Aptitude is not sufficient by itself, in her view. Attitude and character are just as important. There's no doubt that her students have aptitude. City Honors in No. 1 for the fifth straight year in Business First's rankings of the region's 112 public academic high schools. But Battaglia said her teachers also stress the need for effort and commitment, seeking to push students higher than they themselves might believe they can go.
People think, What a piece of cake.
Well, its not a piece of cake. They're academically talented, but they're also adolescents. Our job is to challenge them every day. Most are up to the challenge. Fully 97.5 percent of last year's City Honors graduates earned Regents diplomas.