The Beacon High School in Manhattan is not your average high school. Yes, all high schools have their bullies, horrible cafeteria food, slackers, and an evil teacher here or there, but the Beacon School has a different type of atmosphere. There is no all-powerful captain of the football team; heck, there is no football team to begin with. There is no social hierarchy. The staff, students, security guards, all have a friendly relationship. Of course, not everybody loves everybody, but, if that were the case, it would be a scary situation. Beacon is an environment that is both academically challenging, and socially welcoming.

In an environment that is teacher-friendly, students easily and willingly fit right in with teachers. There is no hatred between students and teachers in Beacon. Students gladly work for the school and help teachers out if time allows. Teachers openly show their ability to act as if they were kids. This is the case because most of the teachers are fairly young and understanding. The relationship between students and teachers allows for a group of people to act as a community, instead of a typical school.

The students that make up Beacon are quite diverse, but that only adds to fundamental values of Beacon. Students of all nationalities don’t allow that to block them from reaching their social and academic goals. Diverse backgrounds and personalities allow all types of students to reach out to other students. Different types of students also add excitement to the classrooms. All in all, the diversity in the students make Beacon a unique experience, instead of just 6 hours of learning.

The combination of diversity among students, and understanding teachers, proves to be a winning combination. Beacon might not be as popular and academically challenging as Styvesant, but Beacon doesn’t have a suicide rate. Beacon is not molded into the perfect high school, but it is not molded into the worst one either.

Contact information for The Beacon School:
227 West 61street New York, NY 10023
Telephone (212) 245-2807 Fax (212) 245-2179
E-mail sstoll@beaconschool.org Web Site www.beaconschool.org