Aviation Career & Technical Education High School
General Information
Officially known as "Q610: Aviation Career and Technical High School," Aviation High School is a taxpayer-supported public high school owned and operated by the New York City Department of Education. It is located in Long Island City, which is a largely industrial neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York.
Educational Emphasis
Aviation High School is certified by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the training of Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs). Students who successfully complete the school's rigorous technical programs are allowed to take their FAA certification examinations without further qualification.
In order to achieve this, students at the school spend about half of their days in "shop" and related technology classes that concentrate on every aspect of an aircraft's structure, systems, and components, as well as more general aviation subjects such as aerodynamics and Federal Aviation Regulations. These specialized classes are taught by FAA-certificated AMTs, many of whom are themselves alumni of the school.
In addition to aviation-related subjects, Aviation High School also provides a full academic curriculum to its approximately 1,900 students, who come from all five boroughs of New York City. The school has consistently enjoyed excellent attendance rates (averaging 90 percent) and a high graduation rate (also approximately 90 percent). About 80 percent of graduates go on to college, many studying aeronautics, engineering, or other technology-related subjects.
Facilities and Physical Plant
The school's present main campus, which was built in the 1950's, occupies an entire city block at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 36th Street. The six-story school building houses academic classrooms, specialized shop classrooms, and a hangar where Seniors (12th-year students) apply the skills they have learned to the maintenance of retired aircraft, many of which were donated by the U.S. military. In October of 2000, the school also opened an extension campus at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Prior to the completion of the Queens Boulevard campus, the school had been located in Manhattan and had been known as the New York City High School for Aviation Trades.
"Mr.O" incident
On March 16 of 2006, gym teacher Mark Omeltchenko, known in the school as "Mr. O," was arrested for allegedly threatening two freshman female students with a kitchen knife. It was alleged that the teacher threatened the girls by holding the knife to their forearms because they didn't want to participate in physical education exercises. Neither girl was physically injured. [1] Apparently, Omeltchenko had a reputation within the school as being inclined to "joke around a lot." This reputation has led some students and faculty members to speculate that the "threat," although inappropriate, was in jest.
Famous alumni
Whitey Ford attented and graduated from Aviation High School when it was located in Manhattan.