Staten Island Technical High School

Staten Island Technical High School
Address
485 Clawson Street Staten Island, NY, 10306 United States
Coordinates	40°34′4.54″N 74°6′55.18″W / 40.5679278°N 74.1153278°W / 40.5679278; -74.1153278Coordinates: 40°34′4.54″N 74°6′55.18″W / 40.5679278°N 74.1153278°W / 40.5679278; -74.1153278
Information
Type	Public high school, Specialized, Exam secondary school
Established	1988
Status	Open
School board	New York City Department of Education
School district	31
Superintendent	Aimee Horowitz
School number	R605
CEEB Code	335401
Dean	Alexis Kirschbaum, Janice Moschetta
Principal	Mark Erlenwein
Vice principal	Robert J. Andrews Noelle Sanguinedo Joseph Manzo
Chief custodian	Michael Paul
Staff	72
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1190
Average class size	30
Student to teacher ratio	19:1
Language	English
Hours in school day	6.75
Classrooms	55
School color(s)	Vegas Gold      Black
Nickname	Tech
Team name	MSIT Seagulls
Accreditation	University of the State of New York
Average SAT scores	1953[1]
Average ACT scores	29.4[1]
Newspaper	The Tech Times
Yearbook	Epoch
Budget	$6,604,263[2]
Website	http://www.siths.org

Staten Island Technical High School, commonly called Staten Island Tech or SITHS, was founded in 1988. Located in Staten Island, New York City, the school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. In 2005, Staten Island Tech became the only Specialized High School in Staten Island. It consistently ranks among the best schools in New York City in graduation rate, Regents test scores, and attendance. In 2012, SITHS was ranked #1 on the New York Post's list of the city's best high schools, #77 in the nation on U.S. News & World Report's list of Best High Schools, and #23 on their list of the nation's top schools in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).^[3]

Admission to SITHS is competitive and is determined through an applicant's score on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test. The school's average SAT score is 1953 (635 CR, 682 M, 636 W). The average ACT score is 29.4^[4]

Graduates from SITHS matriculate to selective colleges such as Duke University, the Ivy League schools, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, University of Chicago, The Cooper Union, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Boston College, and Johns Hopkins University in rates higher than those of surrounding schools.

History

SITHS is a highly competitive New York City public high school, established in 1988, providing a demanding and challenging college preparatory curriculum emphasizing mathematics, science, computers, engineering, humanities and athletics. Facilities include state-of-the-art science, engineering and computer laboratories. As of September 2005, SITHS is designated as having a Specialized High School status. SITHS, along with The Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical High School, High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, and Stuyvesant High School were established under New York State Law 2590 Section-G to serve the needs of gifted New York City students.^[5]

Housed in the former New Dorp High School, SITHS was originally the engineering program from Ralph McKee Vocational and Technical High School. John DePalma was the Assistant Principal assigned to bring the engineering program to the New Dorp campus so that the building would not be abandoned or used for other purposes. Through DePalma's leadership, teachers Alan Bailey, Irv Berson, and others made unauthorized renovations to the building, creating laboratory space for the engineering classes.

In 1987, the program was nearly shuttered because of a lack of enrollment. Nicholas M. Bilotti was named the Program Director as DePalma retired. Bilotti began a program of increasing enrollment, changing the course away from a strict engineering program, and targeting female students. His renovation of DePalma's foundation is the base that Tech lives on today.

Curriculum

The curriculum at SITHS is purely college preparatory, focusing on science and engineering. The mandatory engineering classes taken by students include Intro Into TV And Movie Production, AutoCAD, electronics, and Lego Robotics. Students can also choose from thirteen Advanced Placement courses offered at the school. Science AP classes are AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Psychology, AP Physics B, AP Physics C: Mechanics, and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. The history AP classes offered are AP US Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, AP US History, and AP World History. Language AP classes are AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature, AP Russian Language and Culture. Math AP classes are AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Statistics. There is also AP Studio Art and computer science. The school previously offered classes in Cisco networking and technical drawing, but were cut due to budget limitations. In addition, the school operates College Now, a program run by Kingsborough Community College. College Now courses offered include business, statistics, and sociology. Optional electives for Junior and Senior students include creative writing, film, performing arts, electronics, and Forensic science.

Students with exceptional performance in the sciences at SITHS are invited to join the school's Science Engineering Research Program (SERP). Students remain in this program until their senior year. Throughout their high school career, they participate in various competitions including the Intel Talent Search, NYCSEF (New York City Science and Engineering Fair), ISEF (International Science and Engineering Fair), NYC Urban Barcode Project, and the Quality of Life competition.

Athletics and extracurricular activities

Athletics

SITHS's sports program operates in partnership with McKee High School, and their shared teams are known as the MSIT Seagulls. The MSIT teams play various sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, fencing, swimming, and track. The MSIT Football team won the 2010 and 2011 PSAL Cup Championship. MSIT's Boy's Track team made multiple cross-country state appearances from 1996 to 2000, and again from 2006 to 2010.

Tech offers several co-curricular options for physical education, including weight training, yoga and aerobics, dance, volleyball, basketball, and bowling.^[6]

Extracurricular activities

SITHS maintains an active theater program, including productions such as SING! and a spring musical. The theater program is directed by drama teacher Heather Brown in coordination with the school's Tech Crew, a group of students tasked with maintaining the theater and operating sound and lighting for the school's auditorium.^[7] In 2011, the school installed a new television studio that will work closely with the Tech Crew and provide a different aspect of technical operations.^[8]

SITHS's robotics team is a fairly developed team. The team competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition as Team 375, or "The Robotic Plague", and regularly manages to advance into the semi-finals. In the 2006 season, they were the Regional Winners. In addition, they won the Chairman's award for their robot, the "Rambo".^[9][10] and won the Autodesk Inventor Animation Award at the New York City Regional.

Tech also hosts more than forty-five clubs.^[11] These include: Junior State of America, Key Club, Gay-Straight Alliance, Model United Nations, Do Something, Chess Club, newspaper, literary magazine, HIV/AIDS Awareness Team, Anime Club, Celtic club, Asian American Club, Christian Seekers, Jewish Club, and Muslim Students' Association.^[5] Tech also has a chapter of the National Honor Society which inducts members after a selective process in their junior year.^[5]

In popular culture

SITHS is one of the settings for the 1998 film Joe the King.

SITHS was mentioned during the introduction to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.^[12]

Tech appears in a recurring Saturday Night Live clip, in which curators from the Staten Island Zoo air "documentaries" about animals, sent to them by students.^[13][14]

The school's 2012 SING! winner was announced by Saturday Night Live cast member Andy Samberg, who recorded a short clip to reveal the winner. The school's 2013 SING! winner was announced by singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, who similarly recorded a short clip to reveal the winner. The school's 2014 SING! winner was supposed to be announced by the Impractical Jokers, with another short clip, but was never played due to technical difficulties.

Notable alumni

• Jeff Berardelli, Class of 1993, television meteorologist for WFOR-TV
• Besheer Mohamed, Class of 1993, researcher for Pew Research Center^[15]
• Ingrid Michaelson, Class of 1997, musician
• Andrew Kozak, Class of 2000, television meteorologist for KTUL-TV
• Shamoon Siddiqui, Class of 2000, co-founder of book rental service BookSwim^[16]
• Thomas Tobin, Class of 2000, created and curates Setlist TV, a Staten Island based cable television and internet music performance program^[17]
• Michael Cassidy, Class of 2003, Olympic Marathon qualifier and Staten Island record holder for the Marathon

References

External links

• www.siths.org—Home page of Staten Island Technical High School