(
)
Sana Nasser, principal of Harry S. Truman HS in The Bronx, wants her students to reach for the stars — and spearheading a move to reopen a long-shut planetarium fit that vision perfectly.
“I want to graduate them in four years, and I want them to go to college without needing remediation,’’ said Nasser, who won the 2011 New York Post Liberty Medal for Educators.
And so she set out to transform one of the city’s largest public high schools — starting by creating several small career-themed academies, ranging from pre-engineering to culinary arts.
“Students can get the whole large high-school experience but still feel that they’re getting personal attention because they belong to a theme academy,’’ she explained.
Obstacles? How about this: Some two-thirds of the ninth-graders who enter the Co-Op City school are below grade level in reading and math, Nasser said — quickly adding that “the kids feel there are people who care for them because of my teaching staff.’’
In 2012, Truman High’s graduation rate was close to 71 percent, she noted.
As for the Liberty Medal, “the kids loved’’ that she got it, and “it brought pride to the school,’’ said Nasser, sharing the credit with her “excellent” staff.
She said she encourages her teachers to videotape themselves in front of their classes “and to then critique their own performance and tweak it — because they are seeing it from the students’ point of view.’’
The planetarium had been closed for 14 years when then-Borough President Adolfo Carrión eramarked funds to refurbish it. It finally reopened last November.