Local HS Graduation Rates Fluctuate as City’s Rises

As high schools throughout the Bronx and the rest of New York City began holding graduation ceremonies this June, the Department of Education and the mayor’s office proudly announced last year’s four-year graduation rates as the highest the city has ever seen — 65.1 percent, according to state figures. The local graduation picture is more muddled.

Fight Over Worship at Schools Puts U-Heights Church in Spotlight

When the leaders of Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical Christian congregation based in University Heights, first approached the city, in 1994, about using its public schools to hold worship services, they didn’t think much of it. They certainly did not think they would find themselves, 17 years later, fighting for freedom of religion and speech as part of a back-and-forth legal case that could end up in front of the Supreme Court.

Pride, Relief, and Uncertainty for Lehman Graduates

“Why does King Lear suffer? What is a neutron?” poet Billy Collins asked a crowd of 3,000 anxious graduates, proud parents, and supportive friends, during his speech at Lehman College’s commencement ceremony two weeks ago in Bedford Park. “It’s not about knowing the answers to these questions,” Collins said. “It’s about having the intelligence to know how to think.”

Goulden Avenue: Closed For Construction

Starting on July 5, a stretch of Goulden Avenue, from 205th Street to about one block north, will be entirely closed off to traffic as workers connect water pipes underneath the street. The pipes will connect the Jerome Park Reservoir to the new water filtration plant being built in Van Cortlandt Park.

DOE Holds Do-Over Council Elections After Lawsuit

Marred by complaints from parents and the threat of a lawsuit, the Department of Education agreed to hold a second round of voting for its Community Education Councils, the nine-member parent panels that oversee each of the city’s 32 school districts.

Bronx Pols Want Out of Immigration Program

Local elected officials are speaking out against a program that requires law enforcement agencies to share digital fingerprint records of people who are arrested with federal immigration officials, who then check the prints for a person’s green card status.

Students Benefit From Tech-aided Reading Program

At a school named for a 19th century literary giant, young students are now learning to read through technology made convenient and accessible only in the 21st century. Ivonne Granda says her kindergarten class at PS 46, the Edgar Allan Poe Literacy Development School in North Fordham, has developed a love for reading through the Award Reading Program, which combines the use of interactive computer software with group and individual reading practices.

Proposed ‘Tech’ Charter May Open on Webster

Two educators are hoping to open a charter school in the northwest Bronx, possibly on Webster Avenue. Steve Bergen and Adjowah Scott, two former colleagues at an independent, tuition-free K-8 school in Harlem, have applied with the State University of New York’s Charter Schools Institute to establish their own middle school here in the Bronx. The months-long application process should come to a head in June.

Clinton Baseball Eyes Playoffs

(Photo by Adi Talwar) Clinton’s baseball team needs to overcome inconsistency to make a run in the city playoffs.Coming into the home stretch of a season filled with inconsistency, not just weather-wise, but with the team’s play as well, the talented DeWitt Clinton High School varsity baseball team is looking to secure a playoff berth in the PSAL Championship.