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Advisory
Advisory is an integral aspect of the high school experience of every UASDC student. Students join a group of peers led by a teacher. Meeting regularly throughout the week, advisories provide students with the opportunity to learn about each other and develop skills that are crucial to succeeding in high school and college. Advisory groups take trips into the city at least once per month, exploring architectural and cultural sites. During the freshman year, advisory is the setting for the design education, where students will learn from visiting architects and engineers and solve different design challenges throughout the year. In the sophomore and junior years, advisory focuses on academic achievement, college preparation and an introduction to the internship. In the senior year, advisory is based around college admissions and the internships.
Design Education
While our students move through the build environment every day of their lives, most will never have more than a cursory understanding of its origin, its rationale for existing, or its tremendous impact on their society. There are, however, many students ‚ in this city of over 1 million students ‚ who are innately drawn to the built environment and have an appreciation for constructed space. They like to build models and dioramas, they draw, they sketch, they create. UASDC was created to offer a college-preparatory education especially for these students.
New York City is UASDC's classroom. Field trips, regular interaction with architecture and engineering schools, and mentorships with professionals in the architecture, engineering, and construction fields are integral to the curriculum. On- and off-campus, students participate in projects that make relevant connections between the classroom and the working world of professional engineers and architects. Through design classes and collaboration with local design firms and organizations, we aim to develop student appreciation for and understanding of architecture, and to use the design process as a tool in teaching academic subjects and communication skills, such as collaboration, presentation and criticism.
Extra-Curricular Activities and Clubs
Students need to participate in after school activities in order to build their resumes and enhance their academic learning, and develop leadership skills. Current extra-curricular programs at UASDC include soccer and baseball teams, student government, design-related trips, and music classes. Students are eligible to try out for the Park West Campus Sports teams as well. As the school grows, it will depend on student initiative to create more programs and activities.
Website
Our website, www.uasdc.org, includes the information found in this handbook, as well as updates and news. There is also a link to www.yourhomework.com, where our teachers post homework on a weekly basis. Our site is designed and maintained by Jonathan Newman at Corebrand.
Internships
While serving in internships, students learn about office culture and how it differs from the school and the home. We believe that students need to understand how to respond to high levels of expertise, how to interact with adults in an office environment and how to balance the expectations of work place. By gaining this experience in high school, students can better succeed in college and beyond.
Every senior will intern for four hours per week, split into tow days. Most internship will take place off-site, at a firm or organization. Internships do not need to be design focus; positions in human resources, accounting or public relations are acceptable as well. Interns do not receive payment for their work, since they will receive one full credit for the year.
Mentoring
At Urban Assembly schools, mentoring involves a partnership between a student and a professional adult. Mentors advise students on jobs and careers, help students to set realistic professional goals, and provide academic support to students through homework help and tutoring. Many of our students can benefit from this mentoring relationship, since the mentor can offer a perspective different from a teacher or a parent and serve as an additional monitor of the student's progress. We train mentors to effectively tutor and advise students, and we ensure that there are fun activities established throughout the year to keep mentors and mentors engages and excited about the program.
We will launch a pilot program for twenty sophomores in the 2005-2006 school year. Our mentoring program will serve those students who require additional support in their coursework. Mentors will help student to complete homework assignments, prepare for Regents exams and boost their study skills.
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