Nyc Lab High School For Collaborative Studies

I am a parent of a 10th grader. This might have been a rigorous high school at one time; the science and math classes remain challenging, but the teaching in literature is less than mediocre. My child had one essay assigned for ninth grade. In 10th grade, difficult essays were assigned after books were read and discussed briefly with no demand or teaching of annotation. Very minimal teacher feedback on student writing with the excuse that "the classes are too big" even though there are 2 teachers per class. When a teacher was asked "Why aren't you requiring annotation?" she said the students were not allowed to write in the books. They could write notes in Google Docs. Basic teaching of critical thinking and good writing instruction is missing. I have to hire a tutor to teach my child writing and also to complete the essays because the teachers are not preparing them in class for the essays.

I have been a Lab parent for 8 years and I truly love both schools. It was a shame that the founders, Sheila and Rob split them up right before they retired... My oldest child has graduated, and is loving college. He thrived at both the middle and high school. My other child is entering 10th grade, and he also has had an amazing education, and experience so far. I think that the high school has stayed true to the philosophies of Lab, which are kindness, compassion, academic rigor and collaboration. The middle school has become more test score focused, perhaps bowing to the pressure of standardized tests and the desire to get into specialized high schools. Regardless, they are both amazing schools, and I couldn't be happier with my children's experiences. Fyi, most of the original teachers are still at the high school...

Lab is a fantastic school that really puts much of its emphasis on creating a safe environment for all students from different socioeconomic backgrounds and orientations. However, the academics is not good. I can say Lab has a very strong and challenging math curriculum, but everything else sucks. Not enough essays are being written and the science curriculum is a joke. I don't understand why drafting is even offered as a course. The english dept. needs to make its students read more novels and write more essays with feedback from teachers. The sciences are a joke because the teachers are awful. The only good history teacher was Ms. Taylor who was kicked out by the school for failure to meet new NYC DOE requirements. The academics at this school, except math are a joke. I really regret coming to Lab because it did not prepare me for college at all. But I think Lab can do a lot better if there were better teachers and a more rigorous curriculum. It can be very cliquey and because its a small school, it can be very dramatic with all the gossip and etc.

NYC Lab School lost originality, drive and academic rigor once the founding directors and original teachers left. Now it is a "regular" school, with mediocre offerings, particularly in Foreign Language and Science. I had all 3 children attend in a 15 year span and I saw the gradual decline. The magic of the school was palpable and the students were interested in being part of a creative environment. Now, its 7th place ranking is reflective of the second rate leadership and third rate currriculum.