As of the 2013-2014 school year, Long Island City High School was 62% Hispanic/Latino, 15% Asian, 12% Black/African American and 10% White.
Background
The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the New York City Department of Education, and has an overall 59% graduation rate which includes special education students and ESL students. The highest graduation rates in the past few years have been the class of 2010 with 70% and the class of 2011 with 89%. Long Island City High School has a significant population of first-generation immigrants as students. The school also has award-winning courses in music and culinary arts. The Music department consist of various levels of strings, orchestra, band, and choir. The orchestra, band and choir have all been recognized by NYSSMA, the New York State Music Association, as well as individual students in classes such as Opera and strings. The Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay has visited this school to shoot his show Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Each year, culinary program graduates win thousands of dollars in scholarships to well-known culinary academies like CIA. The PSAL organization recently refurbished the football field, which is used by teams all over the city for everything from Lacrosse to Soccer to Football The field has recently undergone a major renovation, in part due to the generosity of PSAL and the New York Jets. LICHS Gymnastics teams have won several citywide championships, the most recent being in the 2013 and 2014 school years. Alumni have attended Ivy League schools, as well as State University of New York, City University of New York, and parochial post-secondary institutions. The former principal, William Bassell, has won the Americans for the Arts award and several other awards for this support of the arts in education. He has opened the new LIC building, replacing the original building on 41st Avenue and 28th Street which has 2 large gyms, a dance studio, a custom made culinary cooking kitchen for cooking classes, and an Olympic sized swimming pool. The current principal, Vivian Selenikas, was a network leader for the NYCDOE before returning to LICHS, where she had been an assistant principal years before. Long Island City High School has over a dozen AP Classes, Opera and Orchestra, Dance and Theater, Visual Arts, and over eight Foreign Languages. It also has over 20 multicultural and interdisciplinary clubs, over 20 sports teams and a growing ARISTA chapter. The gymnastics program has won multiple citywide championships. Graduates have won football and baseball scholarships, as well as invitations to join major league baseball.
Long Island City High School provides a resoundingly high level educational experience to all students. As a school with a successful history in preparing youngsters for achievement in the twenty-first century, Long Island City High School ensures that all its students take the courses which challenge their minds to the utmost. In addition to encouraging four years of study in math, science, and foreign language, we encourage active study of art, music, culinary arts, and technology. Consequently, students supplement the traditional academics and athletics with a healthy balance of aesthetic activities.
