My Research Related to Newtown High School

Newtown High School is situated on 48-01 90th street, Elmhurst, NY 11373. On October 2nd, 2018, I went to Newtown High School to request an authorization to do my field work. Ever since I arrived at the school on that day, I felt welcomed by all the staff members from the school and continued to do all my field work over there. Newtown High School has approximately over one thousand students from different ethnicities including: Asian, African American, Hispanic, Native American and Caucasian. The school has about one hundred forty staff members with different levels of expertise.

This high school has different programs for the students including: Arista, Art Institute, Business Institute, College Now (Advance Placement Courses), Credit Recovery, Independent Study, Extended Day (night school), Instructional Support, Leadership, National Honor Society, Pre-Engineering, Advanced placement courses, Tech Pre-Studies, Queens Community House. S.A.T Review and Saturday Academic. In addition, the high school also support the English Language Learners by offering five different level of ESL classes through the SIFE Program. The five different levels are entering, emerging, transitioning, expanding, and commanding.

The school supports English Language Learners by making sure the students become enthusiastic learners inside and outside of the school. The school wants to make sure students become fluent in English and also to have an understanding of other cultures so that their mindsets are able to expand intellectually to meet their educational needs. The school is structured in six various learning communities: Ninth Grader Success Academic, Engineering Aces, Academics for Business Careers, International Pioneer, Math, Science & Forensics, and Visual Media and Performing Arts Academy.

On the day I visited Newtown High School, I interviewed a few teachers and asked them how they feel about the school. Below contain the answers I received from the teachers:

Teacher A: Teacher A informed me in the interview that she has been teaching in Newtown High School for twenty-two years. She feels very positive in working at the school as she feels that Newtown High School is the best high school to teach. The one component that Teacher A likes about the school is the different kind of students that she teaches in a school year. Most of the students that she teaches are normally from different countries outside the United States. Must of the students are immigrants. At one point during a particular year, she taught a representation of fifteen different nations. She affirms that this is a valuable experience from her because she has a lot to learn from them.

Teacher B: Unlike Teacher A, Teacher B feels depressed about teaching in Newtown High School because he is unable to use his full knowledge and expertise to teach his students. He is only allowed to teach from the textbook. The only occasion that he is able to use his full knowledge is with his children at home. The teacher feels that some students are in the classroom to learn while others are there to only play around.

Teacher C: This teacher feels that there should be interventions that should be required to be implemented where students can be guided to their maximum potential when it comes to behavior and academics. According to Teacher C, the school administration needs to have a stronger reinforcement on reducing the number of fights that occur on a weekly basis. They need to motivate students to arrive on time to their classes and set rigorous school rules. Throughout these ideas, the school would allow students to have a safer and knowledgeable environment where they can learn and acquire positive skills to perform successfully not just in their academics, but also in their decision-making process of their everyday lives.

Teacher D: Just like Teacher B, Teacher D feels unsatisfied about working in the school because of the way the school administration operates. On a yearly basis, the school administration expects her to do miracles while some students are not motivated to either attend school, arrive to class on time, or to do work. She expressed to me that she tries to help them out on a consistent basis, but they don’t take advantage of the opportunity because they are not interested.

I also had the chance to speak with parents around the school who lives in the community in order for me to understand the racial /ethnic relations. Here are the parents; comments about Newtown High School:

Parent A: He states that in the school environment and the community, it is common to have legal and illegal documented immigrant students and nonstudents enrolled in the school. He stated that he heard negative comments amongst people about illegal immigrants and ask each other questions based on the reason they are allowed in the United States.

Parent B: Parent B stated that she has been experiencing a great understanding of the immigrants in the community. She has no complaints at all.

I spoke to a few students while doing my observation and I had the opportunity to ask them how do they feel about the school. Some students indicated they feel frustrated because they are English Language learners and they still cannot communicate with other students who can’t speak their language. Even though they do get a lot of help in order for them to learn English they still feel disappointed. However, with everything else in the school they stated they feel satisfied.

I also had the opportunity to speak with the principal of the school. The principal stated that his main goal is to make sure all the students graduate on time. He believes all the students should be treated the same unconditionally. The principal said he makes sure his staff, the community, the students and parents work together in order to help the students to improve academically so that they can be prepare for their future. The principal expressed that he sees all the students as human beings with strength, weakness and needs. In addition, he supports English Language Learners. He stated he needs to make sure every student learns no matter their level of English proficiency or educational background.

There are a few issues that I have found in the community. These include: female students becoming pregnant and giving birth at a young age, the limitation of economic resource, the use of drugs and alcohol by the students, and racism in the neighborhood. These various issues can have a detrimental effect on the students’ future.

The difference between schooling and education are that schooling is going to school and learning what appears in the curriculum. Education is a broader and deeper process that includes the learning of the subjects taught in the school. This also involves the learning of how to be a person is capable of understanding that all human beings have the same rights. Schooling is like the wording of a poem and education is the poem. Schooling and education differs in many aspects, but can also have many similarities. When discussing schooling, it is an explanation of what the bureaucracy intends for the students. For instance, schooling involves taking a deep look at your personal course transcripts, previous written papers, and specific assigned books. On the other hand, education focused on the lesson is learned from previous educational experience.