Bard High School Early College aims for Bronx campus
BY JASON COHEN
A high school that offers
two years of college classes
is hoping to come to the borough.
Bard High School Early
College, which has schools
in Long Island City and the
Lower East Side, is aiming to
expand to the Bronx, said Stephen
Tremaine, vice president
for early colleges, Bard
College.
Bard has schools in six
states and on Tuesday, November
12, applied to have one
here as well.
“There is a need in the
Bronx,” Tremaine said. “It has
the lowest college success rate
in the city. Providing a quality
education to young students is
a special thing.”
Bard College partnered
with the NYC Department of
Education to create the fi rst
Bard High School Early College
(BHSEC), in Manhattan,
which opened in 2001.
BHSEC is a public, fouryear
early college high school
that adapts the mission of Simon’s
Rock and Bard College
to a public school setting and
allows students to earn an associate
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, NOVEMBER 2 38 9-DECEMBER 5, 2019 BTR
in arts degree from
Bard College as well as a high
school diploma.
Tremaine told the Bronx
Times, 7,000 youngsters apply
for the schools every year with
only 150 spots. Having a school
like this in the borough will
give students a better chance
to succeed, he said.
“There’s a real misalignment
between the need and
the resources and we want
to fi x that,” he stressed. “We
think it’s time to at least provide
some more seats.”
With so many applications,
the most important aspect is
the interview. The students
really need to show a desire to
achieve and drive to go above
and beyond, Tremaine said.
He noted that in the long
run, attending Bard would
save families money.
“We’re not a cookie cutter
model that will reciprocate every
facet of what we’re doing
in Manhattan and Queens and
do it in the Bronx and say everybody
deal with it,” he said.
“Bard has been doing this
work in schools for 20 years
and the Bronx would be the
benefi ciary. They fi nish their
Students at the Bard HS Early College in Baltimore
Photo Courtesy Bard HS Early College
degrees faster and at a higher
rate.”
Tremaine and his colleagues
have met with Borough
President Ruben Diaz’s
staff for the past two years.
According to John DeSio, a
spokesman for Diaz, the borough
president has consistently
called for the expansion
of accelerated learning options
for every grade in the Bronx,
and this program has the potential
to meet those needs in
high school grades.
“Our offi ce would encourage
the Department of Education
to bring a new Bard campus
to the Bronx, just like they
have in other boroughs,” De-
Sio said. “We will continue to
work with parents, educators,
administrators, students and
the public-at-large to ensure
that neither a child’s zip code
nor race determines his or
her ability to access advanced
learning options.”
All CUNY and SUNY universities
accept the Bard High
School Early College higher
education credits, as well as
an increasing number of private
schools.
Students at the Bard HS Early College in Queens
Photo Courtesy Bard HS Early College