Arguably the best high school in NY, according to IvyLeague.mom. Better than Stuyvesant because if you live in Brooklyn or Staten Island, you shouldn't have to commute 4 hours a day. If you want to know the secret all the other parents are keeping from you, it's that they are spending money on tutoring and college admissions consultants. The kids who get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, etc. probably had help with their applications. Tech is great because it is a nice environment and has devoted teachers and administrators. You will be happy here. read more

Truly an amazing school! I have so many fond memories, not only are the classes great in depth, breadth, and quality, but the people you meet lead to tremendous networking opportunities. read more

This school claims to give you more opportunities, but it actually ends up screwing you in the end because colleges do not find a smart kid surrounded by a bunch of other smart kids impressive. They also only care about their ratings and rankings, and emphasize the importance of school surveys in order to keep their top spot. The teachers are mediocre at best, and the only reason the kids get good grades are because the school picks the smartest kids using the entrance exam. I am graduating this year and I can say that my experience was far from nurturing and helpful. They literally got us a dog that we cannot even visit and used that to say that they care about all of the depressed and anxious students. Not to mention the lack of enthusiasm within the student body. Everyone is too shy to speak up so class discussions consist of the same two people, and no one does anything to improve this. read more

I disagree with this review on Staten Island Technical High School and I would like to set the record straight. I believe that Staten Island Tech is filled with many highly intelligent students; I am one of them. Not all of us are absolute geniuses but most every student is well beyond average. The majority of us are highly motivated but we are varied in our level of commitment to our schoolwork. I feel there is a great deal of camaraderie. As for a lack of acceptance for diversity; I also disagree with this statement. Every year, Tech students participate in a Multi-Cultural Fair and the day of silence for GSLT (Gays, Straights, Lesbians and Transgender). I am a proud member of GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), the Middle Eastern Club, and the Hispanic Friends Club. I am Hispanic but I am neither Middle Eastern, gay, transgender nor bisexual. I'm in these two clubs to support my friends in their culture or lifestyle. That's one thing I truly enjoy about Tech; there is so much support for your fellow student. In other specialized high schools, there is too much competition and a need to bring other students down. At Tech, we embrace each other's good and bad qualities. Students tutor each other, help each other study for tests and explain concepts to each other in class. Many of us are also very active in the community, whether on our own or through the school. As for the teachers, I don't think it is fair to label one as being the only good teacher in the school. (Mr. Maniscalco is not a teacher by the way; he is the principal.) While we do have more than our fair share of bad teachers, there are many outstanding teachers who are truly devoted to their job. There are difficult teachers, especially in the Russian department since it is hard to find teachers in that area. However my favorite, Ms. Sokolovski, is a Russian teacher. I do wish that they would offer some language other than Russian, so that there can be some diversity in that aspect. That may also minimize the need to find Russian teachers, which would be very helpful. I don't believe that there is a high level of ignorance at this school either. Ignorance is something you must contend with at any high school. Tech is just like any other school in that aspect. It is true that we are forced to take engineering classes such as technical drawing, LEGO robotics, AutoCAD, electronics and CISCO Networking. However, the engineering teachers are all very devoted and are careful to make sure that students comprehend the subject matter. The students are not babied at Tech. In fact I believe that it is entirely opposite. Most teachers will be much stricter about the workload, grades, due dates and the level of difficulty of the work simply because we are at a higher level. However, the majority of the school staff is very dedicated to the students. There is a greater amount of individualized attention, mostly due to the fact that Tech is the one of the smallest public high schools on Staten Island with a total enrollment of less than 1,000 students. The graduation rate is 100%, the attendance rate is not far behind and Tech is highly noted for its high test scores. We are among the top high schools in the country in these areas. We have an outstanding sports program that we share with McKee. The MSIT Girls' Varsity Basketball Team is undefeated for 5 years in a row and our swim team is #1 on the island as is our track team. read more