Academy of Urban Planning is a small high school located in Brooklyn, New York on the Bushwick High School Campus. Academy of Urban Planning shares a building with three other schools including Academy of Environmental Leadership, Bushwick School for Social Justice and New York Harbor School. Academy of Urban Planning was established in 2003 as a result of a partnership between the New York City Department of Education and New Visions for Public Schools[1]. New Visions for Public Schools is a non-profit organization dedicated to educational reform. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation New Visions redesigned failing New York City high schools and transformed them into smaller learning communities.
Academy of Urban Planning was founded by parents, teachers, students and staff from the school's lead partner, Center for the Urban Environment[2]. It currently serves 463 students in grades 9 through 12.
Through the school's theme of urban planning students take a sequence of courses including Art, Architecture and Urban Design, Urban Sociology, Geographic Information Systems and Senior Seminar in Democracy and Leadership. Our school also offers Advanced Placement courses in English Literature, Statistics and Human Geography and a Latino Studies elective. Academy of Urban Planning offers all students the opportunity to participate in the arts, community service, mentoring, college planning and community advocacy.
Stories about Academy of Urban Planning have been featured in local and national media including MTV's Thinkover Your School, US News and World Report, New York Daily News, Newsday, The Bushwick Observer, EL Diario and News 12. In 2005, Academy of Urban Planning received the William H. T. Whyte award for innovation in urban planning. Academy of Urban Planning's students' work has been exhibited at the Municipal Art Society and the Brooklyn Historical Society.