Regional Science High School - BOCES

[Chris_Wendt]

Good news! Bad news. More bad news.

The Good News:
Nassau BOCES will open a Regional Science & Technology High School in Syosset in September.

The Bad News:
LI's first regional high school, specializing in Science and Technology, will be operated by Nassau BOCES as a half-day program with its "students" spending the other half day on buses between the regional "high school" and their home districts...oh, and attending some classes in their local high school.

The other bad news:

Just like the BOCES High School for the Arts, which will be the host site for the Science and Technology High School, the choice of attending this new school will not be controlled by prospective students and their families, but, by the Board of Education.

When reading the article, take careful note of the fact that this could have been a charter high school, and if it were, then the choice to attend would be completely at the discretion of the prospective students and their parents, and not subject to the capricious whim of local school boards.

Read All About It! (Hyperlink to Newsday article)

Let's not get our hopes up over this one, yet.

Chris Wendt

[lilly]

Love the premise of this school and that our kids (*may*) have options. This STEM school would be the second "magnet" (if that is the right term) high school on LI. But currently, Wantagh doesn't believe in schools such as this given what they have done with Wantagh's non-participation in LIHSA. It certainly begs for a position from the Wantagh BOE based on the arbitrary & capricious manner they have handled the first "magnet" type high school, LIHSA. Very very sad.

[Chris_Wendt]

Lilly, although the premise sounds good, the actualization is phony baloney.

Read my blog exposing this sham on Patch (Hyperlink)

Seriously disappointed.

Chris Wendt

[lilly]

Chris, love your pov. Hate the negative, attention grabbing headline though.

If any kid who wants to attend and passes the screening criteria, they should be allowed to. Your headline discounts the possible value of the program to the *students*.

I like your conclusion:

"I don’t think Long Island students will get a fair shake at any of the benefits of specialized regional high schools, you know, like the students in New York City have had for a long time now, and as the students is the region of Trumbull, Conn. will be enjoying starting this August……thus making public schools in Nassau County less and less relevant as time progresses.

Less relevant, and yet more and more expensive to operate. Educational dinosaurs."

[Chris_Wendt]

STEM : Science, Technology, Engineering, Math....

I will be looking much deeper into this affair.

Think about this, a $1 Million private grant to start and run a "Regional Science High School". A public science (STEM) high school. Now, think about what it costs to run Wantagh High School.

Okay, sure, for two individuals to donate $1 Million is a really big deal, and very generous and caring of them. No knock on their intentions.

But a million dollars in the grand scheme of things educational is barely a drop in the bucket, and especially so in the context of Nassau County, or that other place known as Long Island.

I am looking at this "Regional Science High School" as a huge policy failure before it ever opens. It should have been so much more.

School sports programming in Nassau County, the rest of the Island, and across the State is handled a thousand times better than this so-called "regional science high school" has been.

Of course, I don't think many (any?) school districts have STEM Booster organizations such as most (all?) have Sports Booster organizations. A wonderfully large number of kids enjoy well run, well equipped, well funded, and well-rounded sports programs on Long Island.

Long Island, The Cradle of Aviation. The Lunar Module was built in Bethpage! What happened to all of that science and technology upon which Long Island's economy was built? All those planes and their parts manufactured here? The answer: our bread-and-butter technologies and core industries were taxed nearly to death, so they packed-up and moved south and west.

Now we are about to open our FIRST "Regional STEM High School" with 50 students from across 54 Nassau school districts, with a whopping $1 Million of private seed money. You can't make this stuff up! Grumman...come back! Sure thing!

Chris Wendt