Outstanding Performing Arts School Manhattan’s Professional Performing Arts School is like “one big family” according to students. Created in 1990 to educate students wanting to earn junior high and high school diplomas as well as train professionally and vocationally in the arts, PPAS provides an environment rich in academic and arts courses. Each morning, students 
By Lauren Rothman Science & Technology Crystal Bonds, principal of the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at the City College of New York, calls her school “Manhattan’s treasure.” “We have phenomenal students who have exceeded way beyond our expectations, and their own,” she said. The High School for Math, Science and Engineering (HSMSE) 
Special Needs School At Winston Prep on West 17th Street in Chelsea, one parent will never forget the look on her daughter’s face as she won a “Coach’s Award” one year and “Most Improved” the next for her school’s track team. Suzanne Engel’s daughter, Shira, was not a very fast or skilled runner, she was 
Rising Star By Kathleen Culliton The fourth graders learn to play trumpets. The kindergarteners grow vegetables in Battery Park. The middle-schoolers play chess at lunch. This is PS/IS 276, Battery Park City School, an elementary school that goes beyond test prep. Battery Park City School has already earned an excellent academic reputation among New York 
Outstanding High School By Susan Armitage A rigorous, honors-level academic program and opportunities to take college courses at its partner, Baruch College, set this school apart. But Baruch College Campus High School (BCCH), located in Manhattan’s District 2, is about more than just book learning. Through community service and a four-year advisory program, the school strives 
Outstanding High school By David Gibbons Uncommon is one organization that would probably be happy, someday soon, to convert its name to a misnomer. Uncommon Charter High School, which opened in 2009 and will graduate its first senior class next June, is located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in a new building where students and staff 
Outstanding Grade School By John Friia The motto of PS 199—Jessie Isador Straus Elementary School, located at 270 W. 70th St.—is “Work hard. Be kind,” and Principal Katy Rosen explains the school strives to fulfill those words. Named after the former ambassador to France and president of R.H. Macy & Co., Jessie Isador Straus Elementary 
Outstanding Grade School By Emily Field Three years ago, St. Stephen of Hungary School, a pre-K through 8th grade Catholic school, was at risk of closing due to low student enrollment. Like many Catholic schools, St. Stephen found itself in the position of needing more students to stay afloat. St. Stephen focused on attracting more 
