High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College

High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College (HSMSE @ CCNY)
Established 2002
Type Public, Specialized
Principal Crystal Bonds
Faculty approx. 53
Students approx. 440
Grades 9 - 12
Location New York City, New York, United States of America
Colors Purple and black
Mascot Dragon
Newspaper Dragθn Tales
Website http://www.hsmse.org

The High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College (often abbreviated to HSMSE) is one of the eight specialized high schools in New York City. The school was founded in 2002 with an emphasis on engineering.

Created in 2002 along with Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, and High School of American Studies at Lehman College, HSMSE was designed to be a small school with only about four hundred students. The relatively small population of the school allows students and teachers to have a stronger relationship. Being a specialized high school not only draws students in, but also allows for a diverse student body.

Contents

Classes

HSMSE has a partnership with The City College of New York, an agreement that has been downgraded by CCNY. It is located on the City College campus, stretching from buildings located from West 133rd Street to West 141st Street along Convent Avenue Manhattan, and uses college facilities for its classrooms. The school is housed in CCNY's Baskerville Hall.[1] The school occupies the basement and cellar of Baskerville Hall, which were renovated for HSMSE by the Department of Education in the summer of 2006. The first and second floors were renovated in 2010 and are now used by the school as well. These floors are now open only to high school students.

Most of the classes are college level, and a few offer CCNY college credit. Currently CCNY accepts nine classes given by HSMSE for college credit, down from a previous number of 24. The school offers an intensive courseload that is intended to prepare students for college. Classes in HSMSE are 85 minutes long, and the school day lasts from 8:00 in the morning until 3:35 in the afternoon. Most seniors are dismissed earlier, at 2:05. Students take two 85-minute classes each morning, and two each afternoon, with lunch and an enrichment class in the middle. The enrichment classes at HSMSE are smaller, "lighter" classes that the students choose according to their interests. Enrichments have included Astronomy, Gastronomy, Math Team, Drama, Art, Poetry Writing, Web Design!!, Engineering 101 and Photography, Band, Chorus, Ballroom Dance, MOUS, Science Fiction, Psychology, Philosophy, Public Speaking, Band, Cancer in Society, Science Research, Spanish Culture, and Italian.

HSMSE operates under a "block" schedule. This means that the each student has two different schedules, one for "A day" and one for "B day." The two days alternate for every day the school is open. Half-days are called "C day" where students often gather in the gymnasium for a presentation or sports event. Students are placed in four core classes for each schedule day, lunch, and an enrichment class that takes place every day. Each class is 85 minutes long except for elective and lunch which are each 45 minutes long. Available foreign language courses in HSMSE are German and Spanish, the latter of which requires some degree of previous education.

HSMSE participates in the FIRST Robotics competition and the annual NCSSSMST conference.

History

HSMSE was created in 2002 by Randy Asher, former assistant principal of the Mathematics department at Brooklyn Technical High School. It was intended to be a much smaller school than Brooklyn Tech, with relatively small class size, and an emphasis on math, science, and engineering.

When the school was created, the college provided no building, leaving the school to inhabit a series of red aluminum trailers (modular buildings) located on the southern corner of campus. By its third year, the school had outgrown the trailers and started holding some of its classes in the college buildings. In addition, CCNY started tearing down some of the trailers to build residence halls, forcing HSMSE to completely move out of the trailers by 2006. The school is now entirely housed in CCNY's Baskerville Hall, with the exception of the Marshak Gymnasium for Physical Education courses.[1]

Originally, the school day ended at 4:00, but starting in the 2006-2007 school year, a pilot program was introduced to shorten the day to 3:35PM by cutting 15 minutes from lunch and enrichment.

On March 1, 2006, HSMSE's founding principal, Randy Asher, left the school to become the principal of Brooklyn Tech.[2] Mr. Asher was replaced by William Dugan, previously HSMSE's Assistant Principal of Science.

On June 27, 2006, only a few months after Mr. Asher left, HSMSE saw its first ever class of seniors graduate.

In January 2007, the HSMSE class of 2007 saw its first Senior Trip.

In November 2011, William Dugan left his position as principal of HSMSE. He was then replaced by former Brooklyn Tech Assistant Principal, Crystal Bonds.

To date, there have existed many extracurricular activities such as Anime Club, Photography Club, Philosophy Club, Rock 'n' Roll Club, a Junior State of America (JSA) chapter, Model UN, Key Club, Mock Trial, Fish Club, Film Club, Chess Club, Ping Pong Club, NYCunveiled Club, Gay-Straight Alliance, Animal Rights Club, Robotics, EatNYC Club, Bowling Club, Cross Country and Glee Club.

There is also a Student Government with two representatives from each grade, along with a Secretary and Treasurer.

References

  1. ^ a b "How to Get To HSMSE!". High School for Math, Science and Engineering. http://www.hsmse.org/info/directions.aspx. Retrieved May 25, 2009. 
  2. ^ Gootman, Elissa (February 8, 2006). "Principal Named at Brooklyn Tech - New York Times". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/nyregion/08principal.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all. Retrieved May 25, 2009. 

External links