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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A Small School Thrives Within a Large One Full of Challenges – SchoolBook

A Small School Thrives Within a Large One Full of Challenges – SchoolBook:

A Small School Thrives Within a Large One Full of Challenges

WNYC examines one small school, the Collegiate Institute for Math and Science, or C.I.MS., and explores why it is thriving while the larger school it replaced is on the path to closing. Take a listen here.

WNYC

About 500 students are enrolled at C.I.M.S. which is housed inside Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx. It sets high academic standards for all of its students, who are accepted by a lottery system.

The founding principal, Estelle Hans, said the school encourages all students to take demanding courses — Advanced Placement chemistry, for example — while offering them extra support after school.

“If you were to check these grades and their reading levels and such, they’re not actually what a suburban