Bronx program helps 8th graders prepare for high school application process
NEW YORK -- Eighth graders across New York City have received their offers from high schools, and for students who got offers from more than one, Friday is their deadline to decide.
CBS New York visited a program in the Bronx that makes getting to this point a little easier for students.
The last time we spoke to eighth grader Jaleen Coronel might as well have been a lifetime ago. In reality, it was November of last year, as she was getting ready to apply to high schools.
"I think I need to have a feeling of what I want to be when I'm older in order to choose a high school I want to go to," Coronel said.
On Wednesday, we asked why anyone would ask a 13-year-old they haven't seen in a few months if they had figured out yet what they want to do with the rest of their life.
"When I was applying, I realized I didn't know what I wanted to be," Coronel said.
Coronel has decided on Bard in the Bronx, her third choice. She said she was interested in an arts-focused program, but she wasn't able to build a portfolio of her work in time to submit. It's a common issue and resulted in the creation of programs like Whedco's portfolio class at South Bronx Early College Academy, a charter school.
"We teach the students to photograph their work and how to digitize it, because all of that has to be uploaded for the high school application process," art teacher Marci Lamb said.
Nine of the 13 students in the class got into one of their top choices and the second year of the class has 20 students enrolled already. Yusely Paulino is headed to Beacon, her first choice.
"I almost broke into tears. Like, I was literally jumping up and down," Paulino said. "Days go by and I come in here, it kind of like helped me build a hobby."
"A safe space. I feel like I can just pick up this pencil and do what I want and then magic and, boom, I have this," eighth grader Iris Rodriguez added. "It's like being free."
Rodriguez is heading to Fordham High School for the Arts. She submitted a self portrait in her application. It shows her past portrait in the background, symbolizing her progress, or another word she likes better.
"Improvement. I like that word, because it's just ... it's good!" Rodriguez said.
Eighth graders who applied to selective specialized schools and regular admission schools have until Friday to decide which they'd like to attend.