School Profile
School Model & Educational Approach
We are a transfer school, accepting students who have spent at least one semester at another school and chose our community as a better fit. As a result, we are intentional about individualized college and postsecondary counseling.
We work with a Transformative Justice lens, aiming to disrupt racial inequities in education by creating restorative, humanizing, justice-seeking teaching and experiences.
Like all NYC Outward Bound schools, we implement the nationally recognized EL Education model, featuring rigorous learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. We use hands-on learning with real-world application. Leadership, active citizenship, and character development go hand-in-hand with academic rigor and challenge.
Coursework
Because our teachers are not limited to teaching within the confines of Regents exams, they develop meaningful curriculum that offers depth and opportunity for critical thinking. Course names are similar to what a student would find in a college course catalog. While we do not offer AP classes, college courses at Baruch College and John Jay College are available to students in their Junior and Senior years.
Graduation & Assessment - PBATS
PBATs, or Performance-Based Assessment Tasks, are 10- to 20-page analytical papers in the areas of: literary analysis, social studies, mathematics and science. They are researched, developed, and revised under the supervision of a teacher and publicly defended before a panel of faculty and visiting experts.
PBATs offer students the opportunity to produce the kind of sophisticated, high-level work typically expected in college courses. PBATs are an authentic and powerful indicator of students’ readiness for the rigors of college study.
Our students fulfill graduation assessment requirements with Performance Based Assessment Tasks (PBATs) in place of Regents exams. Students at James Baldwin do take the ELA Regents exam.
Intensives
Twice a year, regular classes are suspended for Intensives, which are special courses that last 5-10 full school days. Students can study topics in-depth, participate in an adventure / fitness program, or receive intense, targeted academic support.
Crew
Crews are teams of 12-16 students led by an adult Crew Advisor, who is also a teacher. Crews focus on building essential character and academic skills through a combination of team building, student-centered academic support, conflict resolution, and adventure. Crews meet four times per week.
Student Led Conference
Twice a year, students present their strengths, growth areas, and goals in a Student-Led Conference with their advisor and a family member or caring adult. SLCs take the place of traditional parent-teacher conferences, empowering students to take ownership for their academic performance and learning.
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Grading System
At JBS, learning targets are an important component of our assessments. Learning targets are specific skill and knowledge objectives. Teachers use a 1-4 scale to determine student proficiency in relationship to the course learning targets. Many learning targets are assessed using rubrics. We utilize a 1-4 grading scale: 1=55, 2=65, 3=85, 4=100.
Partnerships
We have partnerships with a wide variety of organizations and programs. Some of our partnerships include:
NYC Outward Bound Schools
NYU College Advising Corps
Integral Yoga
Hudson Guild
The High Line
The Possibility Project
Camba Learning to Work
New York Live Arts
Hudson River Community Sailing
New York Performance Standards Consortium
The Green Foundation
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
College Now @ Baruch College & John Jay College of Criminal Justice
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