resulted in a walkout that took place in June 2006. The students walked to the NPS Cedar Street Headquarters and nearby City Hall to express their dissatisfaction with the issue. The students were once again promised an opening date of November 13, 2006.

There was an issue presented that was resolved by another unfortunate issue. There were over 200 freshmen and 90 seventh graders but no where to put them. It was ultimately decided that the school could manage to hold the seventh graders in the existing facility, but the ninth graders were placed in the Warren Street Elementary School, which had closed due to budget problems from flat-funding of the Abbott district. The Science High School freshmen took the Second, Third, and Basement floors to reserve the First floor for the first year American History High School program.

In September 2006, classes began and things were going according to plan until rumors began again that the school would not be finished until January 2007. Several students individually brought up the issue with administration only to be reassured that the school would be done. The date overall had been pushed back, but only by one week so classes began at Science Park High School on November 20, 2006. Students and staff volunteered to help move in during the week of Fall Recess.

[edit] Science Park

The Science Park HS building was publicly opened for the first time in June 2006 only for the Class of 2006 graduation. Construction resumed the day after. The first official class office of the new Science Park High School was the class of 2007 despite the class of 2006 having their graduation there.

Many things are expected to change overall in the new school, however the midyear move will most likely cause no new changes until the next semester or next school year. The classrooms in the new school contain computers that are all wired to the NPS Windows XP network (as opposed to other high schools still using Windows 98). Open Lunch is no longer allowed to exist due to the fact that there is space to accommodate all of the students in the new cafeteria featuring a senior balcony lunch area. Due to the displacement of the freshmen class of 2010, they had not taken Physical Education for their first grading cycle so the totals to be placed in the gym were at normal for the old school. Now that the schools are merging back into one, there are issues expected to arise in regard to the gym schedule. Considering the fact that the first half of the semester has already passed, it is unlikely for students to be rescheduled completely which would result in a change of sections for many. Therefore, whatever conflicts occur are expected to be fixed if absolutely necessary and to be revised at the new semester or the new school year.

Another noted change is the acceptance of a seventh grade class and eighth grade class. This change was to enable the Science High Population to remain in the top. Their classes consist of rigorous preparation in Math, Science, and English in order to prepare them for the College Prep courses to be taken in their 9th grade year.

First Graduating Class: 2006
First Official Class Office: 2007
First Full Run Class (All years attended SPHS): 2010 (Technically 2012 due to new seventh grade program)