The Manhattan International High School

Principal: Gladys D. Rodriguez

The Manhattan International High School (MIHS) was founded as an alternative New York City public high school in 1993 with the mission of educating new immigrant English Language Learners (ELLs). We admit students who have been in the United States for less than four years and have scored below the 21st percentile on the Language Assessment Battery – Revised exam (LAB-R). Most students remain with us for the entirety of their high school careers and receive a complete high school curriculum taught with a content-based English as a Second Language approach. Our students hail from over 50 different countries and speak more than 40 different languages and dialects. In order to graduate, students must: successfully pass all of their courses; compile, present, and orally defend a graduation portfolio of their finest work in each subject area; and pass the English Language Arts (ELA) mandated New York State Regents examination.

MIHS is programmed on a 16-week semester schedule. Students are divided into yearlong interdisciplinary clusters that are organized around a particular theme. These are: Foundations, Choices, Actions and Reflections,Innovations and Transformations, and Achievers (Senior Institute). Each cluster is composed of approximately 70-95 students and a team of 5 teachers, one from each of the major subject areas. The cluster is further divided into four strands, or classes, of 20-25 students each. Each cluster team of teachers is responsible for collaborating on, creating, updating, and implementing their own curricula each year.

Students remain with the same strand the entire day of instruction. Classes at MIHS are heterogeneous, meaning that students are not necessarily grouped according to language, achievement, age, or grade level. Classrooms are generally structured around the completion of projects and problem-solving activities in cooperative groups. Students who have made substantial progress in English have taken college level classes at Hunter College or the Borough of Manhattan Community College. These two schools have had a long affiliation with us since our inception.

At the conclusion of each semester, all students are required to present and defend a cluster portfolio which demonstrates their progress and mastery in the subject areas covered in their interdisciplinary clusters. This is an effective way to evaluate student written work and oral presentation skills. More importantly, cluster presentations also offer students the opportunity to hone their skills in preparation for the eventual graduation portfolios in their senior year.

At the start of the senior year, all students are assigned a teacher mentor who works closely with them on this project throughout the school year. The mentor meets with each student weekly and guides them through the process of editing, rewriting, reflecting on, and compiling the work that will eventually comprise their portfolio. The mentor also ensures that the graduation portfolio conforms to the school graduation portfolio guidelines.

MIHS is a proud member of the International Network for Public Schools (INPS), the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), the New York Performance Standards Consortium, Apple Distinguished Schools and the Competency Collaborative.