Principal's Message

It is an honor to serve as the principal of this amazing institution called Bushwick Community High School (BCHS). I came to BCHS 12 years ago from a traditional high school. As soon as I came into the school building I saw and felt that this school community was a lot different than high schools around the city. I saw on my first visit to this school the amazing relationships that staff had with students and how connected staff were to the families of the children that were being sent here. I was amazed at how a small school community can impact students across the city. It soon became apparent that the staff at BCHS was like no other in this city. It led me to understand that showing love for students and families was as essential to the success of a child as adding and subtracting is essential to mathematics. It is an honor for me to lead a school that is rich in the tradition of showing love for students and their families as it is at Bushwick Community High school. 

 

Marcus Garvey famously said  “ a people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” It is important that within this message I share with you the history of Bushwick  Community High School, as it grounds me and helps me remember why we do this important work for our community.

 

Bushwick Community High School used to be known as Bushwick Outreach Center, which was a community program that provided support for students in neighboring high schools to graduate. Bushwick Community High School comes from a tradition of helping students in our community be successful where they have not had success in their previous school.  This school was built on the foundation of supporting students by establishing strong relationships between students, families, and staff, and providing a stronger academic experience in a smaller setting. In addition, our school provides students with strong social-emotional support to help students manage stress in their lives and the social-emotional hurdles that they have to navigate that prevents them from being successful in high school. 

 

Bushwick Community High School’s success is connected to its staff, who are a representation of the community that we serve. Our staff is representative of our students’ cultures and experiences. Some of our staff are from the Bushwick community, and some are former students of Bushwick Outreach Center. Our staff understands that success does not come easy for many students. This is why our staff  are dedicated to social justice and equity, and why we focus on helping our students achieve their own wins via individualized support.
  
We serve students who are underserved and underrepresented in our city. We enroll students ages 15 through 21 who are either new to the United States and/or students who have attended at least one semester of high school and have felt that a more supportive environment would help them attain a high school diploma. Our school is focused on re-engaging students who lack motivation to be successful in school as a result of a lack of support from their previous school or students that need support in balancing life and school. 

 

The goal of Bushwick Community High School is to help students graduate high school and become productive adults that pursue a fulfilling career. While we understand that success is defined by individuals, we want to be clear in defining what success is for our school. Success for Bushwick Community High School is defined by our students completing their high school education and taking the next step towards attaining a fulfilling career. We ensure that we support our students in getting to their post secondary goals by providing them with a warm environment where they get academic and social emotional support in addition to extensive post-secondary counseling. 

 

We have an expectation of both students and parents, just like students and parents have an expectation of this school. Bushwick Outreach Center and Bushwick Community High School have always been successful when students are committed to being a “full-time student” and when parents are committed to working with our staff to ensure that their child is successful in school. We ask both parents and students to remember this commitment to our school, as it will result in positive outcomes for our students. We need the utmost support from parents in helping us help their children be successful where they have not seen much success before. We hope that our partnership brings a fruitful outcome.