Academics

What courses are required?

 

All Tech students are required to take: 

2 semesters of Design & Drafting for Production (NYSED Art Requirement)
2 semesters of Digital Electronics (Math elective credit) 8 semesters of English Language Arts

8 semesters of Social Studies (4 Global History, 2 US History, 1 US Government, 1 Economics)

6 semesters of Mathematics(Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry)

6 semesters of Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)

6 semesters of World Languages (Chinese, French, Italian or Spanish)

8 semesters of Physical Education & 1 semester of Health Education

a “Major” concentration.

 

The completion and passing of NY State Regents exams are also required

 

At Tech, all students must pursue the Advanced Regents Diploma which requires passing: 

ELA Regents (11th grade), Global History Regents (10th grade), US History Regents (11th grade), Algebra Regents (8th or 9th Grade),
Geometry Regents (9th or 10th grade), Trigonometry Regents (10th or 11th grade), Living Environment Regents (8th or 9th Grade),
Chemistry Regents (10th grade), Physics Regents (9th or 11th grade), World Language (10th or 11th grade)

 

To earn a diploma at Brooklyn Technical High School that is endorsed by the National Consortium of Specialized Secondary Schools for Math, Science & Technology, as evidenced by an additional seal on your diploma and transcripts, you must complete the following requirements:

• Earn an Advanced Regents Diploma by satisfying all requirements set forth by the City and State of New York.

• Complete the required Community Service

• Pass Freshmen Design & Drafting for Production, Sophomore Digital Electronics, Chemistry & Physics (Including the Regents).

• Complete all courses required for your major

 

Are electives available? When can students take them?

Depending on grades in certain pre-requisite courses, Honors and Advanced Placement electives are available. Other electives are also available depending on space availability and/ or Major class flexibility.

 

How often do students have physical education?

Students have Physical Education anywhere from 2 to 5 days a week.

 

Are there art and or music classes?

Art requirements are fulfilled by the PTLW DDP engineering class all freshman take. Music electives at Tech are performance based in both vocal and instrumental sequences. Interested students should contact their guidance counselors or speak directly to the appropriate teacher via email. Choral: Mrs. Cazanave, Band: Mr. Fischer, Orchestra: Mrs. LaPierre.

 

Is there study hall?

There is no specific study hall, although students can spend their lunch period in the library, before school or after school, and can take advantage of the tutoring system as well. Very few Tech students will have a “free” period during the school day.

 

Are all courses full year? if not, when do they switch?

Over 90% of all courses are annualized (are full year courses). All additional courses are half year courses and run either in the fall term or spring term. The second semester starts at the end of January and new courses will begin at that time.

 

Are any courses weighted?

Honors courses are weighted at 1.05 and Advanced Placement courses are weighted at 1.10 (on transcripts). A 90 earned in an Advanced Placement course will show as a 90 on the report card and transcript but will be averaged into the Cumulative Grade Point Average as a 99. (90 x 1.10 = 99). Weighted averages are used for determination of awards, admissions to the National Honor Society, and college processing.

 

Are progress reports/report cards sent home?

There are no standard mid term Progress Reports. Report Cards are given to students at the end of each marking period (not mailed home). Parents and students can check grades on a daily or weekly basis using Pupil Path (Skedula) and Daedalus. Individual teachers can send home specific progress reports if necessary.

 

When do students receive report cards?

Report Cards are issued 4 times each year, approximately every 10 weeks—mid November, end of January, mid April, end of June).

 

Is tutoring available?

Tutoring availability and schedules are posted on the school website.

 

Does a student have to go to his/her teacher for tutoring?

No, students can go to any teacher that is available for tutoring. It is often beneficial for students to seek a different teacher for an alternate presentation of the content.

 

Are there midterms and if so when do they happen?

Not all courses offer official midterms but some offer midyear assessments during the time between Fall and Spring terms. This usually takes place during Regents week in January.

 

Can Regents exams be retaken?

Students may retake any Regents exam whenever Regents exams are given (January, June or August).

 

If so, does the lower score get dropped?

Tech will use the highest score of the exams taken. However transcripts will show all grades for all Regents exams taken,
not just the highest scores.

 

Do Regents classes also have regular final exams?

Each teacher is different. Information will be noted in course contracts distributed by the teacher at the beginning of the term.

 

Who takes PSATs and when do they happen?

All Sophomores and Juniors take the PSAT exam, during school hours, during the second or third week of October.

 

What are Majors and how does the Major system work?

Majors are a set of 10 electives given to students during their last 2 years at Tech (4 courses junior year – 2 courses per term and 6 courses senior year – 3 courses per term) on a specific topic or discipline. These courses are in addition to those they would normally take to receive a New York City diploma.

 

How many Majors are there?

There are currently 16 majors at Tech.

 

How does the selection process work?

All sophomores attend a series of conferences discussing the requirements and course load of each major. Then, the selection process begins which usually takes a week. Each student logs onto Daedalus and ranks the Majors into order 1 to 16. They are then sorted electronically by preference and, based on their Power Indexes (PI) in each Major, students are sorted into the number of classes available starting with the highest PI rank in each major. Once that major is full all students are put into their next major choice, where the process starts again. A student having a higher PI for a second choice major will bump the lowest ranking student from their first choice. The bumping process guarantees that all students receive their highest ranking preferences based on merit. Once all students have been placed they are notified about their placement.

 

Approximately 75%-80% of students receive their first choice and an additional 11%-15% their second choice (based on the last 2 years of selection).

 

What is the Power Index (PI) and why is it important?

The Power Index (PI) is a number comprised of a student’s current average plus the aver- age in certain academic areas. This number, usually around 300 or 400 (maximum) is used to rank each student in various categories allowing Tech to give students who have excelled in their first 2 years at Brooklyn Tech an advantage when selecting Major courses for their Junior and Senior years.

The Power Index (PI) is important because it allows Tech to rank students based on their pro- ficiency in courses relevant to the particular Major they are interested in. The higher a stu- dent’s PI is in specific courses relevant to a major the better chance of getting that desired Major for Junior and Senior years. This means students who excel during the first 2 years at Brooklyn Tech are rewarded by giving them first choice of Majors.

 

To earn a higher Power Index, students may choose to enroll in Honors or Advanced Place- ment courses which are weighted. The weighted grade is used for Power Index calculations. This becomes very important for highly competitive majors such as Law & Society, Social Science Research and Bio-Medical Engineering.

 

What happens if a student fails a class?

If the failed course is offered in the summer, students will be automatically programmed for summer school. Students may not drop a summer school class. Languages Other Than English, Major Courses, and advanced electives are not offered in summer school. Design & Drafting for Production is a required course to satisfy the NYSED Art requirement unless the student has completed two semesters of music.