High School II

HIGH SCHOOL II is a film about Central Park East Secondary School, a successful alternative high school in New York's Spanish Harlem, 85 to 95% of whose graduates go on to four-year colleges. The film illustrates the school's emphasis on the "Habits of Mind" program (weighing evidence; awareness of multiple points of view; seeing connections and relationships; speculating on possibilities; and assessing values). Sequences illustrating the school's approach to learning include: classroom activities in the humanities and sciences; family conferences; discussions of race, class and gender; faculty meetings; disciplinary problems; sex education; conflict resolution by students; and student council meetings.