BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Once nicknamed the “pride and joy of Bed-Stuy,” Boys and Girls High School has seen its share of struggles over the years through principal turnover, low enrollment and academic strain.
But the Fulton Street school is “on the rise,” according to new interim acting principal Grecian Harrison who is seeking to return it to its glory days with a variety of new initiatives and campus collaborations.
The high school was tapped by the city as a Renewal School for its recent underperformance. Since her arrival in July 2016, Harrison said she has sought to “change the perception” outsiders may have of Boys and Girls in partnership with two other schools that share the four-story building at 1700 Fulton St.
Harrison worked at Boys and Girls as a teacher under Principal Frank Mickens, who was credited by alumni with turning around the troubled school after taking over in 1986.
Most recently, she served as assistant principal at Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School for 13 years.
“It was just really paying homage and respect to the legacy,” Harrison said of her return.
“The historic Boys and Girls High School, as I like to call it, is one that has a really deep history, where there are so many stakeholders that have a vested and continue to have a vested interest in the success of the school… so I wanted to make sure that I did it justice.”
Whether it's by implementing a new, campus-wide College and Career Readiness Center this spring, or expanding the school’s theater program that helped feature two students in Spike Lee’s upcoming “She’s Gotta Have It” series, the school is on the move, she explained.
DNAinfo New York sat down with Harrison to discuss the school’s new initiatives, challenges she faces and plans for Boys and Girls’ future. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What were your main goals when you first took over?
Even though there had been so many things that had been written about Boys and Girls High School, I noticed that they had made some strides and the graduation rate had increased. [42 percent in 2013-14 to 50 percent in 2014-15, per city figures.]
When I first came in, the projected enrollment was maybe from 276 students and we’re currently at 386, and our numbers are growing in terms of the number of students that have applied to our school. So what that told me is that there is a growing interest in Boys and Girls High School and that I think that people sometimes take that for granted.
The other thing I started to do when I came in was really take a good look at data in terms of how our students were performing overall. I wanted to get some ideas about what the needs were, in terms of how we were running our extended program which provides opportunities for more time on-task with students. ...With our PM school classes, they run until approximately 6 p.m. and we have our Saturday Academy which goes until 1 p.m.
What are some challenges you experienced?
We’ve have some challenges with staffing. I think because I came to the school so late, and then trying to really make sure that we have opportunities to find teachers to fill some of the vacancies that we’ve had. Our support centers have been working hard with us to ensure that we were able to do so.
Can you describe some initiatives you recently implemented at the school?
I’ve been working extremely hard with my attendance committee and right now Boys and Girls High School is running to date at least 86 percent attendance, so we are excited about that… there’s been a lot of push in terms of communications that have gone out to families to also get them to understand how important that is.
We have invited parents in for college workshops on social and emotional needs. I’m happy to say we are getting ready to open our Boys and Girls High School Wellness and Meditation Center. This is a place where students will be able to engage in yoga, meditation, relaxation, and it’s all a part of our wellness initiative — and that’s not only to educate the mind, but the body and the soul.
We are also creating a College and Career Readiness Center that is going to be a shared center with all three schools. We will have a dedicated counselor and support staff that will work with students directly on college and post-secondary studies. It’s not just for seniors, we are starting in the ninth grade.
Some people talk about a stigma associated with Boys and Girls, of it being unsafe and struggling. What would you say to them?
I would say that I would encourage them to visit our school, to talk to some of our student athletes, to talk to some members of our student council who will share with them their experiences, and our student advisory.
And that was something I started this year, where our ninth graders as well as our 12th graders are currently engaged in an advisory structure which ensures that one time every day they have a caring adult that is with them that is providing resources for them, our guidance and support staff use it as a time to bring in guest speakers.
You have so many young people that are persevering and that experience so many different challenges that we don’t hear about the AP environmental course that they may be taking or the experience they had when they visited the African-American museum. We have CTE classes in engineering, architectural drafting, computer technology.
I think that the perception sometimes goes back to when we’re talking about a huge school, large numbers and right now, Boys and Girls High School compared to years ago, when it was almost 4,000, is a much smaller place. And I think it’s one of the things that you see from the staff. It’s a dedicated staff that’s really close knit, they’re very close, and we know our kids.
As a school that is co-located with two others, how do you collaborate with other principals?
We have definitely become a team. One of the first things that we are partnering with is the College and Career Readiness Center, but in addition we’ve discussed a lot of activities that we would like to see happen, such as how to increase parent engagement across the board to really work and think about activities that may change people’s perception of Boys and Girls.
I think that the more that we’re doing this and we’re working as a campus, it helps us and our students as well as our stakeholders to see that this is indeed a family.
This is a community-based school so there’s a lot of resources that we share, and in going forward we’re also looking to share resources starting with guidance counselors but also advance placement classes and other things.
What are your goals for the future?
I would like to bring more advancement placement classes, but I would also like to bring in more classes around the arts. For AP classes, currently we have environmental science, I’m looking to bring in ELA and History.
For the arts, we have theater, but by the time I came in my music teacher had left and there was no art teacher so it has been a little challenging. So right now I’m looking to hire an art or music teacher.
What is one important thing you want people to know about the high school?
I want them to know that Boys and Girls High School is definitely on the rise. That we are a school that has moved and is showing improvements towards our increased enrollment, our increase in overall attendance, as well as performance of our students.
I think that over the last few years this school has really persevered through some adversities and I think the staff, the alumni, the community advisory board, and our students, our wonderful, phenomenal students are the reason for a lot of these changes.
It’s the staple of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. I mean, no matter what, no matter where you go, anyone and everyone knows about Boys and Girls High School.
