BHSEC Manhattan Featured in Chalkbeat
BHSEC Manhattan Director of Equity and Inclusion Jasmine Coombs. Photo by Stanley Ligon
Chalkbeat Magazine wrote about Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) Manhattan, which sets aside half its seats for low-income students as part of the citywide Diversity in Admissions program. Producer of the Chalkbeat collaboration podcast P.S. Weekly and BHSEC Manhattan senior Zoe George spoke with Jasmine Coombs, the school’s director of equity and inclusion. They discussed the Smart Schools statewide policy that allows high school students to earn college credit and the challenges students can face once they’re enrolled. Once students enter BHSEC, Coombs says, the goal is to “make sure that those students are comfortable and that they’re seen and that they’re heard,” adding that one of her goals is to offer non-academic spaces for struggling students to decompress. “I think a safe space is a space where someone can be 100% their truest self without turning off anything or hiding anything about themselves,”she said.
The Bard Early College Network is a network of tuition-free high schools in the Bard College network. It empowers students to access and complete higher education by providing them the opportunity to take college-level courses in the last two years of high school.
Post Date: 06-16-2026
The Bard Early College Network is a network of tuition-free high schools in the Bard College network. It empowers students to access and complete higher education by providing them the opportunity to take college-level courses in the last two years of high school.
Post Date: 06-16-2026