| Definition of Terms |
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| School Level |
High school |
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| Grades Offered |
Grades 9 - 12 |
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| County |
New York County, NY |
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| Total Students |
64 students |
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| % Male / % Female |
48% /
52% |
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| Total Classroom Teachers |
8 teachers |
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| Students by Grade |
| Grade 9 - 9 students | | Grade 10 - 14 students | | Grade 11 - 18 students | | Grade 12 - 11 students | | Grade Not Listed - 12 students |
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| Teacher : Student Ratio |
1:8 |
1:14 |
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| Students by Ethnicity |
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| % American Indian |
n/a |
1% |
| % Asian |
12% |
4% |
| % Hispanic |
33% |
17% |
| % Black |
47% |
19% |
| % White |
8% |
58% |
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| Additional Student Information |
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| % Eligible for Free Lunch |
73% |
28% |
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| % Eligible for Reduced Lunch |
5% |
6% |
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| % Migrant Students Enrolled |
n/a |
n/a |
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(NY) Statewide Testing Performance |
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| School District Name |
New York City Geographic # 2 School District |
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| Number of Schools Managed |
91 |
4 |
| Number of Students Managed |
57,634 students |
2,265 students |
| District Total Revenue |
n/a |
$31,819,000 |
| District Expenditure |
n/a |
$31,869,000 |
| District Revenue / Student |
n/a |
$14,048 |
| District Expenditure / Student |
n/a |
$14,070 |
| District Graduation Rates |
n/a |
97% |
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| View all past news stories |
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- Harvey Milk High School is a high school in in the East Village of New York City designed to be a safe space for students regardless of sexual orientation; particularly for, though not limited to, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people, as well as those questioning their sexuality. It is named after assassinated San Francisco, California supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to office and one of the best known gay politicians of the 20th century. He was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978.
- History
-
The school was originally run by the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), an organization that provides social support to at-risk youth, especially non-heterosexuals. After becoming a fully-accredited public school in 2002, the high school is now administered by the New York City Department of Education, separate from HMI. The school and the non-profit still share space in the same building.
- The school was founded in 1985 as a small, two-room program with just over a dozen students by HMI in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education's Career Education Center. The Department of Education administers the school and is responsible for admissions. Harvey Milk was created as an alternative education program for youth who find it difficult or impossible to attend their home schools due to threats, violence, or harassment.
- Students must themselves apply to transfer to the high school, like other transfer schools in New York City. The school has a 92% graduation rate, far above the state average, and 60% of students attend institutions of higher learning.
- Mission statement and vision
-
According to the schools mission statement and vision:
- Expansion
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HMHS came to national attention in 2002, when the Board of Education authorized a $3.2 million capital expansion of the school as one of its last acts prior to becoming a mayoral agency. At this time, the school also became a four-year, fully-accredited high school.
- The capital provided by Board of Education allowed for the renovation of the school building. Enrollment jumped from 50 to 100 students. In 2003, “[1]he new school’s principal, William Salzman, said the school will be academically challenging and will follow mandatory English and math programs. It also will specialize in computer technology, arts and culinary arts.”
- Nevertheless, it has been alleged that the school practices discrimination. In general, the opposition comes from social conservatives. Fred Phelps protested outside the school when it opened as a public high school in 2003. State Conservative Party chairman Michael Long also criticized the creation of the school as social engineering, asking, “Is there a different way to teach homosexuals? Is there gay math? This is wrong… There’s no reason these children should be treated separately.” Others claim that the school is trying to indoctrinate students in sexual minority culture by teaching about the history of gay people and creating an almost exclusively homosexual environment. Many assert that the solution to harassment is a zero tolerance policy against it in all public schools, not isolating gay students. While educators familiar with LGBT issues point out that harassment continues despite similar measures and speak to larger cultural biases.
- Supporters contend that this school is a pragmatic solution, providing an alternative path to a diploma for students who are unable to succeed in a mainstream high school due to intolerance. Nor are all arguments against the school divided along partisan lines. Independent mayor Michael Bloomberg supported the renovation of the school while Democratic N.Y. State Senator Rubén Díaz opposed it.
- In 2004, the HMHS underwent a 17,000 square foot (1,600 m²) expansion and an increase to eight classrooms and 110 students.
- References in media
- Print
-
In Marvel Comics' Ultimate X-Men series, Northstar, one of Marvel's most prominent homosexual mutant superheroes, mentions his coming out experience and his mother trying to enroll him in the Harvey Milk School. He refused due to his belief that enrolling would only promote segregation of hetero- and homosexual students. Consequently, he refuses an offer by the X-Men to enroll at Professor Xavier's mutant school, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning for similar reasons.
- Television
-
In the SVU Season 4 episode Fallacy, detective Olivia Benson and ADA Alexandra Cabot while discussing the situation of pre-operative male-to-female transsexual Cheryl Avery, they made mention of her teachers suggesting a transfer to Harvey Milk School.
- See also
- Education in New York City
- Notes
- External links
- NYC DOE Portal
- History of HMI and HMHS
- Q&As on HMHS
- HMI FAQ
- "First public gay high school to open in NYC" - CNN
- "Classes open at gay high school" - CNN
- Prison Fellowship criticism
- Harvey Milk School a haven for GLBT students - Bay Windows
- Boston Phoenix synopsis of the school's role
- "Queer High School Opens to Cheers and Jeers", The Indypendent, September 9, 2003
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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| About This Zip Code (10003) |
|
| Population (Approximate) |
53,673 people |
18,208,943 people |
| % (age 25+) w/College Degree |
73% |
32% |
| Population Average Age |
34 years old
|
34 years old |
| Average Household size |
1.6 persons
|
2.6 persons |
| Median Household Income |
$60,891
|
$41,761 |
| Avg. # of Rooms in Household |
2.7 rooms |
4.6 rooms |
| Median Age of Housing Structure |
70 years old |
56 years old |
|
 View current housing listings in this area |
Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (10003)
What's a Zindex?
Subject to Zillow Terms of Use | |
| % Owning / % Renting |
27% / 73% |
42% / 58% |
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects 2006 statistics (most recent year available).
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