Manhattan Hunter Science High School Graduates First Class

With 100% Seniors Graduating

Date: Friday, June 22, 2007
Contact: Meredith Halpern (meredith.halpern@hunter.cuny.edu)
Phone: (212) 772-4068

Manhattan Hunter Science High School (MHSHS) today celebrated the graduation of its first class, with 77 students and a 100 percent graduation rate.  Ninety percent of the students have college plans, with 21 of them enrolled at Hunter College for the fall, including one at the CUNY Honors College.

MHSHS opened in September 2003 with a focus on preparing students for college who are especially interested in science.  The school is funded by the New York City Department of Education, and received a $400,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, administered through the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab addressed the graduates saying, “This school was an experiment for all of us – teachers, administrators, parents, and students.  How wonderful to look around today and see how well the experiment worked.  We tested our hypothesis in a living laboratory, and the proof of our success is the beautiful sea of caps and gowns before us.”

By August, 100 percent of the class will have graduated, a percentage well above the average graduation rate in New York City of 50-60 percent.  Among the colleges where members of the MHSHS class of 2007 are headed include UCLA, the University of Michigan, Columbia and Vanderbilt. Seventeen percent of the class has already earned between 20 – 30 college credits.

About Hunter
With a highly diverse student population of more than 20,000, Hunter is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the first choice among all CUNY applicants. Founded in 1870, the College offers more than 170 undergraduate and graduate programs. Hunter is noted for its professional schools in education, health sciences, nursing and social work, as well as its excellence in the liberal arts. Heralded as the "Crown Jewel of CUNY" by The Princeton Review, Hunter College has a distinguished reputation for nurturing talented minority scientists and meeting the challenge of providing high-quality science education in the 21st century. The College also oversees the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12. For more information about Hunter College, please visit our Web site at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu.

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