Townsend Harris One Of Best Rated NYC High Schools

Photo Maria Kalliagas Townsend Harris H.S., rated among the top 100 best U.S. high schools by U.S. News and World Report, is located on the campus of Queens College in Flushing.

Townsend Harris H.S. on the campus of Queens College in Flushing was one of six high schools within the five boroughs of New York City named to a list of the best high schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report last week. U.S. News and World Report reviewed nearly 19,000 schools in 40 states using statistics from the 2005-06 school year. All six city schools made the top 100 of the magazine's first-ever list of the nation's best high schools.

Townsend Harris ranked 45th on the list. At number 15, Stuyvesant H.S., in Manhattan, leads the New York City high schools, followed

by Bronx H.S. of Science (number 20),

Staten Island Tech (number 22), Brooklyn Tech (number 39) and New Explorations, also in Manhattan (number 74). No other area in New York state had more than one high school make the U.S. News and World Report list.

U.S. News and World Report has long been known for its college ranking system, but this year decided to branch out and review more than 18,500 high schools that send students to the colleges it ranks. State test scores and the success of poor and minority students on these exams, as well as a school's performance on Advanced Placement tests, were among the criteria used to evaluate the schools.

"U.S. News and World Report confirms what we in Queens already knew about Townsend Harris High School- it does a tremendous job at educating the next generation of New Yorkers," Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn) said in a statement. Townsend Harris H.S. is situated in his 9th Congressional District.

Townsend Harris H.S. describes itself as a young school with an honored past. In 1848, the New York Free Academy, the city's first municipal institution of free higher education, was established by the Board of Education due in large part to the effort of Townsend Harris, who was, at the time, the president of the board. The Free Academy later became the City College of New York. The "introductory year" of the Free Academy grew into Townsend Harris H.S. Ira Gershwin, Jonas Salk, Edward G. Robinson, Richard Rodgers, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Herman Wouk, as well as innumerable future educators, scientists, jurists, and philanthropists, including three Nobel Laureates, commuted from all five boroughs to attend. The school flourished until 1942, when it was closed by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia because of budgetary constraints.

Through the efforts of a group of distinguished alumni, Townsend Harris was reopened in 1984 at a new location and with a new student body, but with the same spirit, mission, and goals as before. The present school has, from its inception, remained true to its predecessor's rich tradition, and is supported by an active group of alumni who serve as mentors, arrange internships for students, and raise funds for special projects.

Townsend Harris H.S. is a selective academic institution with an outstanding history that dates back to the 1800s. Now located on the Queens College campus, it was designated a National School of Excellence in 1989. The student body is comprised of approximately 1,000 academically gifted and culturally diverse individuals who have been selected from the entire City of New York based on demonstrated evidence of high academic motivation and achievement.

All Townsend Harris classes are honors level. Accelerated coursework, a rigorous homework regime, and non-weighted grading policies challenge students to excellence. The syllabus requires at least one major research project each year in each academic subject; literature courses require three such projects each semester.

In each semester of their senior year, students enroll at Queens College in a Great Books Humanities Colloquium, as well as one additional course of their choice. Through this unique program, students complete a minimum of 12 on-campus college credits which are fully accredited and exceed the curriculum requirements of Townsend Harris H.S.