Staten Island Technical High School
Staten Island. Founded 1988. About 1,310 students. The only specialized high school in Staten Island, and one of the most competitive in NYC by cutoff — 527, second-highest after Stuyvesant.
- What is the SHSAT cutoff for Staten Island Tech?
- The 2025–2026 8th-grade cutoff at Staten Island Tech was 527, the second-highest among the eight test-based specialized high schools after Stuyvesant (556).
- Why is the cutoff so high for a smaller school?
- Two factors compound: Staten Island Tech has fewer seats (~328 per year, less than half of Bronx Science's ~748), and a substantial portion of Staten Island's top SHSAT-takers rank SIT first because the commute to Manhattan or the Bronx is impractical. Fewer seats relative to interested high-scorers produces a higher cutoff.
- Where is Staten Island Tech located?
- 485 Clawson Street in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island. The campus is suburban-style, with parking lots, athletic fields, and a single low-rise building — distinctly different from the urban specialized high schools.
- Do most students drive to school?
- Many do. Staten Island has the lowest public-transit accessibility of the five boroughs, and the SIT building is not within walking distance of a subway. Buses serve the campus, but driving (when a parent or older sibling drives) is common.
The borough's only specialized high school
Staten Island Technical High School was founded in 1988 as a school of engineering and technology, originally housed at a different Staten Island location and later moved to its current 485 Clawson Street site in New Dorp. The school is, by a substantial margin, the highest-performing public high school in Staten Island and the only specialized high school in the borough. For Staten Island families with academically strong children, Staten Island Tech is the natural target — both because it is geographically reachable in a way the Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn specialized schools are not, and because the school's reputation within Staten Island is significant.
The campus differs from the other specialized high schools. It is not a multi-story urban building on a tight footprint; it is a suburban-style campus with athletic fields, parking, and a single building. The student body is roughly 1,310 students total, smaller than Stuyvesant or Bronx Science but larger than HSAS, HSMSE, or Queens Sciences. Class sizes typically run 25–32, slightly smaller than at the large specialized schools, and the school's culture is more close-knit as a result.
The 2025–2026 cutoff: 527
Staten Island Tech's 8th-grade cutoff for 2025–2026 was 527 — second-highest after Stuyvesant, and notably higher than Bronx Science (518). For families unfamiliar with the SHSAT, this can be counter-intuitive: SIT is smaller and less famous than Bronx Science, but harder to get into. The explanation is structural — Staten Island sends a meaningful number of high-scoring SHSAT-takers per year, and the school's seat count of ~328 is the smallest among the eight test-based specialized high schools after HSAS, HSMSE, and Queens Sciences. The supply-demand imbalance produces the high cutoff.
What does 527 require in raw scores? Roughly 43–45 correct out of 57 per section, or about 76% accuracy. This is well-prepared territory — comparable to Bronx Science prep but requiring slightly stronger consistency on the moderately difficult math and reading-comprehension items.
Cutoff history
| Cycle | Cutoff (8th) | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | 527 | — |
| 2024–25 | 531 | −4 |
| 2023–24 | 528 | +3 |
| 2022–23 | 524 | +4 |
| 2021–22 | 520 | +2 |
SIT's cutoff has been remarkably stable in the 520–531 range across recent cycles. For 2026–2027 planning, a target composite of 535 provides safe buffer.
The curriculum and culture
Staten Island Tech is engineering-focused but not exclusively so. The required STEM sequence is rigorous — biology, chemistry, physics, advanced math through pre-calculus or calculus, plus engineering electives in design, robotics, and computer science. AP offerings include AP Computer Science A and AP Computer Science Principles, AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Physics 1 and C, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Statistics, and AP Environmental Science.
The humanities curriculum is less elaborate than at Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Latin but more developed than its engineering-school name suggests. Required English literature, history, and a foreign language (typically Spanish or Italian, reflecting Staten Island's demographic concentration) are taken all four years. AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP US History, AP World History, and AP European History are offered.
The school's signature program is its Russian Studies sequence — a four-year required Russian language program, unique among American public high schools. Students study Russian language, literature, and culture, and many participate in exchange or summer immersion programs with Russian-speaking institutions.
Athletic and extracurricular life is more central to SIT than to the urban specialized schools, partly because the suburban campus has the space for it. Sports include basketball, baseball, soccer, track, swimming, and tennis, all competing in PSAL leagues. The school's robotics, math team, and engineering competition teams are competitive at city and state levels.
Notable alumni
Staten Island Tech is younger than Stuyvesant or Bronx Science (founded 1988), so its alumni body is smaller and more recent. Graduates have gone on to engineering programs at MIT, Cornell, Cooper Union, Carnegie Mellon, Stevens, and the SUNY system, and to careers across engineering, software, medicine, finance, and law. The school's specifically engineering-oriented preparation produces a higher concentration of alumni in technical fields than the broader specialized high schools do.
Who Staten Island Tech is right for
SIT's geographical position and specific character make the fit calculation different from the other specialized high schools.
SIT is likely a good fit if:
- You live in Staten Island and want to attend an academically rigorous specialized high school without a 90+ minute commute
- You're interested in engineering, computer science, or applied STEM and want a smaller, more close-knit environment than Brooklyn Tech
- You'd benefit from a campus environment with athletic facilities and outdoor space
- You're open to studying Russian language and culture
- Your SHSAT practice composite is in the 530–550 range — high enough for SIT to be a likely admit, with the Stuyvesant option in reserve
SIT may not be the right fit if:
- You live outside Staten Island and don't want a long ferry-plus-bus commute
- You want the maximum breadth of specialized courses (the larger schools offer more)
- You prefer a strict urban environment over a suburban one
- You're set on a humanities-heavy curriculum (Brooklyn Latin or HSAS Lehman would suit better)
Preparing for the SIT cutoff
Targeting 527 requires preparation comparable to Bronx Science but with slightly higher accuracy expectations on moderate-difficulty items. Specific recommendations:
- Target a practice composite of 535–540. Buffer above the cutoff accounts for the typical practice-to-real performance gap.
- Math accuracy matters more here than at Brooklyn Tech. Reaching 527 requires getting most of the moderate-difficulty math questions right, not just the easy ones. Focus prep time on the middle and upper-middle of the math section, not the very easiest items.
- Don't neglect ELA. SIT's reputation as an engineering school sometimes leads applicants to under-prep ELA. Admission requires balanced strength — a strong math score won't fully compensate for a weak ELA score at this cutoff.
Common questions about SIT
Why is Staten Island Tech's cutoff higher than Bronx Science?
Smaller seat count combined with high local demand. Staten Island Tech has ~328 seats per year vs Bronx Science's ~748 — less than half. Staten Island also has many high-scoring SHSAT-takers for whom SIT is the natural first choice given commute constraints. Fewer seats and concentrated demand produce a higher cutoff.
Why does Staten Island Tech require Russian?
The Russian program reflects a deliberate curriculum choice by the school's founders to offer a less commonly taught language that exposes students to a different linguistic and cultural tradition. The program has continued as a school tradition and is now one of SIT's distinguishing features.
What's the commute like from outside Staten Island?
Long. From Brooklyn or Manhattan, the typical route is subway → Staten Island Ferry → SI bus, totaling 75–100 minutes. Few students attend SIT from outside Staten Island specifically because of the commute. Most non-Staten Island SHSAT admits rank one of the boroughs' urban specialized schools higher than SIT.
Does Staten Island Tech participate in the Discovery Program?
Yes. Discovery seats at SIT are limited given the school's smaller overall capacity. See our Discovery Program guide.