High School II

A Successful Alternative High School in New York

HIGH SCHOOL II is a film about Central Park East Secondary School, a successful alternative high school in New York's Spanish Harlem, 85-95% of whose graduates go on to four year colleges. The film illustrates the school's emphasis on the "Habits of Mind" program (weighing evidence; awareness of multiple points of view; seeing connections and relationships; speculating on possibilities; and assessing values).

Sequences illustrating the school's approach to learning include: classroom activities in the humanities and sciences; family conferences; discussions of race, class, and gender; faculty meetings; disciplinary problems; sex education; conflict resolution by students; and student council meetings.

"Mr. Wiseman is now a master of the epic documentary. (CPESS)... urges its students, a multiracial mix that includes political organizers and teen-age parents, to talk, listen and think for themselves." - Caryn James, The New York Times