Most of our students, local and foreign-born, come to us with many of their ELA, math, social studies, and science credits already earned previously. However, most of them still have not passed the corresponding Regents exams for these courses. Consequently, our academic programs are primarily geared towards meeting Regents mandates.

In addition, our students stay with us only for an average of two years before they age out. Hence, we focus on creating compressed, yet intensive and in-depth, curricula that enable them to complete their academic credits and fulfill Regents requirements within a tight timeframe.

Academic Weekend Programs

We have instituted academic weekend programs to enable students to earn additional course credits within allowable limits, to enhance and hasten the achievement of English literacy of ELLs by providing supplemental instructions over and above the mandated hours, and to provide Regents review courses across the curriculum.

Friday Program. Friday is a non-instructional day in our School. However, we use it for scheduling non-credit Regents review and College Essay writing courses. In order to give both night and day students opportunities to attend, we offer three-hour courses in all Regents content areas in three shifts: 9:00 a.m.-12:00, 1:00-4:00 p.m.; and 5:30-8:30 p.m. Theoretically, every student who is scheduled for Regents exams has an opportunity to attend all review courses that he/she needs at most convenient hours because multiple sessions are offered for each Regents course.

• Sunday Program. Sunday is our official 5 th day of instruction and, therefore, required of all students except for seniors who have sufficient course credits and those who work on Sundays. Sunday is both an instructional day and an activities day for in-house programs and field trips. The Sunday curriculum focuses on content area elective courses as well as intensive remedial courses in Mathematics and Science. Whenever feasible, laboratory requirements for weekday Regents science courses are undertaken on Sundays as well. Typically, we offer Pre-Calculus, SAT and TOEFL courses, Basic Writing; museum-based Art Appreciation Classes, Photography, Oriental Art (Origami), performance-oriented music courses; Conversational English classes for beginner ESL students; supplementary content area bilingual courses, and various levels of computer courses (from keyboarding to CISCO licensure courses).

A special feature of the Weekend Programs is the provision of supplemental non-credit instruction to beginner level ESL students.

Another special feature of our Sunday Program is an adult ESL literacy class for parents and immediate family members of our foreign-born students. Parents with high school level education also are welcome to join English courses, particularly the, SAT classes. These programs enable our school to create a strong relationship with parents and the greater community.

Sunday sessions also include staff development activities. In addition to instructional workloads, teachers are encouraged to participate in seminar workshops on cutting edge instructional models.

Development of Instructional/Departmental Resources

Room 309 serves as Curriculum and Instructional Resource Room for teachers and students. A partial list of materials available in Room 309 are: textbooks – single copies from publishers for teacher examination across the curriculums; VCRs, DVDs, CDs, tape recorders/players, audio-taped books and lessons; copies of Regents exams of the last 10 years; Regents instructional materials of the last five years; teacher-constructed final exams of the last five years; maps, games, and various materials collected by teachers and assistant principals from various training sessions in the city and beyond.

Academic Intervention Services (AIS)

We provide a variety of academic intervention services to students at risk of failing academically. These include:

Remedial Courses in Math and English for mainstream new admits who have low numeracy and literacy levels based upon diagnostic tests.

Daily Study Hall/ Supervised Prep Program for students who fail two or more courses during a previous cycle. Students are encouraged to attend an average of two hours of study before- or after-hours to work under the supervision of volunteer teachers and tutors. The sessions focus on completion of homework assignments and tutorials at designated “study hall” areas -- room 309, the library, the cafeteria, the gym, or the auditorium balcony.

Auditing of courses for students who need to pass or have failed the Regents. For example, a student in the Regents course Math 2/3 in the day program will be required to attend the same course in the night program.

Attendance in Friday Regents Review across the curriculum is offered to students scheduled to take the Regents in January or in June.

Supplementary ESL Instruction in the Friday and Sunday Programs for ELLs in Levels 1-2. Mandated ESL instructional hours are adequately met in our weekday schedule. However, due to the limited time that students are able to spend at our school before they age out, we provide ESL beginners an opportunity for a 6 th day of instruction (minimum of 3.5 hours) in our Friday Program. In addition, we provide them with additional 3.5 hours of ESL instruction in our Sunday Program.

After-school drop-in tutorials in Mathare held in the auditorium balcony. Math teachers as well as volunteer tutors recruited/provided by the Student Life Center make themselves available to any interested student, 4:10-6:30 p.m.

Peer tutorial program in Math. This program takes place daily at a designated classroom under the supervision of a math teacher. Student tutors – mostly members of the Chinese Club – are given stipends for their efforts by the Student Life Center.

Supervised Study Program for seniors. This program is designed for seniors who, due to employment and parenting responsibilities, are unable to attend our Academic Weekend Programs. These students report to school at hours most convenient to their schedule in order to complete required coursework under the direct supervision of curriculum office staff. Participants are required to log in 22.5 hours of coursework (for half a credit) or 45 hours (for a full credit), and pass Regents-type final exam and an oral exam in order to earn a credit.

6 th Day of Instruction in Math and ELA. We offer a 6 th day of instruction for students scheduled to take the ELA Regents and the Math A Regents at the end of the term (January or June). This initiative provides 3.5 hours per week per course of supplementary instruction. This program does not supplant the Friday Regents review sessions for the other Regents courses.

Fast ForWord®Program is a computer-based course for students who read below grade level, experience difficulty in associating letters with sounds, show little interest in reading, and who need stronger language or reading skills. The program is designed to help students develop phonemic awareness and improve cognitive skills.

Ramp-Up to Literacy Program for mainstream students with literacy problems and advanced ESL students who need to improve their reading and writing skills. This course follows the curriculum and content materials prepared by the National Center on Education and Economy.