New York´s Academy of Hospitality & Tourism to RunStand-Alone High School

The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, which has operated its program for high school students as a subset of the standard curriculum in a dozen schools here, will become a stand-alone high school in September.

The academy will be the first high school in the U.S. focused on travel and hospitality. It will be housed in Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, which dates to the late 18th century.

Parts of that facility are being remodeled to meet the needs of the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism´s students.

For the academy´s needs, remodeling involves the installation of two professional kitchens and a restaurant for a culinary program, said Adam Brier, a high school assistant principal who will become the academy´s principal in July.

In its inaugural year, the travel high school will launch with 108 ninth-graders and grow each year with the introduction of a new freshman class until the school accommodates a maximum of 438 students.

Mr. Brier said any New York eighth-grader who asks to attend the academy will be accepted until 125 slots are filled.

The freshmen will have a fairly standard curriculum, satisfying New York´s basic educational requirements but enhanced with some initial business classes, such as strategies for success and how to give presentations, Mr. Brier said.

After that, more class work and other activities will zero in on the industry. Mr. went on to say that teachers qualified by the state of New York to teach business will be selected, but, ideally, they will include people who´ve been in the travel business.

Students will hear lectures from industry executives in the classroom, participate in job shadowing and have a chance at paid internships between their junior and senior years. They also can earn college credits and attend conferences, trade shows and college fairs.

As for the 894 students already part of travel and tourism classes throughout the city, they will remain in current high schools to finish their programs.

The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism operates throughout the U.S. within the framework of more than 136 schools. These tourism-focused academies are supported by the National Academy Foundation, which fosters similar operations in the fields of finance and information technology.