| As an SHSAT tutor, my job is to help students | | | | Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech |
| get the best score they can on the specialized | | | | can be especially good places for students who |
| high school entrance exam; it's not to help them | | | | crave a broad array of social experiences or who |
| decide which school is the best fit for them. | | | | feel like they have had trouble fitting in in the |
| Nevertheless, parents often ask me what I think | | | | past. |
| about Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and other | | | | As far as the actual quality of the education goes, |
| specialized high schools. I have not done any | | | | I think the experience of a girl I know may be |
| in-depth investigations- my knowledge about | | | | illustrative. Last year, I helped her prepare for the |
| these schools is limited to anecdotal feedback that | | | | SHSAT and I was able to observe that she is not |
| I get from kids I know who attend them. But, for | | | | only smart, but also hardworking. To call her |
| whatever it is worth, I have some thoughts which | | | | driven would not be an overstatement- she is |
| may be useful. | | | | ambitious to a degree that is unusual at any age. |
| First, I think that all students and parents should | | | | She got into Stuyvesant. In her freshman year, |
| know that the New York City specialized high | | | | she got an excellent geometry teacher and is |
| schools are demanding and competitive. This may | | | | thriving in that class. She is also having a good |
| seem obvious, but I am often approached by | | | | experience in English (although her parents wish |
| parents who would like their child to take the | | | | she did more writing), Spanish, and art. |
| SHSAT, even though their child is struggling with | | | | Unfortunately, her social studies class is appalling- |
| academics in middle school. This simply does not | | | | the students are essentially asked to remember |
| make sense. Parents, if your child is ready, willing, | | | | long lists of disjointed facts. Worse, her physics |
| and able to take on a workload that is significantly | | | | class has been almost nightmarish. The workload |
| heavier and harder than what most middle schools | | | | is intense, but it is not educational. Neither she nor |
| offer, a specialized public high school may be an | | | | any of her classmates are able to follow the |
| excellent choice. Otherwise, it is not. | | | | teacher's lessons. After a rough start, she is now |
| Second, I think that families should be aware that | | | | getting excellent grades in physics and |
| any large public high school is going to be | | | | understanding the material, but only because she |
| significantly less personal than the average small | | | | is receiving tutoring from another New York |
| private school (or small public school, for that | | | | Academics tutor. Those of her classmates who |
| matter). It's simply a matter of scale. No matter | | | | can get private tutoring are doing well; |
| how warm and caring an individual teacher may | | | | unfortunately, the rest of the class is failing. |
| be, personal relationships will be more difficult to | | | | Based on my anecdotal observations, many |
| form in a school with thousands of students than | | | | students who attend New York City specialized |
| in a school with two or three hundred students. | | | | public high schools have similar experiences to this |
| On the other hand, the very size of the larger | | | | girl. They get some fabulous classes, quite a few |
| specialized high schools means that they can offer | | | | very good classes, and a smaller, but still |
| a diversity of social opportunities and extra | | | | significant, number of very bad classes. Taken as |
| curriculars that smaller schools simply cannot | | | | a whole, the quality of the education is still very |
| match. For this reason, schools such as | | | | good, but it is not without problems. |