New York, NY —

When a city high school graduates fewer than half of its students in four years, one could argue major changes are needed. That’s exactly what’s happening at Jamaica High. It’s one of 20 schools the city wants to phase out for poor performance while opening smaller new schools in the same buildings. But many teachers and students at Jamaica High believe their big school is an institution worth saving.

Jamaica High School was designated a NYC landmark in 2009.

On Monday, the Daily News published an editorial headlined "Why Jamaica High Should Close." It mentioned a graduation rate of 46 percent and said Jamaica was failing to prepare its students. For science teacher Maudlin McLean, the editorial was a slap in the face.

"There is work going on in here and my students can tell you that we work every single day. Every single day," she exclaimed. Her students repeated her words. "Every day. And it is wrong for somebody who has never been in our classroom to put something like this in the Daily News."

McLean has been teaching at Jamaica High for 11 years. While there are computer labs, her classroom has no computer. She engages her biology students with creative projects such as posters showing different parts of the cell, and colorful wooden puzzles.

"Look at the project that my students do for the Christmas break. They actually made a model of the enzyme-substrate complex. Total understanding!"

Maudlin McLean with a student science project. It’s a model of mitochondria, part of the human cell. She says her students do learn.

David Martin, 17, sits in the second row nodding his head. He’s written letters to elected officials about the proposal to close Jamaica.

"I don’t believe that they should close the school. Because this school has been around for several years, and has contributed to the society in several ways."

Jamaica’s legacy is part of the reason students, teachers, and community members have been rallying to its defense. Its alumni include Francis Ford Coppola, Art Buchwald, and several politicians. It’s also an architectural landmark. Built in 1927, with tall granite columns on a hilltop surrounded by fields, Jamaica looks out of place in an urban setting. It’s a model American high school –- built at a time when the city was absorbing a wave of immigrants.

The Bloomberg administration says it’s still committed to keeping large schools that work. But since 2002, the city has phased out 32 comprehensive high schools while opening more than 180 smaller ones -– often in the same buildings. There’s one small academy already in Jamaica's campus. Principal Walter Acham doesn’t question their value. But he says big schools offer something unique.

"There’s a spirit here," he explains. "There’s an investment by the kids and the teachers -– 'I belong to something,' you know. I think that is something that’s very absent in a lot of these kids' lives."

Acham and his staff also believe Jamaica is finally making progress. In 2007 the school was labeled "persistently dangerous" by the state. Acham took over and the school got off the list, making it safer.

"We’ve achieved that. I think the work that we’re doing instructionally, academic has moved along with it but at a slower pace. I think it’s something that is definitely within the ability of myself, my cabinet, and my teachers to achieve."

Principal Walter Acham is in his third year at the building and believes things are improving.

But the city has lost faith. And so have many neighborhood students. When Jamaica was labeled dangerous, selective students chose other high schools. Enrollment fell and funding was cut. James Eterno, a social studies teacher and union representative, says that contributed to a downward spiral by shattering the school’s support structure.

“We went from 2,300-plus students in 2003-2004 to 1,527,” he recalls. “Our guidance staff was decimated –- 45 percent. Our secretarial staff, we went from 13 to five.”

With fewer secretaries, Eterno says record-keeping also suffered. This is why he believes last year’s graduation rate of 46 percent wasn’t correct. Staffers recently combed through the records and claim they found 22 students who weren’t counted, putting the rate above 50 percent. They’re asking the city to consider this. However, even that figure doesn’t impress the Department of Education.

“Any school where we cannot deliver on the promise to graduate students at a rate of greater than one out of every two kids who enters the school is in a state of crisis,” says John White, the deputy chancellor for strategy. He says the school got a D on its progress report because kids weren’t accumulating enough credits, and because of its overall environment. "Jamaica High School is not doing as well as the vast majority of schools whose kids have similar challenges.”

But teachers say Jamaica ’s population is unique. Unlike Francis Lewis and other popular schools that are overcrowded, Jamaica has room for new students who have recently arrived from another state or country. This year alone, the school received 330 of them -– almost a third of whom were several academic years behind or had missed some schooling.

Seniors Rebekah Severe, Candice Johns, Shantal Richards, and Shanice Praddy are teen ambassadors for Jamaica High and don’t want the school to be replaced with small academies. They enjoy being part of a big high school.

English teacher Gwyneth DeGraf is in her 25th year at Jamaica. Her ninth graders are behind grade level, so they have a smaller class and get two periods a day of literacy instead of one. She says they often need more than four years to graduate. “I have 16-year-olds in this class who are coming into high school for the first time, and I have kids, many of whom don’t live at home.” As we’re talking she gives a small box of cereal to a boy who’s hungry.

Deputy Chancellor White says these are the very students who could benefit from small schools. “Very often where schools are so large, it’s true that students don’t get the kind of support that is fostered by schools that are smaller, where teams of teachers, all of whom know each other, all of whom know who has which student, can really organize around the specific needs of students. And that’s in part why our new small schools that have been started under this administration have a 75 percent graduation rate.”

But smaller schools also take fewer of the neediest special education students. And they can’t always offer the same number of clubs and sports teams. Jamaica has a pool in the basement. Until the recent budget cuts there was a band -– as well as electives including psychology and forensics. And there are sports. Shantal Richards, 17, is a senior and class secretary. She says Jamaica is much better than she expected. “At first everyone was talking about how bad it was,” she recalls of her freshman year. “But I come in and I get to like it and enjoy it and I’m in sports teams, and everyone is just love –- the teachers help you out a lot and it’s great. I don’t think they should close it.”

The school has a pool in the basement, as well as several athletic fields.

Shantal and a lot of other students plan to make their voices heard. A public hearing will be held tonight on the city’s plan to close Jamaica High, before the Panel for Educational Policy votes on the January 26.

Let us know if you think neighborhood high schools should remain open, even if less than half their students are graduating. Post your comments on the WNYC News Blog or email us at newstips@wnyc.org.