Why Choose East Side?

  

 

WHY CHOOSE EAST SIDE?

 

  • We have received an “A” on our Middle School and High School Report Cards each year grades have been assigned. 
  • Our Advisory system (12 – 14 students) provides for frequent communication with families, which ensures that no student is overlooked.
  • Our 6-12th grade comprehensive college-preparatory curriculum ensures that students begin their college and career readiness from their first days of middle school.
  • All students develop graduation portfolios in the core subjects.  Students present and defend their work to committees twice a year through our portfolio roundtable presentations.  Students cannot graduate without completing this rigorous process.
  •  All students graduate by completing performance-based assessment tasks, such as, a college-level history research paper and a student-designed science experiment.
    1.                               
  •  All of our students take a studio arts class every year. Artwork and performance arts are highlighted and celebrated in our art gallery, assemblies and special performances.
  • Our independent reading and literacy program has been a model emulated across the city, state and country.
  • Our school greatly values students’ social-emotional well-being. We have an extensive counseling department and offer various student and family support services.
  • Our College Bound program provides personalized and intensive college counseling, awareness and preparation to each student in grades 6-12. Over 90% of our high school graduates attend college.
  •  We have an average class size of 18-24 students and an 8 to 1 adult to student ratio.
  •   We are a highly collaborative professional learning community.  All teachers receive extensive professional development, support and common prep/planning time. 
  •  We handpick and selectively screen all of our teachers in order to provide one of the strongest teaching staffs in New York City.  Teaching matters and we hire only the best.
  •  We are a New York University partner school, a Columbia University-TCR&WP mentor/model school, Facing History in Ourselves model school and New Visions model school visited by hundreds of educators from around the city, state, country and world every year.
  • We offer an extensive and free academic, arts, athletics, service and social extra-curricular after-school and Saturday program for all students and families. 
  • We are named one of the city’s best public schools in the books Public Middle Schools: New York City’s Best and New York City's Best Public High Schools: A Parent's Guide by Clara Hemphill.  

MISSION STATEMENT

MIDDLE SCHOOL ADMISSIONS

Please click here to sign up for one of our upcoming school tours.  All questions about admissions should be sent via email to msadmissions@eschs.org.
 

HIGH SCHOOL ADMISSIONS

Thank you for your interest in our school community. You can sign up for a school tour by clicking here

As a Consortium School, we believe that students thrive when they are given the opportunity to study topics in-depth and apply their learning to real-world situations. 

 

Instead of a focus on taking tests, our students demonstrate their skills in practical terms: they design experiments, discuss and debate issues, make presentations, discover and apply mathematical concepts, write reports, and defend their work to outside experts.

 

All applicants to East Side are expected to reply to one of the two prompts below.  Please take a few minutes to review our mission and values and in 500 words or less respond to one or both of the prompts:

 

1) How do you think a school with this approach to learning will help you grow academically, personally, and creatively? What do you think you have to offer a school community like this? 

2) We admire students who are flexible in their approach to learning and willing to take intellectual risks that move them out of their comfort zone. Reflect on a time when you were intellectually challenged, inspired, or took an intellectual risk - inside or outside the classroom. How has that experience shaped you?

Admission to East Side is based 100% on your response to this prompt.  Please note that we anticipate that at most, we will have 25 new seats available in September due to the fact that most of our students come from our 8th grade.  Finally,  to remain true to our school's mission, 70 % of our seats are offered to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.

 

We do look forward to reading your reflective pieces of writing.

 

The following RUBRIC will be used to evaluate student letters.

 

All questions about admissions should be sent via email to hsadmissions@eschs.org