Workestaten island technical high school More Curtis HS students earning international baccalaureate diplomasr in Nov. scuffle with cop at College of Staten Island died from accidental overdose, medical examiner rules
The success comes after a lengthy reauthorization process and overhaul of the program that began in 2004. By 2007, the program was in full swing, and in 2009, 17 of 56 IB students were able to earn the program&8217;s diploma. In 2010, it was 32 of 55 students.
&8220;That, we have found, has really raised the level of education of the whole school,&8221; she said.
&8220;Because of the rigors, because of the intrinsic journey that the students are asked to take with the IB, that&8217;s why the colleges want them,&8221; Ms. Fernandez said.
Dr. Curtis said the IB program has recognized the strides Curtis has made &8212; Curtis often hosts worldwide visitors curious about IB, and for the last three years Dr. Curtis has been the program&8217;s U.S. and Canadian representative.
The IB Diploma Programme is an international curriculum for high school juniors and seniors, who must study six rigorous IB courses in key academic areas.
&8220;It asks the kids to expand who they are,&8221; she said. Teachers are trained for the IB course work, Ms. Fernandez said, but those teachers also have other classes and the techniques they learn seep into the education of non-IB students, too.
For years, the IB offerings at Curtis had dwindled, but the school now offers 17 courses &8212; more than enough for students to meet the diploma requirements, and for students outside the program to try out an IB course, too. Not every student will score high enough on evaluations to earn a diploma, and students don&8217;t find out until the July after they graduate.
For the majority of the IB students at Curtis, the program is what drew them there &8212; it&8217;s one of just 8 in the city. Anthony Parisi, a senior, was accepted to the Staten Island Technical High School, but opted to come to Curtis for the IB program instead.
Smart move, nothing. They will have to compete in the U.S. job market, which is where there education will come into play.
But with time, she realized that working so hard in high school would make college easier to handle.
The international aspect is what attracted Fatma Akcay, a Turkish immigrant who plans to return there someday. Unlike the Advanced Placement program, IB credits are recognized worldwide.
Curtis IB is an amazing program! Academically, I dont believe any specialized highschool in NYC could offer them anything more.
But the academic rigor is what attracted him, and others.
&8220;They have to chew what they learn,&8221; he said. &8220;They can&8217;t just swallow it and spit it back up.&8221;
The IB evaluations students must take are then graded by other trained teachers across the globe who don&8217;t know them.
Senior IB student Chana Peele said one of her exams was graded in Kenya.
The program also seeks to grow students into caring, principled individuals who are better global citizens, Ms. Fernandez said.
SETTING THEM APART
&8220;While I am thrilled that we were the first to recognize the value of IB, I would be even more ecstatic if even more schools on Staten Island and in NYC could recognize the value of the IB,&8221; she said.
Naomi Edwards recalled being assigned a project in freshman year, before the program even began, that was designed to help prepare students for what was to come.
Last year, of 56 graduating IB students, 40 earned their IB diploma in addition to their high school one &8212; a rate that&8217;s above the national average, Dr. Curtis said.
&8220;To know your work gets sent out of the U.S., it&8217;s intimidating,&8221; she said. She said she felt like she represented not just herself and her school, but her country.
Similarly, the program sets Curtis apart. But Dr. Curtis said she hopes Curtis blazes a trail for other schools.
It is a smart move going to Curtis IB, you graduate in top 10 of a class of 1000 that looks very impressive, these same kids would be middle of the pack at Tech or Stuy. So on a college app the look wonderful, does it matter that the bottom 200 at Curtis are not fit to be in school?
OVERSEAS GRADING
Then explain why when reps from YALE came to the Island this year, they avoided Tech completely and went right for the IB?????
The Curtis program was also featured in Hamish McRae&8217;s book, &8220;What Works?&8221;
&8220;It&8217;s a different type of program,&8221; he said. And he said there was no sugarcoating it &8212; it&8217;s difficult.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Curtis High School has long been known as the only one in the borough offering the International Baccalaureate program. But when Dr. Aurelia Curtis became principal in 2004, just bits and pieces of the program were being taught.
Additionally, there are three other core requirements &8212; an extended essay involving independent research; a theory of knowledge course; and a &8220;creativity, action, service&8221; project where students learn through experiences outside the classroom.
Naomi organized a book drive for a giving library at her church, collecting 600 titles at Curtis. Fatma staten island technical high schoolworked on pigeon behavior research with a professor at the College of Staten Island.
Sicilian said IB training helped him come to new realizations about how teenagers learn &8212; and how he should teach them. He provides the skeleton of a lesson, he said, and they flesh it out.
&8220;You can help better the community around you, not just during school but during your free time,&8221; she said.
Corinne Birchard said the service aspect of IB is what attracted her to the program.
GLOBAL CITIZENS
&8220;Our students are assessed by other people and that gives even more validity,&8221; Dr. Curtis said.
Agreed.
Krista Cocozello&8217;s creativity action service project will bring her abroad &8212; to Guatemala City, where she will work in a garbage dump and help build homes. But not every student&8217;s project will take them to r-flung corners of the globe.
Less than a decade later, that&8217;s changed &8212; the program is attracting more and more students, and producing many more IB diplomas.
&8220;I cried,&8221; she said.
&8220;When you get to college, there&8217;s not going to be someone there helping you write a 3,000-word essay,&8221; she said.
Worker in Nov. scuffle with cop at College of Staten Island died from accidental overdose, medical examiner rules
Last week, Joe Sicilian taught a senior Theory of Knowledge class that saw students discussing weighty topics they came up with themselves, like affirmative action, for presentations they will make next month to juniors.
But just being an IB diploma candidate is enough to get colleges interested in prospective students, said Margarita Fernandez, IB coordinator.
staten island technical high school More Curtis HS students earning international baccalaureate diplomas,&8220;By the time I got there, students were not really getting their (IB) diplomas,&8221; Dr. Curtis said. &8220;We were not implementing the diploma program as we should have been.&8221;
I remember a valedictorian- actually a few of them- that beyond their achievement of having the highest overall average in their graduating class, there really wasnt much too them. They were very talented when it came to studying and doing well on exams, but I also believe some couldnt tell the difference between a home run and touchdown.
&8220;I want to be able to be recognized for the work I did while I was here,&8221; she said.
Staten Island Tech is a great school, one of the best in the country, but it is a specialized school. For those students looking for a wider variety of courses, the Curtis IB program, the Wagner Scholars Academy, the Tottenville Institute programs are the way to go.
Did you ever think that the reason why a lot of these kids are not in Tech is because they wanted more out of highschool? These kids take the same classes that they take in Tech. The only difference is besides taking AP classes, they also take IB classes. FYI: Colleges look at the whole picture! If these kids look impressive on a college application, its because they are. Being in the top 10 does not make a student look wonderful. There is so much more that colleges take into consideration.
The program pushes teenagers to be scholars, not students &8212; inquiring, taking risks, communicating in their native language and a second one, and leading their communities.
Other draws for students, they said, were the possibility of earning a year of college credit, and the way just being in the program sets them apart from others applying to college.
