| The Beacon School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
522 West 44th Street 10036 United States | |
| Coordinates | 40°45′41″N 73°59′46″W / 40.7614°N 73.9960°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Selective Public High School |
| Established | 1993 |
| School district | New York City Department of Education |
| NCES School ID | 360007800592[1] |
| Principal | Johnny Ventura |
| Faculty | 65 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Number of students | 1,585 |
| Color(s) | Blue and white |
| Athletics | Baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, fencing, indoor track, outdoor track, softball, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, wrestling, soccer |
| Athletics conference | PSAL |
| Mascot | Blue Demons |
| Newspaper | The Beacon Beat |
| Website | www |
The Beacon School (also called Beacon High School) is a college-preparatory public high school in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City near Times Square and the Theater District. Beacon's curriculum exceeds the standards set by the New York State Regents, and as a member of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, its students are exempt from taking most Regents exams.[2] Instead, students present performance-based projects at the end of each semester to panels of teachers. In 2019, the school received roughly 6,000 applications for 360 ninth-grade seats, yielding an acceptance rate of approximately 6.2%.[3]
Beacon was founded in 1993 as an alternative to the Regents Exam-based testing system in favor of portfolio-based assessment. The school's purpose was also purportedly to keep class sizes down and total student population at, or just above, one thousand students. Over time, Beacon was forced to accept certain aspects of the Regents-based testing curriculum, and to abandon its portfolio-assessment system as the sole method of graduation, which had been the case until mid-1999. Beacon now utilizes, in its own words, "traditional testing ... [but] our students' progress is largely assessed through performance-based projects, completed individually and in groups. To graduate, students must present their best work to panels of teachers."[4]
- ^ a b "Search for Public Schools - Beacon High School (360007800592)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ "Performance Assessment.org: Member High Schools". performanceassessment.org. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
- ^ Shapiro, Eliza (November 15, 2019). "Why White Parents Were at the Front of the Line for the School Tour". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ "Beacon's Curriculum Aims". The Beacon School. Archived from the original on May 19, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2011.