A New Visions High School Arrives at a Crossroads South Street Seaport Museum and New York Harbor School Discuss the Rewards



6 p.m. The evening's8217;s events will include tours of the Museum's8217;s 1893 schooner Lettie G. Howard, guided by Harbor School students, as well as a brief presentation about the school, its future goals and the fundraising needs required to ensure the school's8217;s ability to maintain its unique and effective partnership with South Street Seaport Museum.

New York, NY September 28, 2006 -- This fall, the New York Harbor School (NYHS) will welcome its fourth class of entering students, bringing enrollment to full capacity as students and teachers look forward to their first graduation ceremony in June. To mark this occasion, the school has organized a special event to reflect on the school's8217;s achievements during its first three years and to seek support to meet new challenges arising as the implementation funding provided by New Visions for Public Schools runs out. South Street Seaport Museum will host invited guests for cocktails and thoughtful discussion on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 6 p.m. The evening's8217;s events will include tours of the Museum's8217;s 1893 schooner Lettie G. Howard, guided by Harbor School students, as well as a brief presentation about the school, its future goals, and the fundraising needs required to ensure the school's8217;s ability to maintain its unique and effective partnership with South Street Seaport Museum.

For the past three years, public school students from the Bushwick section of Brooklyn have been sailing aboard South Street Seaport Museum's8217;s Lettie G. Howard as part of their school's8217;s marine technology and marine science curricula. Learning aboard this 125-foot gaff-rigged, topsail schooner has been the backbone of New York Harbor School's8217;s partnership with the Museum, who helped to found the school through New Visions along with The Urban Assembly and Waterkeeper Alliance. The Harbor School's8217;s mission is to use New York's8217;s maritime resources to create a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum. In addition to learning the skills of a mariner, students also use the Lettie as a research vessel to carry out marine science experiments. Ultimately, these experiences have helped increase academic success for Harbor School students, demonstrated by their extraordinary attendance levels and high passing rates on Regents Examinations.

Exposure to sailing and marine science has already opened doors for many NYHS students. Four students are participating in an exchange with the Island school in Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas, where they will continue to hone their sailing skills and learn about the Caribbean's8217;s marine environment. Over the past summer, students worked aboard the Museum's8217;s 1885 schooner Pioneer and served as research assistants in marine science labs at Columbia University. Others took part in the J24 sailing program at the Manhattan Sailing Club, and a dozen worked as deckhands and engineers for New York Water Taxi. The marine technology and marine science program aboard the Lettie G. Howard clearly is working.

Unfortunately, NYHS faces the same challenges confronting many of the city's8217;s innovative, small schools as New Visions funding runs out. That implementation grant was largely responsible for supporting the sailing programs to date, through monies provided by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Open Society and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additionally, a 3-year Hayden Foundation grant recently expired. That latter grant helped support a summer sailing camp where NYHS students traveled the Atlantic seaboard aboard the Lettie G. Howard, providing supplemental opportunities for academic enrichment and experiential learning that markedly contributed to student achievement. Despite the demonstrable success of the NYHS model, the need to raise funds to support the partnership between the Museum and the Harbor School has become pressing.

Recognizing that this program is vital to the academic and future career success of NYHS students, the Museum and NYHS have launched a fundraising campaign to support the school's8217;s use of the Lettie G. Howard for years to come. In addition to the upcoming cocktail party on October 19, fundraising events include a Halloween costume party aboard the tall ship Peking at the Museum, and a formal benefit in the spring at the New York Yacht Club. Given the extraordinary record of success at NYHS, we are confident that foundations, local corporations and individual philanthropists will join forces to ensure that this unique partnership continues to thrive and grow in the future.

South Street Seaport Museum, founded in 1967, occupies a 12-square block historic district in Lower Manhattan -- site of the city's8217;s original port. The Museum's8217;s mission is to preserve, interpret and display the history of New York as a world port, highlighting both the South Street Seaport District and the tremendous contribution of maritime enterprise to the economic, social, and cultural heritage of the city, the state and the nation. This is accomplished through exhibitions, on- and off-site public programs and formal education programs for students of all ages. The Museum's8217;s main galleries are located at 12 Fulton Street. Museum hours: April's8211;October, daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; November's8211;March, Friday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adults $8, seniors/students $6, children 5's8211;12 $4, children under 5 and Museum Members admitted free.





A New Visions High School Arrives at a Crossroads South Street Seaport Museum and New York Harbor School Discuss the Rewards