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High Schools

Early College Initiative: Grades 9-14 Model

Energy Tech High School, Long Island City, Queens

Energy Tech is an Early College Initiative and Career and Technical Education school focused on building a skilled workforce for the fast-growing energy industry. The school opened in the fall of 2013 and is being developed in partnership with the City University of New York, LaGuardia Community College, National Grid, and Con Edison. Our mission is to prepare students for the demands of college and work, and for a range of competitive careers in electrical and mechanical engineering in our local industry. In collaboration with local university and industry partners, Energy Tech provides students with the skills and understandings to earn a high school diploma, an associate’s degree, and technical certifications over the course of a six-year program. Ultimately, our students will leave us as skilled candidates for jobs on a ladder of career growth in the field of energy, or competitive applicants for four-year colleges. We realize this vision through a thoughtfully designed curriculum, a backbone of College and Career Foundations coursework, and a collaborative approach to problem solving.

Curriculum at Energy Tech is planned in collaboration with university and industry partners, ensuring that what we teach is aligned with what our students will encounter in college and in the workplace. Knowing that we are preparing students for these experiences earlier than is typical, we provide multiple ways to access the content in the classroom: through technology, collaborative learning, visual representations, and also through daily small-group learning labs.

The International High School

The International High School, a multicultural alternative educational environment for recent arrivals, serves students with varying degrees of limited English proficiency. A collaborative project between the New York City Department of Education and LaGuardia Community College, this school offers a high school/college curriculum combining substantive study of all subject matter with intensive study and reinforcement of English. The school’s instructional focus is on language development in the content areas, which reflects our belief that language skills are most effectively learned in context. High school courses are theme and inquiry-based and instruction is project-driven and experiential. Teams of interdisciplinary teachers create curricula, schedule students and teachers, determine assessment procedures, and provide guidance and counseling service for students. These interdisciplinary teams have been a major factor contributing to our record of high student attendance and achievement. The high school is officially recognized as an Early College Program by New York State Education Department.

Middle College High School

Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College each year accepts 110 ninth and tenth graders from middle schools in Districts 24 and 30 in the western section of Queens. Our high school program provides intensive guidance, small classes, career exploration, and an interdisciplinary school setting for students who are considered high risk. The resources and positive role models provided by the College complement the skills of the teachers, all of whom have New York City High School Licenses. Middle College students may choose from college courses, aligned with CUNY Pathways that will receive both college and high school credit. It is a portfolio based school that focuses on writing and oral presentation skills. All Middle College students are expected to graduate with a minimum of 24 college credits with many on the degree track. Middle College High School also has a highly regarded special program for hearing impaired students in Western Queens.

School-College Collaboration

In addition to its on-campus high schools, the College works closely with the New York City Board of Education, high schools and community school districts in Queens and across New York City to prepare students for college admission and retention.

Toward this end, the College provides a number of programs, which currently include:

  • College Now! a CUNY initiative, enables juniors and seniors in high school to take college credit courses. Aviation high schools can also take pre-engineering courses through College Now! and, upon graduation, enter the new engineering program offered jointly at LaGuardia and CCNY. Students who have excelled in College Now! may be invited to take college Honors courses.

  • College Connection, a LaGuardia-sponsored program, makes it possible for junior and senior high school students to take LaGuardia Community College courses on-campus.

  • The Liberty Partnership Program is a high school retention and college preparation program operating within Grover Cleveland, Franklin K. Lane, and Newtown High Schools.

In addition to its efforts to facilitate the transition of students to post-secondary education and the workplace, LaGuardia is deeply concerned as well with promoting the professional development of teachers and counselors, increasing their knowledge of learning communities, and active, project-driven and interdisciplinary learning. Since 1992, the College has hosted high school faculties on Professional Development Days and worked intensively and continuously with K-12 teachers through the Queens School-to- Work Program, the Goals 2000 Cross-Queens Collaborative, and the Queens Urban Partnership. Also, in keeping with the College’s commitment to improving literacy skills, faculty from College Now! high schools receive training in Writing in the Disciplines.