| Urban Assembly New York Harbor School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 2003 |
| Type | Public |
| Principal | Nathan Dudley |
| Dean | Dorothy McPhee-Djan |
| Founder | Murray Fisher |
| Students | approx. 400 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | 550 Wheeler Ave. (On Governors Island), New York City, New York 10004, United States |
| Colors | Blue and White |
| Mascot | Sharks |
| info@nyharborschool.org | |
| Telephone | (212)458-0800 |
| Fax | (212) 458-0801 |
| Website | newyorkharborschool.org |
The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, also called The Harbor School, is a public high school located on Governors Island. This school is unique in New York City, which has 600 miles of waterfront, in that it attempts to relate every aspect of its curriculum to the water. The school is part of the Urban Assembly network of 21 college-prep schools in New York City. The New York City Department of Education classifies the Harbor School as a Career and Technical Education (CTE) school.
A stated focus of the school is to continue to work with organizations such as Waterkeeper Alliance and the Governors Island Alliance to ensure the improvement of New York City's harbor.[1]
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The NYHS officially opened in 2003. The school was founded with the help of three organizations: the Urban Assembly[2], the South Street Seaport Museum, and Waterkeeper Alliance. Before moving to its own building on Governors Island, the school was located within the Bushwick Campus, first in the Annex and then, in 2004, on the building's fourth floor.
Bushwick High School, built in 1911, was one of the first public high schools in that area, on the former Union Cemetery used by Methodist churches of Manhattan and Brooklyn. As part of the New York City's Department of Education's effort to close large high schools and replace them with much smaller schools, Bushwick High School began to be phased out in 2003. In that year, three new high schools were founded on the Bushwick campus. One was the Harbor School. The other two schools were the Academy of Urban Planning and the Bushwick School for Social Justice [3]. At the close of Bushwick High School in 2006, the Academy of Environmental Leadership, a fourth high school, was added to the campus.
Since its founding, the Harbor School worked to secure a site on the water so that the school could better fulfill its mission. After several years and several proposals, the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) announced in November 2006 that the Harbor School would be moving to Governors Island. The school completed the move in 2010.
The Harbor School runs various programs related to New York's maritime experience. This distinguishes this school from other public high schools in New York City. Private and public funding support the programs.
Students at the school go out into the harbor of New York City every Tuesday and Thursday. The school terms the harbor their "outdoor laboratory." Students also regularly study New York City's two major rivers, the Hudson River and the East River. Students sample and measure water quality, attend lectures on marine science and river history, and study the river's benthic zone. Students also learn how to sail and navigate on a medium-sized schooner, called the Lettie G. Howard. Students also care for aquatic organisms. Students also study animals that inhabit both aquatic and land-based ecosystems. Swimming is a required class and students must be able to swim in order to graduate.
After-school programs also relate to the water. They include rowing, swimming, the Harbor Science Club, and the SCUBA Diving Club.
The NYHS left Bushwick in July 2010 and moved to a new academic building on Governor's Island, formerly Building 550. The school became the island’s first permanent tenant since the Coast Guard abandoned the island in 1995 and the first non-military tenant since the Lenape Indians gathered oysters and chestnuts here before the arrival of the Dutch in 1609. Situated on the west side of the island with what many consider to be New York City’s best views of the Statue of Liberty, Harbor School students have noted that they enjoy one of the most spectacular settings for public education in the country. In fall of 2011, a second facility, the Marine Science and Technology (MAST) Center opens on the Buttermilk Channel side of the school. In the MAST Center, with direct access to the water, upper-classmen and women will conduct all their water-dependent studies and activities, including boat building, aquaculture, and SCUBA programs. A long-range campus plan is currently being developed that includes additional facilities for physical education, a boatyard and boat shop, an auditorium and dormitories for housing students as well as visiting researchers and professors.[4]
The Harbor School relies on what they call a "restoration-based curriculum." The philosophy is that students learn best when they feel valuable. The belief is that by entering Harbor School, students have committed to improving the ecological health of New York Harbor through their active participation in restoration projects. The Oyster Restoration and Research Project (ORRP) is a partnership effort to establish a thriving oyster population in New York Harbor. The project completed its first year in 2010. For that effort, Harbor School students raised 300,000 oysters from larvae in a spat-on-shell facility in their aquaculture class. The students helped drive boats carrying these juvenile oysters to five separate reef sites with Vessel Operations students, and were ultimately placed on the reefs by Harbor School student SCUBA divers.[5]
Four-year colleges attended by Harbor School graduates Classes 2007-2010 include: Baruch College, Brooklyn College, College of the Atlantic, Colgate University, Cornell University, Evergreen State College, Fordham University, Hofstra University, Hunter College, Middlebury College, Parsons School of Design, Penn State, Pratt Institute, Skidmore, St John’s, SUNY Albany, SUNY Canton, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Maritime, SUNY Morrisville, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Old Westbury, SUNY Stony Brook, Wheaton College among others.[6]
The New York City Department of Education classifies the UA New York Harbor School as a Career and Technical Education high school. CTE is the new term for vocational education. The New York City DOE has rethought CTE training based on the growing need for college-educated people who are also trained in technical fields. The Harbor School is part of this effort to prepare students for college with a regular New York State Regents Diploma and for a technical career.[7]
The Harbor School’s curriculum, which simultaneously prepares its graduates for success in college and a specific maritime technical career, requires a longer day for instruction. After introductory coursework and fieldwork in 9th and 10th grade, students choose one of the following six programs of study: 1) Vessel Operations; 2) Vessel Engineering; 3) Ocean Engineering; 4) Scientific Diving; 5) Aquaculture and marine science; or 6) Marine Policy. Each of these programs includes a sequence of courses. The sequence concludes in a work-based learning experience and a technical assessment that has been designed and approved by industry. The industry and education leaders who advise the school on curriculum and approve the programs and assessments comprise what is known as the CTE Professional Advisory Committee (PAC). This PAC meets twice annually and supports the school through donations, internships, and maritime programs.[8]
The UA New York Harbor School's professional advisory committee advises the school on curriculum and approves the programs and assessments. The PAC also supports the school through donations, internships, and maritime programs.[9] The PAC include:
partners:
Other: