Bard High School Early College Bronx: A Comprehensive Overview

Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) aims to improve the transition from high school to college and increase access to and success in higher education. As a campus of BEC, Bard High School Early College Bronx (Bard Bronx) is a tuition-free satellite campus of Bard College, a nonprofit liberal arts college based in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, defined by academic quality, innovation, and its public service commitment. Bard Bronx seeks to inspire curiosity, a love of learning, and civic engagement in its students; equip and empower students to access and complete higher education; and prepare its graduates for a range of educational, professional, and civic pathways.

This alternative to the traditional high school is founded on the belief that many young people are ready and eager to do serious college work at an earlier age. Based on the premise that these young adults’ ambition to learn should be taken seriously, Bard Bronx’s four-year academic program enables students to earn a high school diploma and a tuition-free Bard College Associate of Arts degree and 60 transferable college credits, alongside a high school diploma, at no cost to students or their families.

Academic Objectives and Program Structure

Bard High School Early College Bronx’s academic objective is to provide an intellectually challenging and inspiring academic program for students and enable them to take a full-time college course of study in place of the 11th and 12th grades, free of charge. The BHSEC program provides a seamless transition for students from middle school to high school to college and results in college readiness and the opportunity for students to complete 60 transferable college credits and an associate’s degree from Bard College, while simultaneously fulfilling the requirements for a high school diploma. Sensitivity to the moral and ethical dimensions of thought and action, and developing the ability to make informed moral and ethical decisions.

The BHSEC program is structured into two phases: a high school program (9th and 10th grades) and a college program (Years One and Two, replacing the 11th and 12th grades).

High School Program (9th and 10th Grades)

In the high school program (9th and 10th grades), a more structured high school curriculum helps students ease into college coursework. All high school classes are taught by the same college faculty that teach in the college program, and classwork incorporates similar critical reading, writing, and thinking techniques. Alongside a robust network of academic support resources, the high school classes help students more adequately prepare for the demands of their rigorous college classes in the last two years.

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College Program (Years One and Two)

In the college program - in ”Year One and Year Two,” in place of the 11th and 12th grades - students take a college course of study in the liberal arts and sciences. All classes are taught by college faculty who are active and accomplished in their fields. Classes are inquiry- and discussion-based, encouraging active engagement with professors and peers.

Core Requirements and Graduation

In addition to fulfilling course requirements, students must take eight semesters of Physical Education, one semester of Health Education, and must pass five New York State Regents examinations in order to receive the New York State High School Regents Diploma. The required Regents exams are English Common Core, one science (Chemistry, Earth Science, Living Environment, or Physics), one mathematics, (Common Core Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II), one social studies (US History and Government, Global Studies) and 1 more exam.

In their last two years at BHSEC, students are encouraged to explore a variety of fields and to build their skills as independent thinkers, as critical readers, researchers and writers, and to prepare to transition smoothly into a four-year college of their choice.

Bard Writing and Thinking Pedagogy

A core component of our academic model is Bard Writing and Thinking pedagogy, designed by the Bard Institute for Writing and Thinking, which infuses the Bard Early College classroom. Every fall semester at Bard Early College begins with The Writing & Thinking Workshop, a multi-day intensive learning experience that provides students in every grade level with interesting exercises in critical reading and writing upon which they can build in their regular courses.

Based on the principle that strong writing and close reading enrich and enliven the Classroom experience in all disciplines, the workshop sets the stage for the kind of interdisciplinary, intensive, writing work students will engage with during their time at BHSEC. Faculty members across disciplines include W&T in their classrooms, using short writing and critical reading exercises, including “focused free writes,” “text explosions” “believing and doubting” exercises, and accompanying group discussions about the texts at hand to facilitate dialogue and as a tool for reflection, skill assessment, and continued development. Most importantly, Writing and Thinking pedagogy helps students learn how to use writing as a powerful tool for developing their thinking and voice.

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The Seminar Sequence

The Seminar Sequence is the signature humanities experience of the Bard Early College program. The four-semester interdisciplinary Seminar Sequence exposes students to seminal texts from antiquity to modernity, which students engage through critical reading and interpretation. Readings include Homer’s Iliad, Plato’s Republic, Dante’s Inferno, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Darwin’s The Origin of Species, Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Kafka’s The Trial, and Coates’ Between the World and Me, among others.

Expansion and Success of BHSEC

Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) is a series of early college schools with multiple campuses in the United States, enrolling approximately 3,000 students across all campuses. The schools allow students to begin their college studies two years early, graduating with a Bard College Associate in Arts degree in addition to their high school diploma. Students complete their high school studies in the ninth and tenth grade, after which they begin taking credit-bearing college courses under the same roof. Unlike some dual-enrollment programs, students stay on the same campus for all four years, and both high school- and college-level courses are taught by the same faculty.

The first campus, Bard High School Early College Manhattan, opened in New York City in 2001 as a partnership between Bard College and various local public school systems. There are now eight Bard High School Early College campuses across the country. As of 2023, over 4,000 A.A. degrees have been awarded at BHSEC campuses. The schools have a 98% high school graduation rate and a 95% A.A. degree attainment rate. Many BHSEC graduates transfer their 60+ college credits to another college or university and finish their Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in two more years; others opt to study for three or four years in their subsequent institutions.

Admissions

Applicants must maintain a B letter grade of 85 percent or higher to be considered. Bard has its own academic standards, and if a student meets them, they will be called to a one-on-one interview. In advance of their opening in the Bronx, the school's admissions and diversity practices were called into question.

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