2014 Excellence on the Waterfront Awards
The Waterfront Center
Marine and Science Technology ‘MAST’ Center a New York City Public School located on Governors Island
Submitted by Lorraine Grillo New York City School Construction Authority and Murray Fisher New York Harbor Foundation New York, New York
In 2002, the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School opened as the city’s first maritime high school. Funds for the “MAST Center” came from the non-profit New York Harbor Foundation and earmarks from City Council. For its first eight years, the school was located in Bushwick, Brooklyn, at the former Bushwick High School. Even after moving to Governors Island in 2011, students were cut off from direct water access. The “MAST Center” created a waterfront facility reusing a former Coast Guard small boat station cantilevered over the harbor, which provides direct water access for students. This location has also allowed a water circulation system which supports marine science and aquaculture, the school’s oyster dock is nearby. A third building is planned so the school can accommodate 300 additional students, but the MAST Center’s programming is already having a transformational impact on the educational experience. The facility is enabling 450 students to gain access to a unique education designed around marine sciences and environmental stewardship. The school “attempts to relate every aspect of its curriculum to the water,” using the harbor as an
“outdoor laboratory.” Students are on the water twice a week engaging in activities ranging from building boats, to sailing and diving, to leading the Billion Oyster Project, a ground-breaking initiative to re-stock the harbor with a billion live oysters during the next 20 years. The school’s aquaculture program was certified in May by New York State, the first and only such program in the state and one of few at the high school level in the country. Students come from every borough in New York City. Over 90 percent are African-American or Hispanic, and 75 percent qualify for free lunch programs. Perhaps the MAST Center’s greatest sign of success is its impact on these students. Only 15 percent of incoming freshmen can swim, but 85 percent pass a swim test by graduation. At the former Bushwick High School, just 22 percent of students graduated. At the Harbor School, 70 percent graduated in 2009, and over 90 percent of graduates went on to college. The school’s impact is nothing short of transformational. It is producing more than successful students - it is producing the stewards of our future waterfronts.
Copyright © 2014 The Waterfront Center. May not be reproduced without express written permission.
The Waterfront Center
Copyright Š 2014 The Waterfront Center. May not be reproduced without express written permission.
2014 Excellence on the Waterfront Awards