A new book, A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure, and Passion Inside One of America's Best High Schools, will be released this month.

 

In the spring of 2006, author and Washington Post reporter Alec Klein—a Stuyvesant alum—spent a semester with the teachers, students, and parents of the school to find out what makes it so special. (The New York City public school is so selective, that it admits only 3 percent of the kids who take its intense entrance exam.) The school is well-known academically and its alumni include several Nobel laureates, Academy Award winners, and luminaries in the arts, business, and public service.

 

The book is filled with personal stories of students and educators, whose stories are hilarious, sad, and powerfully moving. The book also tackles the question of elitism in public education.

 

Some of the high schoolers at Stuyvesant are off the charts with their abilities. One student profiled in the book is incredibly gifted, but unable to cope with her devastating addiction to heroin.

 

What can other schools learn from the success of Stuyvesant? The author touches on the importance of parental involvement, regardless of family wealth. (Many are immigrants who run delis or drive taxis.) The level of trust within the school creates a home away from home for students.

 

To get a feel for the author’s style, you can read an excerpt from the book.