Bard High School Early College, an elite screened public high school, is set to open in East New York this fall.
The school allows juniors and seniors to take college courses alongside their high school classes, and students graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree — along with 60 transferable college credits from Bard College.
According to the school’s website, high school students — especially those from low-income backgrounds — face a huge challenge in accessing higher education after high school graduation.
Some of those students also struggle to succeed when they reach college, and are forced to drop out before earning their degree. According to Bard’s statistics, their students — including first-generation college students – enroll in and graduate from college at much higher rates than their counterparts across the country.
“We are excited to launch a new campus in Brooklyn as we expand Bard College’s partnership with the NYCDOE,” said Dumaine Williams, Vice President and Dean for Early Colleges at Bard, in a statement. “The new campus will allow the core components of the Bard Early College model, including providing students with rigorous college level coursework, deep immersion in the liberal arts and sciences and close contact with faculty who are active scholars and practitioners in their fields, to be accessible to even more students and families in New York City.”
The Brooklyn campus, located at 301 Vermont St., will serve up to 500 students — with priority for students from Ocean Hill, Brownsville, East New York, and other local Brooklyn neighborhoods. Bard High School Early College is not considered a specialized high school, but it is screened, so students must have to apply for admission. The school building is also home to J.H.S. 292 Margaret S. Douglas and two achievement first charter schools.
For the 2024-25 school year, the Brooklyn campus will enroll 125 students entering 9th grade and 25 entering 11th grade. Applications are open online through April 19. Per Bard’s website, the school wants applicants with at least an 85% cumulative GPA, and prospective students must also fill out a three-part assessment, with two writing prompts and a video statement.
Four out of five seats at the Brooklyn campus will be saved for students living in some of Brooklyn’s “most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods,” according to Bard.
Per city statistics, the average household income in East New York is $46,679, and nearly one-third of households earn less than 30% of the Area Median Income. While more than 40% of East New York residents over age 25 finished high school, only 21.2% have an Associate’s degree, and only 12.8% have a Bachelor’s. Almost 70% of students who started high school in the area in 2014 had graduated by 2018.
