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I thought it was one of the ones being closed?
I used to live near there years ago. I remember it having a bad reputation but not much else. The surrounding area was not all that great either
What do you know about John Adams High School in New York City? (Queens)
Please just say everything you know about it, good or bad.
Thanks.
I served as a substitute there recently working with the ELL math students. From what I see, it really didn't seem like that bad of a school and I don't understand why the school was closing down this year. Improvements while slight were being made in terms of behavioral problems, and education. There were alot of hard working teachers there as well. Normally, with public schools there is a standard deviation in terms of teachers, you have the teachers who don't care in the lower tier, you have your average run of the mill teacher and then you have the teachers who do care and teach well majority of which only teach the higher level students...
From what I saw in this school the deviation was leaning more towards the right... In addition the good teachers that I had the opportunity of observing early on taught a wide range of classes and not just the top classes... Demographics of the school were pretty diverse... You can look up the information for yourself on the schools website as well as inside schools but the school was about 35-40% hispanic 30% Black 25-30% asian (mainly south asian)and somewhere between 2-4% white... Had its problems every now and then but wasn't a bad school in terms of behavior... I'd put it on par with Grover Cleveland High school and probably a slightly worse version of Forest Hills high school but those are probably the two remaining public schools that resemble it the most... And the area is more working class and in some parts poor working class but it's not a bad area just a run-down looking one. Demographics of the area are probably somewhere around 50% asian (again mainly south asian) 35% hispanic 10% Black 5% white...
Thanks, both of you, for the feedback! I appreciate the thoroughness.
I'm in the interview process for a teaching job, and early on, it was stated that John Adams is one of the schools where I might be placed. I'm only at the phone interview state right now, though, and I suspect it won't even happen anyway because I read an article yesterday that said a judge ruled that all the teachers they fired at those 24 schools have to be reinstated; hence, probably won't be hiring a lot of new teachers.
Bad for me, good for those teachers.
Yes, John Adams is supposed to close and be re-opened as Future Leaders High School at the John Adams Campus.
I did already have the sense of the demographics of the place, and that it's in a working class neighborhood. The demographics and the working class aspect I don't mind at all. I'm used to working with African American, Hispanic, Asian students, and I'm used to them being working class. I just don't want to work in an actual "dangerous" area. I also have concerns about the school just being too big in general. I hear there's 3,000+ students. My own high school had 1200 students, and I thought that was plenty big. So double that and then some? Hmmm...
And, like I said, it's highly unlikely the job will come through anyway.
Thanks, both of you, for the feedback! I appreciate the thoroughness.
I'm in the interview process for a teaching job, and early on, it was stated that John Adams is one of the schools where I might be placed. I'm only at the phone interview state right now, though, and I suspect it won't even happen anyway because I read an article yesterday that said a judge ruled that all the teachers they fired at those 24 schools have to be reinstated; hence, probably won't be hiring a lot of new teachers.
Bad for me, good for those teachers.
Yes, John Adams is supposed to close and be re-opened as Future Leaders High School at the John Adams Campus.
I did already have the sense of the demographics of the place, and that it's in a working class neighborhood. The demographics and the working class aspect I don't mind at all. I'm used to working with African American, Hispanic, Asian students, and I'm used to them being working class. I just don't want to work in an actual "dangerous" area. I also have concerns about the school just being too big in general. I hear there's 3,000+ students. My own high school had 1200 students, and I thought that was plenty big. So double that and then some? Hmmm...
And, like I said, it's highly unlikely the job will come through anyway.
Don't be so sure... I'm in a similar position... I switched careers late and decided to become a teacher and am working towards getting hired in one of these schools and from what they tell me, alot of these schools are looking for fresh blood... I'm sure a good number of the teachers that were fired at the end of the school year will get their job back but there are still plenty of positions open and at least for right now, it is a decent time to be a new teacher...
Also to reiterate my previous point, the neighborhood may look run down but it isn't a bad area at all... Majority if not all of the problems you'll see in the immediate area will be from the high school kids and even then as mentioned, it's not that bad of a school. You should be okay.
Finally, in terms of the amount of students... That school is ridiculously overcrowded. They have trailers on the side of the school for at least 10 different classes. If you have to get somewhere, you have to go as soon as the bell rings or if you're not teaching and in the department or teachers' lounge, try to beat the rush...
That High School had a lot more white kids when I was in High School, back then it was around 15% White. Still a very overcrowded school that has it's problems. Thankfully I didn't go there.
That High School had a lot more white kids when I was in High School, back then it was around 15% White. Still a very overcrowded school that has it's problems. Thankfully I didn't go there.
15% sounds like a minority.
I went there and am from the neighborhood. The neighborhood had changed significantly. It's not bad or dangerous but it is now predominantly Guyanese and Indian. Richmond Hill is more Pakistani.
The trailers on the lawn are a horrible eyesore. Thanks to overcrowding, the school couldn't accomdate all the students so they put trailers. My neice was a teacher there and may not be rehired. When I graduated in '88, we didn't have metal detectors. There were some fights and issues just like any HS but it was a good school and it wasn't a violent school in a crappy area. There were far worse schools than John Adams.
I went there and am from the neighborhood. The neighborhood had changed significantly. It's not bad or dangerous but it is now predominantly Guyanese and Indian. Richmond Hill is more Pakistani.
The trailers on the lawn are a horrible eyesore. Thanks to overcrowding, the school couldn't accomdate all the students so they put trailers. My neice was a teacher there and may not be rehired. When I graduated in '88, we didn't have metal detectors. There were some fights and issues just like any HS but it was a good school and it wasn't a violent school in a crappy area. There were far worse schools than John Adams.
So you're saying now there are metal detectors and that it is violent? Kinda confused 'cause you say it's not bad or dangerous but also say that it's changed from since you were there (and it sounds like in a negative way)
So you're saying now there are metal detectors and that it is violent? Kinda confused 'cause you say it's not bad or dangerous but also say that it's changed from since you were there (and it sounds like in a negative way)
Ignore these comments... I don't doubt her experiences but people do tend to have short term memory when it comes to NYC public high schools in the late 80s and 90s... The schools hit their peak in terms of violence and delincuency during that time... Nowadays is heaven compared to what it was even five years ago... John Adams isn't a great school but it's no different than any other public high school in this city...
You can take a look at my previous posts, I will never sugarcode an area for someone regardless of who they are... Most of the time I get criticized for being too harsh on specific areas when I'm just trying to be objective. Like I said, this area may not look pretty and if you're not used to being in a majority guyanese/black/hispanic area... you may feel threatened, but as long as you have your basic street smarts and common sense, you will not have a problem in the area and within the school building the metal detectors and cameras (due to a previous history of violence in the school) due a good job in deterring problems within the school building...
Metal detectors are just a part of NYC public high schools regardless of where you are...
Still a lot higher then 5%. I had friends that went to that school.
They converted MS 202 into a high school, so most of the white kids from OZP and HB that don't end up going to a Catholic school go there now.
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