New schools will be opened in Bronx to give training to students in special areas of interest and make them industry-ready in the future.
As many as 21 schools including 12 district schools and nine charter schools will be opened in September as a replacement of schools that have been closed due to dismal performance by the students.
All the 21 schools will be training students in different vocational careers. Three career and technical schools at the Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers in Bronx will be replaced by the School for Tourism and Hospitality.
The vocational school which was once popular for training students with skills in nursing, cosmetology, tourism and business, has been marred by controversies in the recent times and the school's popularity faded with students' performance rate taking a downward spiral.
Last year, the school's principal Sharon Smalls was accused of her involvement in a course credit scandal. Smalls resigned in January amid accusations that she gave credit to students for courses that they did not take.
The Department of Education decided to close the school, which has just 45 per cent graduation rate, following students' poor performances in academics.
Apart from Jane Addams school, 12 public schools and nine charter schools will also be replaced with new ones. While one school will allow students run an entertainment company "BX Dragon Entertainment", another school will train students in the tourism industry, a report in New York Daily News Says.
"After doing research, (my team and I) realized that tourism and hospitality salaries in the industry will increase by 16% by 2014, which is more than any other industry combined," New York Daily News quoted David Martin, Principal of School for Tourism and Hospitality, as saying.
"We will have incredible partnerships that really allow students not only to experience the industry deeply, but move them beyond high school to post-secondary learning," he added.
Some of the new schools will target students with high-needs. There will be two new vision schools - one for mathematics and science and the other one for humanities.
