Does it really matter what the high school building looks like?

In New York City, the quality and condition of educational facilities vary from school to school. They can be attractive and impressive like Stuyvesant, The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts and NEST or small and depressing like The Lab School. Some schools occupy one floor in a large, old school building.

Should any of this factor into the decision? It’s easy to get swayed by the attractiveness of a school setting. Or turned off by a neighborhood or a rundown building. But these things can be misleading. Here’s an excerpt from a column on  Inside Schools called the High School Hustle about this very matter:

It’s hard to overlook the amenities – or the lack of them – when searching for a New York City Public high school.  Who wouldn’t be wowed by Stuyvesant’s swimming pool, Frank Sinatra’s rooftop garden or The Harbor School’s fish tanks and stunning campus? At the same time, some of the best and most coveted high schools in the city can have drab, crowded classrooms in serious need of renovation…

Illustration by Kevin Kocses: www.kevinkocses.carbonmade.com