Welcome Letter from NHS President

Dear Future BTECH Ram,

Welcome to the Business Technology Early College High School! 

I am pleased to know that you are exploring the Business Technology Early College High School (BTECH) as part of your high school search! The journey of finding a high school is a new chapter in your life and I know how exciting this whole process is. For this reason, I am honored that BTECH is one of your potential choices. I hope that you and your family use the process of searching for a high school to learn more about educational opportunities available to you as a student in the New York City Department of Education and what kind of school community you are looking for. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a few things about BTECH from a student’s perspective and hope that you find this letter informative and useful in determining if BTECH is the right place for you.

As the National Honor Society President, I am thrilled to tell you all about BTECH and share some of my personal experiences with you! From the countless laughs I have had here at BTECH to the relentless support I have received from staff and peers alike, this is a school like no other. BTECH is a small community of approximately 550 students, which ensures that you will be able to establish and build a relationship with all of your teachers, as our cohort sizes are small. Being a small community, we are a close-knit family here. We pride ourselves in the community that we have built and base our social-emotional learning curriculum on it. Every student here is placed into a group with peers from their grade, and a staff member from their respective grade team, called a Community Group. This community group is one that serves as one of your many support systems throughout your four years here. BTECH hosts an array of events ranging from our annual Back to School mixer to our end of the year BTECH Bash! We typically have a special day once a month where half of our school day, we are in academic classes, and the other half we are engaged in a club! We offer clubs such as Speech and Debate, American Sign Language, Photography, Video Games, Music Club, Girls Empowerment Movement, BTECH Men of Color, Dance and 30+ more! Personally, I have been a part of our PSAL Girls Varsity Softball team, our internship program BTECH Co-Op program, and so many more clubs/activities/teams! Student life at BTECH is filled with great times!

Your classwork at BTECH is among some of the most rigorous courses in New York City! Being an early college high school, you will be able to take college classes ON a college campus as early as your sophomore year, if you’re eligible at Queensborough Community College! You will be taught by REAL college professors and receive college credits that may be transferred to colleges upon your graduation. At the high school level, you will be able to choose from an array of interesting classes! There are courses on Art and Animation, Psychology, Creative Writing, Coding and so many others! Although BTECH is a business and technology focused school, we focus on providing enrichment for the whole student. We are focused on enriching you holistically. With our focus on social-emotional learning, we aim to enrich you socially and academically. We aim to build your confidence and help you to break out of your shell, so that at the end of your four years, you leave BTECH feeling like an improved version of yourself.

These last three years at BTECH for me have been amazing. I have grown not only as a student, but also as a person. Having such a loving and supportive community has contributed greatly to my personal growth. During my last three years, I have been on an overnight trip to Howard University and Georgetown, seen a Mets game, visited SAP, seen a Broadway show, went to an indoor trampoline park and the list goes on! Every single day at BTECH is a new experience, one that I am so grateful to experience. Funny story, when I found out I got accepted to BTECH, I cried! I had my heart set on attending another high school, and SWORE to myself that I would transfer out of BTECH after my freshman year. But now? I would not have changed my decision to attend BTECH for the world! So here I am, my senior year, writing this letter to you, hoping that you pick BTECH to be your home for the next four years! Life works in funny ways, but I know it was no joke that I am here at BTECH today.

Here at BTECH, you are a part of something bigger than yourself. You are more than a high school or early college student here, you are a leader. You are valued. You are loved. You are a future innovator. You are the catalyst for change. Once you become a BTECH ram, you always will be one. At Business Technology Early College High School, our Core Values are: CRAFT. This means: Collaboration, Resilience, Advocacy, Focus and Tenacity. We strive to foster these values in every single staff and student here. I wish you the best of luck on your journey through life as you navigate where you wish to spend the next four years of your life. Thanks for stopping by and listening to me talk about my home, and why I love BTECH. :)

Best,

Casandra Dormeus ’21

National Honor Society President