Questions about the proposed new co-located high school on the Lower East Side by Lisa Donlan
The DoE’s Office of Portfolio Planning has proposed co-locating a new Career and Technical High School/ Early College model school in the University Neighborhood High School building on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan.The proposal is for fewer than 90 students on a grade to enter this new CTE school for advertising careers, and to stay enrolled for six years to obtain a high school diploma and an Associates degree from Borough of Manhattan Community College - for free.
While parents, community members and students who have heard of the proposal are generally supportive of the model, they are struggling to understand why the DoE needs to create a whole new school to offer this program to local students, and how the UNHS facilities will be able to accommodate all of the needs of the students who are expected to tally over 800 at scale.
The UNHS building was constructed in 1902 as an elementary school, with very narrow hallways, stairwells and classrooms. The building has no gymnasium, making do with a classroom converted to a fitness center and the pillared lobby for recess and gym. The lobby also doubles as the cafeteria and assembly area, making it the city’s only “gymacafalobatorium”!
There is currently only one science laboratory, and no library, though thanks to City Council discretionary funds, one is scheduled to open this year.
There are only four student bathrooms, on two of the five floors, and the cafeteria (like many from the era) is not equipped to cook