NEW YORK—The national head of education will visit New York Harbor School on Friday to understand how one of the city’s most unique career and technical education public schools operates.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be observing students building underwater robots, repairing a boat, practicing water rescues, and even breeding oysters for harbor restoration. The school is situated on Governor’s Island, and accessible only by ferry.
Friday’s tour will also include Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.
Duncan’s tour is part of a national call to strengthen America’s career and technical education.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Oyster Restoration Program
See what a day is like for New York Harbor School students and learn more about their oyster restoration program.
New York Harbor School, the city’s first maritime high school in over 15 years, is looking to take environmental stewardship past recycling and composting. By actively engaging its high school students in a large-scale oyster restoration project, the school hopes to not just clean up the waterways surrounding New York, but restore it to the bountiful ecosystem it once was.”
“New York Harbor School was landlocked in Bushwick, Brooklyn, for its first seven years making it difficult to work on the project. Students had to travel 45 minutes by train to work on the project. A move to Governor’s Island in 2010 opened up opportunities that Fisher never knew were possible.
New state-of-the-art equipment and closer proximity to the water has allowed for a substantial increase in the number of oysters the students grow and maintain.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Murray Fisher, Co-founder of New York Harbor School
