When Jie Zhang retired from Stuyvesant High School in New York City, she didn’t leave empty-handed. The members of the speech and debate team asked her to put their national trophy in her new office. It was their way of saying “thank you” for her support.
Knowing that she was going to a military school, another group of students presented her with a bear in uniform. If you know how to make it talk, the creature says “We couldn’t have ‘beared’ high school without you.”
The retired principal is proud of these honors, but quick to deflect the conversation to the school she now represents. “I think it’s important we make this work,” she says during a late afternoon meeting.
Mrs. Zhang became NYMA’s superintendent on Thursday, July 21. Since then she has been interviewing candidates for Dean of Academics and Director of Admissions. “Everyone knows,” she says candidly, “that getting admissions is our biggest challenge.”
Down to 10 students last year, NYMA has accepted 50 for the fall semester. “That doesn’t mean they’re all coming,” the superintendent cautions. “But even if half accept us that’s a big increase over last year.”
The school is also recruiting students from overseas. But Mrs. Zhang admits that it’s late to be courting kids for the fall semester.
After a career in public education and an opportunity to lead a school with more than 3,000 students, Mrs. Zhang realizes that NYMA is a new and different type of challenge. “I want to learn about every aspect,” she told us, “and hold onto some of the middle level positions [until enrollment grows and she can justify the hiring of new staff members].”
For the fall semester, she’ll be dividing her time between her house on campus and her home in Queens, where she lives with her husband (a professor at Queens College) and her 95-year-old mother.
After a few days in Cornwall, the superintendent admits that she loves the surrounding area, although she sometimes gets lost. “I want the community to see me as a new member and friend,” she says. “We want to really again have something to be proud of.”
That reminds her of the opportunities for day students, and the school’s desire to attract more kids from Cornwall and the vicinity. “We have financial aid and scholarships,” she assures us. “And we’re making academics our number one priority — followed by leadership, athletics and character.”
