Bronx International High School, Bronx, NY

For many immigrant students, gaining access to the resources and skills needed to succeed in college can be daunting. It's hard enough when you are the first in your family to go to college and harder still when the path requires negotiating a new language, culture, and system. But for a group of seniors at Bronx International High School, a small school open to immigrants who have recently arrived in the country, their school's design has given them a leg up. By visiting other international high schools in New York, conducting interviews, and distributing surveys, this team of researchers has learned how small schools can put their immigrant students on the college track.

Guided by the NYC Board of Education's Office of New Small Schools and in partnership with a Bronx telecommunications group called Deep Dish, students produced a documentary video of their interviews. It offers an honest look at the steep barriers immigrant students face as they think about college, especially when they cannot count on their family for support or they are undocumented aliens, making them ineligible for financial aid.

Final Products Our documentary video Click here to download the Windows Media Player. Interview with Lori Chajet, former small school teacher Interview questions for Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, NYU professor

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