A peek at Millennium High School through its website

Thursday, February 16, 2012
by Christine Yeres

At 7:30 this morning, Superintendent Lyn McKay met with Horace Greeley High School staff in K-110 to announce her recommendation for the school’s principal position: Robert Rhodes, the founder and current principal of Millennium High School of District 2, in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan.  MHS is a public high school of a little over 600 students in grades 9 through 12—less than half of Greeley’s current population.  About 10% of its students receive special education services.  Students apply for admission, and preference is given to those living below Houston Street.  Below, see official School Profiles for MHS and HGHS.

According to Inside Schools, a non-profit group that describes itself as “Your independent guide to NYC public schools,” class size at MHS currently operates “close to the contractual limit of 34, especially in the upper grades.”  Occupying several floors of an office building near Wall Street, Inside Schools notes, the school has no gym; students “take physical education either in the fitness center or the multi-purpose room that also doubles as an auditorium.” Drama and music are offered only after school.

Judging from its own website, Millennium High School places great emphasis on student exhibitions—for which “students must write a term paper and present their ideas before a committee”—and attaches great importance to its Advisory system, in which each advisor acts as an advocate and as primary contact with parents for 15 to 20 students.  Advisors remain with their group, meeting three times a week, throughout the four years of high school.  In addition, according to Millennial’s website, “each Advisory group plans and completes a Community Service Learning Project.”

On February 28, McKay will recommend to board of education members that they appoint Rhodes to begin as Greeley’s principal on July 1, 2012.

Below is some information taken from Millennial’s website:

Academic Program

All MHS students take four years of English, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science, as well as three years of Foreign Language (currently offered are Spanish and Mandarin).  There are two to three hours of homework each night and 20 hours of annual community service to fulfill.

There is a strong emphasis at MHS on reading and writing in all classes with an approach to literacy that begins in 9th and 10th grade.  Students take English five times a week and read classic books such as Frankenstein, 1984, Othello, and The Odyssey with the dual goals of understanding complicated narratives and learning how to write traditional literary analysis papers.  Classes also include units on poetry, the persuasive essay, editorial, and oral history.

The 9/10 core curriculum establishes a foundation of critical thinking skills and features key content infused into all classes.  The core 9/10 academic sequence includes English, Biology/Chemistry, Global History, Math, Foreign Language, as well as Physical Education/Health and Art.  Students are prepared for Regents exams, the school’s Exhibition process, and for the greater interdisciplinary work of 11th and 12th grades.

In 11th and 12th grades students choose thematic elective and/or Advanced Placement courses that prepare them for the Comprehensive English and the U.S. History & Government Regents exams. Math and Science courses include Algebra 2, Precalculus, Calculus, Advanced Biology, Advanced Chemistry, Advanced Physics, Advanced Geology, and Anatomy.  Students may enroll in college classes via the College Now program at NYU, Pace, Baruch and BMCC for simultaneous high school and college credit. There are also elective courses in Art such as Photography, AP Studio Art, Mixed Media, Yearbook, and Graphic Design.

Advisory

An important part of life at MHS is its Advisory system. All new students are assigned to an Advisory that remains together through 12th grade. Advisory meets three times per week for all four years of high school. The advisor is the student’s advocate in the building and functions as the primary contact with parents. All advisors have 15 to 20 students in their Advisory and remain with their group for the four years.

In 9th grade, Advisory focuses on creating a community and how to be successful in high school.  Each Advisory plans and completes a Community Service Learning Project.

In 10th grade, Advisory follows a similar trajectory with an accelerated timeline.  During the second semester, the advisor works with the class on their first of three exhibitions that teach the process of independent research. A committee of students and teachers assesses the final project.

In 11th and 12th grade, Advisory focuses on the college process in depth, in addition to helping guide the students through the required exhibitions and supporting academic and social growth.

Exhibitions

ABOUT EXHIBITIONS AT MHS

Sophomore year marks the commencement of the MHS exhibition process.  It is a key step in the school’s mission to prepare students for college.  By promoting high expectations, exhibitions also encourage all students to develop themselves as learners.  MHS staff support students though this rigorous, independent study project each year in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade.  In order to graduate, students must complete three exhibitions, one per year.

For an exhibition, students must write a term paper and present their ideas before a committee.  The paper is based on a question the student chooses to answer and includes evidence from a variety of sources.  The presentation offers the student an opportunity to share with a committee his/her reflective process for conducting the research and developing the written piece.  Students created their own research questions based on their experiences in school.  Each student will complete one Math or Science and one Humanities (English, Spanish, History, Art) exhibition before preparing a final project in 12th grade.

Each year, students are assigned a sponsor who will support him/her through the research, writing and presentation phase of the exhibition.  Students are expected to conduct their research outside of school time and to negotiate a schedule to meet with their sponsors.  Interim deadlines will be provided so that students can complete components of the project at different times.  No student will be allowed to present until s/he meets standards for the written portion of exhibitions.

10th graders begin to prepare their first exhibitions in their spring semester.  Because it is their first experience with the exhibition process, we have created some special systems to support them.

  * Advisors serve as sponsors, meeting with students regularly and closely monitoring student progress.
  * Several Advisory sessions are be devoted to teaching and reviewing skills students may need to meet the standards of the project.
  * Students complete a modified version of the paper that is much longer in their junior and senior years.

We expect students to feel a great sense of pride throughout the process as they become experts in their chosen field of research and as we celebrate their topics in school.

There are two components to earning a diploma from Millennium High School: Course Credits and Regents exams.

COURSE CREDITS: In order to graduate from Millennium High School you need four years of English, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Science, and at least three years of Spanish or Mandarin. You must have full class schedules for 9th-11th grades and you may have one free in 12th grade. In 9th & 10th grades you will take English, Global History, Math, Biology/Chemistry, Foreign Language, Art, Phys Ed, Health, and Advisory. In 11th & 12th grades you may request courses in each required subject and electives. All students must complete 1 semester of Government, 1 semester of Economics, 1 year of Physics, and 1 year of Algebra II or equivalent. Qualified students may take AP courses. Simultaneous high school credit is offered for college courses at local institutions.

REGENTS OR EQUIVALENT EXAMS: To qualify for a Regents Diploma, students must achieve 65 or higher on 5 required NY State Regents exams. To qualify for an Advanced Regents Diploma, students must also achieve 65 or higher on 4 additional exams indicated by * below. To earn honors, students must achieve an average of 90 per cent in all exams required for the diploma (either Regents diploma with honors or Advanced Regents diploma with honors). Usually, students take exams as per the following schedule:

Students with disabilities may qualify for a Local Diploma by passing the required Regents exams with scores of 55-64.

ARTICULATION POLICY: In order to be promoted from grade to grade, students must earn enough credits for them to be able to graduate in four years. Students may only make up two (2) classes in summer school. [Seniors are allowed to take three (3) classes].

Library

http://library.nycenet.edu/common/servlet/presenthomeform.do?l2m=Home&tm=Home

Summer Assignments

[The MHS website lists pdfs for summer assignments in the following areas:]

AP Art
AP Language
AP Literature
Incoming 9th Grade
Mandarin 2
Rising 10th Grade
Rising 11th Grade
Rising 12th Grade
 
[Editor’s Note: Click to see a pdf of the Incoming 9th Grade Summer Assignment.]

Upper House Courses

Upper House Course Descriptions

School Profile for Millennium High School

School Profile 2011-12

[Editor’s Note: From the HGHS website, click to see Greeley’s Greeley’s School Profile Updated September 2011.]
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Related: NEW: Superintendent McKay to recommend Robert Rhodes as next Principal of Horace Greeley High School, NCNOW.org, 2/16/12