The first impressions are rather menacing. Visitors must sign in and show identification before being allowed into the building. Such tight security gives one the feeling of entering a prison or some other dangerous place. But what a DECEPTIVE first impression! Manhattan Comprehensive Night High School may be the friendliest, most caring institution in all of New York City. A school of last resort for many of its students, it is their best chance to turn their lives around, and make friends in the process. Manhattan Comp, as it is called, is the first full-time night high school in America.
High school is compulsory until the age of sixteen in America, but many students drop out, either before or after they reach sixteen, and before receiving their high school diplomas. Until now, night education programmes for dropouts only provided the basics and then awarded an equivalency certificate. But now, Manhattan Comp offers the total high school experience, complete with a "lunch" break, physical education and clubs. The students receive an academic diploma, which they say is more helpful in getting a job than an equivalency certificate. More than sixty percent of Manhattan Comp's students go on to college.
Most of the school's 450 students have either been EXPELLED FROM or dropped out of other high schools. Some have been in two or three schools before this one. What seems to make this school work for these hard-to-place students is the staff and, most importantly, the principal. All students call him Howard. As he walks through the building, he greets students by name, asks about their families or jobs and jokes with them about the lack of variety in the school cafeteria.
Most students at Manhattan Comp are between eighteen and twenty-two years old. You must be at least seventeen to enrol. The classes run from 5 to 11 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, with all-day enrichment programmes on Sundays which explore topics like playwriting, art and video production. School terms are ten weeks long, which gives students the opportunity to take time off for family matters or jobs. Most students already have some academic credits from previous schools, so instead of the normal four years in high school, THEYspend between six months and two years at Manhattan Comp.
