High school rankings are important, but Ian Tasch said it’s more important to him to find a school that is the right fit for him personally.
Touring the Queens high school fair, Tasch and his parents concentrated on visiting the booths representing career and technical education high schools, which offer vocational training in addition to more standard academic courses.
“With a CTE school, you can walk out of high school and get a job,” said his mother, Elise Tasch.
Ian said he also liked the idea of going to a high school that could help him get a job after graduation. He earned only average scores on last year’s state math and reading tests, he said, but gets good grades in middle school.
One of the first booths the family visited was Jamaica’s Thomas A. Edison Career & Technical Education High School, where Ian was cautioned that his test scores might not be high enough for him to get in.
Ian’s mom said that they wouldn’t waste any time visiting the booths of highly selective schools; they would rather find a school where Ian would be comfortable.
“It’s about what’s doing right for your kid, how to help him be successful,” she said.
Parker Brown is a student at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.