From 3,000 students to about 90: Inside the decades-long failure to fix or close NYC’s smallest high school
This is part one of a two-part series. On the fourth floor of a fortress-like building in lower Manhattan housing four public high schools, more than 500 students cram into classes such as calculus and agriculture. They operate 3-D printers and tend herbs in a hydroponic farm. In the basement, about 500 students at another high school prepare for emergency medicine careers with a new ambulance…
Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers, once a thriving institution with thousands of students, has dwindled to a mere 90 students, making it the smallest traditional high school in New York City. Despite receiving significantly more funding per student than other city schools, the school has struggled academically, ranking in the bottom 1% of city high schools in graduation rates and attendance.
The school's principal and former superintendent both acknowledged the need to close or merge the school, but no meaningful efforts have been made to address the issue. The school's decline is part of a larger trend of small, underperforming schools in New York City, with 33 high schools now having fewer than 150 students.
Written by urgent.news from Chalkbeat's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
