School and Community

The paper should consist of the following:
• A general description of the school and the community where the fieldwork is being conducted ,
including ethnic and/or racial distribution in the school and the community, school offerings, languages
taught, and school rating. In addition, this report must include a detailed description of the class being
observed, including ethnic and cultural heritages represented and the students’ approaches to learning,
knowledge and skills, special needs, and interests. Candidates will have to base these descriptions on
observations, conversations with their cooperating teacher, and, if possible, surveys that they will have to
create and administer. It is extremely important that candidates get to know the classes they are observing
relatively well because they will be the student population for which they will design the lesson plans
described below. Finally, the first report must include an analysis and evaluation of the cultural and
community assets, and some of the personal assets of the students in the class being observed.
School Name: Community Health Academy of the Heights
Location, Washington Heights, New York City
Teacher: Mrs. Pena
9th grade Spanish 1 class.
Grade Range: 6­12
Total Population 654 Students
Attendance: 86% attend classes daily
Students wear uniforms
Population: 91% Latino, 1% Asian, 1% White, 7% Black
92% receive Free lunch, 19% are English Language Learners, 20% receive Special Education Assistance.
Admission into the school requires a personal interview. Graduates attend 2 and 4 year colleges.
Extra Curricular Activities: Boys: Basketball, Soccer, Baseball. Girls: BÕÉ?†?†asketball, Cross Country,
Softball, and Vollyball.
Average Class size 30 Students
64% graduate in 4 years, 4% drop out within 4 years. 66% graduate in 4 years and go to college.
Foreign Language Offered: Spanish and French.
The school is more centered around health.
AP COURSES: English, Spanish, Studio Art
EXTRACURRICULAR: After­school Music and Art Groups, After­school Tutoring Program, Community
Service Program, EATwise, Freshman Leadership Initiative, Student Government, Swimming Club
General Review:
Our review:
The Community Health Academy of the Heights (CHAH) is a welcoming, 6–12 school that was founded to
provide local students and families with the support they need to be prepared for college or careers. Local
nonprofit CLOTH Community League of the Heights launched the school in 2006 in partnership with New
York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center. CLOTH maintains offices in the
basement of CHAH’s new six­story building in south Washington Heights, along with a community health
center.
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CHAH prides itself on its reflective and open­minded student body. “If you’ve ever been excluded, beat up,
marginalized, this is the place where you can be welcome,” says Principal Mark House, a former social
studies teacher and assistant principal at West Bronx Academy of the Future. He feels that “school should
be fun,” but first, he believes, students need to feel safe and grounded. CHAH employs a full­time social
worker and psychologist and hosts five social work interns from Hunter College and Columbia University;
each student gets a mental health diagnostic exam each year, in addition to vision screenings and access
to other health resources.
CHAH’s health focus pervades the curriculum: Students learn about personal and public health in several
classes and older students pursue internships in health careers. Classes are mostly traditionally structured,
with desks in rows and teachers directing the discussion. Teachers use interactive SMART boards to guide
students through the lessons, and students seem engaged in their work and well­behaved. House is proud
of his “amazing teachers,” who work together to improve instruction and develop their practice, even over
the summer. Test scores for grades 6–8 are well below the city average, but they increased significantly
between the first and second years of the new Common Core exams.
Many students enter 6th grade below grade level in reading or math, and some 80 percent are current or
former English language learners. Students in the 6th and 7th grades receive an extra period dedicated to
math and independent reading each day. This allows teachers to tailor instruction to each reading level,
and gives students time to dive into books they enjoy reading. Starting in 8th grade, each student receives
four years of Spanish­language instruction, beginning with either a native language arts class for Spanish
speakers or a more traditional high school Spanish course.
CHAH has full­time music, art and dance teachers (one of whom, the principal was proud to admit, turned
down a position at a prestigious arts school to stay at CHAH). Consistent with its health focus, CHAH
prioritizes physical education: Students take four gym classes a week. The cafeteria and gym are clean
and bright, but small. PSAL sports include baseball, cross country, volleyball, golf and soccer. Hallways and
stairwells are wide and well­lit, with expansive views of Columbia Presbyterian hospital from several
windows.
CLOTH helps provide a robust after­school program with activities ranging from homework help to the Grrrl
Alliance which discusses gender and LGBTQ issues, bringing in guest speakers from the community. The
Food Ambassadors Club put to good use lessons learned from reading Michael Pollen’s The Omnivores
Dilemma when they lobbied the city department of School Food to serve healthier menus options at CHAH.
Working with CLOTH, students are planning to convert an abandoned lot across the street into a
community garden, complete with a second­story greenhouse for use as a “living classroom” and a source
for a “garden­to­cafeteria” menu at CHAH.
Both CHAH and CLOTH go out of their way to engage parents, bringing them in the building for adult
education classes, free evening activities such as Zumba classes and resources including hosting a weekly
“farm share” so parents can buy fresh, local produce when they pick their children up from school. The
parents we spoke to appreciated these efforts, but were more excited about the growth they witnessed in
their children, both academically and socially, since starting at CHAH.
All graduates enroll in two or four­year colleges like CUNY, SUNY, Syracuse and St. Johns. One student
won a Posse scholarship to Wheaton College. CHAH provides transition help for graduates. There are few
high­level or Advanced Placement courses at CHAH—pre­calculus is the highest math—and many
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graduates need remedial help when entering college.
SPECIAL EDUCATION: ICT is offered in every core class. Students receiving those supports come in early
each morning to get organized and have a period together at the close of the day for extra homework help.
ADMISSIONS: For middle school, priority goes to students from Washington Heights elementary schools
and other District 6 residents. Nearly all middle school students stay for high school; other students are
accepted randomly with priority going to those who have visited or otherwise shown interest

Community