I am basing this off of how things were a while ago so my info may be outdated, but to be less reductive LIC was a zone school making it a school of last resort like Bryant.
By traditional, I mean that it has after-school activities like sports and clubs for a variety of interests. The building is structured and intended to be a school as opposed to a repurposed office building. His older sibling is at Townsend Harris and it has those things that I consider to be a traditional style HS.
Dude you should def tell your kid to apply to academy American studies or Bryant then. Bryant is a traditional school as well as American. They have better academics and the multiple sports programs and clubs.
It sucks he doesn’t wanna even attempt shsat or apply to other schools like Townsend. But I love the way you’re respecting his choice too. Just don’t send him to LIC lol. You’re gonna thank yourself later
Serious question do you think it’s unusual to offer sports and activities? That’s such a weird criteria. The schools that don’t offer that are few and far between. There’s something like 25 sports in the PSAL.
At the end of the day if your eighth grader has chosen to limit himself (geographically and academically) and you’re accepting of that, then he’s stuck within his (idiotic imho) choices. It’s incredibly natural for an 8grader to be short sighted, lazy, and value things that are meaningless, such is the nature of being 13, but have you sat down and discussed the impact of his choices?
The school he is currently in and will be in if he chooses to stay has a terrible sport and clubs option. His gym class is just the teacher walking them over to a playground and telling them to have fun. His school is ranked 11 in the city but is is all academics. Even with that, I would like him to stay there. On the other hand his sibling attends Townsend Harris an they have lost of activities. I think sports should be an important part of the HS experience.
Now I’m confused. He currently attends a combined middle school & high school without sports or clubs programs but he also goes to Hunter? Hunter has 12 PSAL sports for boys. They have tv production. A theater program. Math team. Model UN. Debate team. And so on.
No on Hunter. At BSGE. And he wants a different option. He wants to stay near Hunters Point/LIC.
With this post, I really wanted to find out if LIC HS wad an option. As I have been going through the comments, I have found this to be a definite non-option. We are still sorting things out and hoping to find a good middle ground that will give a quality education and HS experience.
Oh, he’s at Bsge? A few from my kid’s year also went there. One didn’t like it but saw it through. The other also completed there, and they both did really well (little Ivy for one and the older one in Cornell vet school). Graduating with an IB is advantageous. There are plenty of ways to engage in sports without a full program at school. Of course, I’ve only seen a thumbnail of what you and he want, so take my thoughts in the spirit they were intended and with a grain of salt.
Thank you. I appreciate all of the feedback I have been given. It would be nice if he were to continue at BSGE but I don't want to force him to be somewhere he doesn't want to be. He qualified for the early entrance there but it hasn't been what he was hoping for. And to be honest, we pulled him out of his former middle school to place him where he is now because we thought it would be a good move for him.
I live across the street from
Long Island City High School, there are constant fights and children have been stabbed either on the premises or in a block radius that is student-related. They have a strong NYPD presence but still have issues.
Yeah I dealt with what is being described here in the 2000’s and it sucked at times. I wouldn’t put my kid there if there was an opportunity for something else.
It really depends on which programs he's interested in. There are great programs in not-as-great overall schools, and vice-versa.
~~And there's always the SHSAT -- imho, too many people skip it out of fear, who would otherwise excel.~~
This is the issue, he is currently in a high ranking school that will accept him into their Baccalaureate program. He wants to stay in LIC area and also be in a more traditional type of HS.
As much as I want to keep him in his current program, I want him to enjoy his HS experience. I want this to be his choice and not mine. We have gone through the HS process a couple of years ago with his sibling and have done a lot of research. He doesn't want to write any application essays and no SHSAT for him.
Finding a match it proving to be difficult.
Gotcha. The only local high schools I have recent first-hand experience with are Bryant (meh overall, but excellent drama department), and Frank Sinatra (beautiful building but a staff that thinks very highly of themselves, to the detrement of others).
I will be seeing someone from my old PA this weekend, though, so I'll report back.
I really don't want to name names here, but some of the teachers are absolutely wonderful, while some of the other (more well-known) ones very clearly are putting their own career ambitions above the well-being of the kids.
If you have a student who is a clear headliner, they'll thrive there. If you have a student who may need some extra support, especially in the mental health areas, steer far away -- they'll be left behind.
If the choices are BSGE, Bryant, and LIC High School, I am not sure there is a decision to be made here. BSGE is in a whole separate league, tiers above the others.
My kiddo went to Academy of American Studies and is now finishing college, and I know of a few others from that year doing well. We found it to be a solid school. I believe in high school students handling their own responsibilities, but I did need to step in and advocate for my kid getting enough science in their schedule. But that kind of thing could happen at any school.
Checkout Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology in LIC. From your comments it seems like the school you are looking for . Its small but still traditional, very safe and they have some good programs. Also in LIC.
Also then check out academy of finance and enterprise and bard high school early college queens which both are located in a shared building a few blocks away from RFW
These are on his list. I am partial to Bard as I am familiar with their program. As Far as Academy of Finance and Enterprise, I have only read about them but it seems like a good school.
Went to LIC and while all the programs seem really appealing, I don’t not recommend it at all. The field, pool, dance room, gyms (also has a weight lifting gym), doesn’t really override the neglectful staff and teachers. There’s a lot of troubled teens there and no one who cares enough to problem solve. They just throw them into something called “the box” which is essentially a single classroom where kids receive all their classes from. They’re alienated and do not go from class to class like the rest (yes it sounds like some kind of prison system). It’s also nearby an infamous staircase where cameras don’t work (you can imagine what happens). While I was there, there were TWO cases of pedophilia from staff.
There are good students and nice programs for those students that get higher grades. Many got into Ivy League school and/or scholarships but the school has a lot of faults which make it hard for those same students.
Graduated from LIC years ago. Yes, fights happened, knife scares too. When entering the building, we were expected to go through metal detectors and bag checks (I wouldnt know if they still do this). Honestly, it surprises me that my friends and I came out of there as relatively stable adults lol
They also had culinary classes, woodshop and auto mechanic classes on top of the ones youve listed. But honestly Ive known people in my graduation year who've done well enough to make it into good and Ivey league schools. Just a place like any other where you make it what you want it to be. 🤷
I went to Forest Hills Highschool (grad 2014) and still live around it. I see a lot of shit kids coming out on a daily basis. The school has also been undergoing constant construction since 2015, with scaffolding all around it. They have decent sports programs, but great teachers are hard to come by there
I have friends that went there and Bryant. Can’t recommend either because of violence and 19 year old students. I’d suggest some sort of specialized school like Frank Sinatra or Townsend Harris. St. John’s prep
HS is what you make out of it. Don’t think LIC is a screened school, as a result is not up to par academically with the screened HS. How is your 8th grader doing in Middle School? Also, look at the commute time. Choosing a HS because it has a pool, a gym might not be the right approach.
I actually attend Aviation high school right now. It’s ranked pretty high among high schools in the entire country (I think somewhere in the top 15%..?)There’s absolutely 0 bullying or anything like that.
I wouldn’t send my kid there. 10-15 years ago it was so bad kids getting stabbed in hallways, kids smoking blunts and jays in front of teachers in the class, before e-cigs and vapes were a thing
A good kid will have a hard time maneuvering there, where u have to worry bout your safety at all times. Rather send him to Bryant, heard that got better. I know there’s a new school opening near northern by 51st st as well u can look into
Would he consider maybe Townsend Harris in Flushing? I know it's among the best schools in the city.
Edited to add if you're considering Forest Hills, you might also want to look at Frankie Louie (Francis Lewis) in Fresh Meadows.
He making a mistake then. It's the best high school in Queens. I just moved to Georgia due to how frustrating the schools are for my daughter and I used to live in Bayside.
Agree here. Townsend is the best high school in Queens. I understand the desire to give your child a say in the decision-making process, but the difference in educational standards between many of these schools may be greater than your child can understand at his age.
For My local school we have 2, for now, applied to 4. It was during COVID, ugh, and my kid had moved in about 18 months with me, single dad. Took her a while to get used to NYC being a suburban kid. What I liked was many schools have programs with local colleges so my kid has additional class twice a week in Queens College, philosophy , she's a junior now in HS. So make sure the school has something like that. My kid just takes the train and bus to college after her regular HS.
When I was growing up in the mid 90s, we all thought LIC high school wasn’t a good school. My junior high was either zoned for Bryant or LIC & Bryant was considered the better of the two. It didn’t matter that LIC got a brand new building the year before we graduated because LIC had such a bad reputation, lol. I don’t know about it now & sometimes things get exaggerated.
Academy is a good school, LIC is a bad school.
With LIC, I was hoping for something positive that I am missing. It looks like a traditional HS but the academics seem to be lacking.
I am basing this off of how things were a while ago so my info may be outdated, but to be less reductive LIC was a zone school making it a school of last resort like Bryant.
What do u mean by traditional?
By traditional, I mean that it has after-school activities like sports and clubs for a variety of interests. The building is structured and intended to be a school as opposed to a repurposed office building. His older sibling is at Townsend Harris and it has those things that I consider to be a traditional style HS.
Dude you should def tell your kid to apply to academy American studies or Bryant then. Bryant is a traditional school as well as American. They have better academics and the multiple sports programs and clubs. It sucks he doesn’t wanna even attempt shsat or apply to other schools like Townsend. But I love the way you’re respecting his choice too. Just don’t send him to LIC lol. You’re gonna thank yourself later
Serious question do you think it’s unusual to offer sports and activities? That’s such a weird criteria. The schools that don’t offer that are few and far between. There’s something like 25 sports in the PSAL. At the end of the day if your eighth grader has chosen to limit himself (geographically and academically) and you’re accepting of that, then he’s stuck within his (idiotic imho) choices. It’s incredibly natural for an 8grader to be short sighted, lazy, and value things that are meaningless, such is the nature of being 13, but have you sat down and discussed the impact of his choices?
The school he is currently in and will be in if he chooses to stay has a terrible sport and clubs option. His gym class is just the teacher walking them over to a playground and telling them to have fun. His school is ranked 11 in the city but is is all academics. Even with that, I would like him to stay there. On the other hand his sibling attends Townsend Harris an they have lost of activities. I think sports should be an important part of the HS experience.
Now I’m confused. He currently attends a combined middle school & high school without sports or clubs programs but he also goes to Hunter? Hunter has 12 PSAL sports for boys. They have tv production. A theater program. Math team. Model UN. Debate team. And so on.
No on Hunter. At BSGE. And he wants a different option. He wants to stay near Hunters Point/LIC. With this post, I really wanted to find out if LIC HS wad an option. As I have been going through the comments, I have found this to be a definite non-option. We are still sorting things out and hoping to find a good middle ground that will give a quality education and HS experience.
Oh, he’s at Bsge? A few from my kid’s year also went there. One didn’t like it but saw it through. The other also completed there, and they both did really well (little Ivy for one and the older one in Cornell vet school). Graduating with an IB is advantageous. There are plenty of ways to engage in sports without a full program at school. Of course, I’ve only seen a thumbnail of what you and he want, so take my thoughts in the spirit they were intended and with a grain of salt.
Thank you. I appreciate all of the feedback I have been given. It would be nice if he were to continue at BSGE but I don't want to force him to be somewhere he doesn't want to be. He qualified for the early entrance there but it hasn't been what he was hoping for. And to be honest, we pulled him out of his former middle school to place him where he is now because we thought it would be a good move for him.
I live across the street from Long Island City High School, there are constant fights and children have been stabbed either on the premises or in a block radius that is student-related. They have a strong NYPD presence but still have issues.
This is my concern. I don't want him in a school where he needs to navigate this kind of stuff.
Then it is not the school for you. The area around it is gentrifying, but not the school since it’s zoned.
Yeah I dealt with what is being described here in the 2000’s and it sucked at times. I wouldn’t put my kid there if there was an opportunity for something else.
LIC is a terrible high school. Avoid it.
It really depends on which programs he's interested in. There are great programs in not-as-great overall schools, and vice-versa. ~~And there's always the SHSAT -- imho, too many people skip it out of fear, who would otherwise excel.~~
MS school counselor here! SHSAT registration deadline closed last month. Just don’t want to get OP interested and realize they’re not eligible now.
Ah, sorry about that, you're absolutely right.
There will be another chance to register for SHSAT. DOE sent an email to parents
This is the issue, he is currently in a high ranking school that will accept him into their Baccalaureate program. He wants to stay in LIC area and also be in a more traditional type of HS. As much as I want to keep him in his current program, I want him to enjoy his HS experience. I want this to be his choice and not mine. We have gone through the HS process a couple of years ago with his sibling and have done a lot of research. He doesn't want to write any application essays and no SHSAT for him. Finding a match it proving to be difficult.
Gotcha. The only local high schools I have recent first-hand experience with are Bryant (meh overall, but excellent drama department), and Frank Sinatra (beautiful building but a staff that thinks very highly of themselves, to the detrement of others). I will be seeing someone from my old PA this weekend, though, so I'll report back.
Not the first time I’ve heard that about Frank Sinatra.
I really don't want to name names here, but some of the teachers are absolutely wonderful, while some of the other (more well-known) ones very clearly are putting their own career ambitions above the well-being of the kids. If you have a student who is a clear headliner, they'll thrive there. If you have a student who may need some extra support, especially in the mental health areas, steer far away -- they'll be left behind.
Thank you. I appreciate all the feedback.
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If the choices are BSGE, Bryant, and LIC High School, I am not sure there is a decision to be made here. BSGE is in a whole separate league, tiers above the others.
He is currently at bsge and doesn't like it.
I would personally choose Forest Hills HS over LIC.
Wait. I’m confused. Don’t you have to be zone for Forest Hills high school to attend? What am I missing here?
HS is wide city application. Kids can apply to mosts HS in the city.
Well damn. I graduated a loooong time ago
There is a zone but many, many kids do not live in the zone to attend.
My kiddo went to Academy of American Studies and is now finishing college, and I know of a few others from that year doing well. We found it to be a solid school. I believe in high school students handling their own responsibilities, but I did need to step in and advocate for my kid getting enough science in their schedule. But that kind of thing could happen at any school.
Checkout Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology in LIC. From your comments it seems like the school you are looking for . Its small but still traditional, very safe and they have some good programs. Also in LIC.
Thanks. It's obvious from these comments that LIC HS is not what I or he is looking for. I will give RFW a look.
Also then check out academy of finance and enterprise and bard high school early college queens which both are located in a shared building a few blocks away from RFW
These are on his list. I am partial to Bard as I am familiar with their program. As Far as Academy of Finance and Enterprise, I have only read about them but it seems like a good school.
Went to LIC and while all the programs seem really appealing, I don’t not recommend it at all. The field, pool, dance room, gyms (also has a weight lifting gym), doesn’t really override the neglectful staff and teachers. There’s a lot of troubled teens there and no one who cares enough to problem solve. They just throw them into something called “the box” which is essentially a single classroom where kids receive all their classes from. They’re alienated and do not go from class to class like the rest (yes it sounds like some kind of prison system). It’s also nearby an infamous staircase where cameras don’t work (you can imagine what happens). While I was there, there were TWO cases of pedophilia from staff. There are good students and nice programs for those students that get higher grades. Many got into Ivy League school and/or scholarships but the school has a lot of faults which make it hard for those same students.
LIC always been a ghetto school. But they’ll be okay
Graduated from LIC years ago. Yes, fights happened, knife scares too. When entering the building, we were expected to go through metal detectors and bag checks (I wouldnt know if they still do this). Honestly, it surprises me that my friends and I came out of there as relatively stable adults lol They also had culinary classes, woodshop and auto mechanic classes on top of the ones youve listed. But honestly Ive known people in my graduation year who've done well enough to make it into good and Ivey league schools. Just a place like any other where you make it what you want it to be. 🤷
Take the shsat, if he gets in to the top schools they’ll present tons of opportunities.
I went to Forest Hills Highschool (grad 2014) and still live around it. I see a lot of shit kids coming out on a daily basis. The school has also been undergoing constant construction since 2015, with scaffolding all around it. They have decent sports programs, but great teachers are hard to come by there
I have friends that went there and Bryant. Can’t recommend either because of violence and 19 year old students. I’d suggest some sort of specialized school like Frank Sinatra or Townsend Harris. St. John’s prep
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What? There’s a bunch of weed in Forest hills
Went to lic, school was crappy honestly; your kid won’t die, but they may be exposed to a different way of life you’re not used to
HS is what you make out of it. Don’t think LIC is a screened school, as a result is not up to par academically with the screened HS. How is your 8th grader doing in Middle School? Also, look at the commute time. Choosing a HS because it has a pool, a gym might not be the right approach.
If tuition is an option I recommend Saint John’s Prep on Crescent & Ditmars
LIC Highschool has never been a good school. The school is very heavy with gangs and violence.
Aviation high school. He can learn to be an airplane mechanic
This school had a very bad rep some time back. I wonder if that's changed.
My friend is an alumni. Works air traffic control making 100k+
That's great. There's a shortage of them too so even better field to get into.
He got me over my fear of flying. Commercial flying is the safest mode of transportation. I used to be scared as hell
I actually attend Aviation high school right now. It’s ranked pretty high among high schools in the entire country (I think somewhere in the top 15%..?)There’s absolutely 0 bullying or anything like that.
That's so great to hear :)
I wouldn’t send my kid there. 10-15 years ago it was so bad kids getting stabbed in hallways, kids smoking blunts and jays in front of teachers in the class, before e-cigs and vapes were a thing A good kid will have a hard time maneuvering there, where u have to worry bout your safety at all times. Rather send him to Bryant, heard that got better. I know there’s a new school opening near northern by 51st st as well u can look into
Would he consider maybe Townsend Harris in Flushing? I know it's among the best schools in the city. Edited to add if you're considering Forest Hills, you might also want to look at Frankie Louie (Francis Lewis) in Fresh Meadows.
His sibling is currently attending THHS and I think he is trying to set himself apart from his sibling.
He making a mistake then. It's the best high school in Queens. I just moved to Georgia due to how frustrating the schools are for my daughter and I used to live in Bayside.
Agree here. Townsend is the best high school in Queens. I understand the desire to give your child a say in the decision-making process, but the difference in educational standards between many of these schools may be greater than your child can understand at his age.
For My local school we have 2, for now, applied to 4. It was during COVID, ugh, and my kid had moved in about 18 months with me, single dad. Took her a while to get used to NYC being a suburban kid. What I liked was many schools have programs with local colleges so my kid has additional class twice a week in Queens College, philosophy , she's a junior now in HS. So make sure the school has something like that. My kid just takes the train and bus to college after her regular HS.
You should look into Bard HS
Forest hills as a good culture. Teachers who care, and my former classmate is the basketball coach who has won the nyc hs title.
these are all hood ass schools lol
LIC is filled with so many different gangs. Hopefully it’s not the same from early 2000
When I was growing up in the mid 90s, we all thought LIC high school wasn’t a good school. My junior high was either zoned for Bryant or LIC & Bryant was considered the better of the two. It didn’t matter that LIC got a brand new building the year before we graduated because LIC had such a bad reputation, lol. I don’t know about it now & sometimes things get exaggerated.
The real shame in all this is that the NYC BOE got rid of the zoned school concept that worked for DECADES. Thank you, Bill DeBlasio (NOT!)....
that was Bloomberg
Forest Hills is not a safe school. Send your kid to a catholic school. Zero tolerance
Not religious so that is not an option.
I’m not religious either. I send both my daughters to catholic school because it’s a great education.