City Honors School Science Research Program

The City Honors School Science Research Program (SRP) is a rich learning experience that is carried out over the entire four years of high school, which allows students to become more proficient with a variety of laboratory techniques. The experience concludes with the presentation/defense of a thesis to the research and school community at the end of senior year. Successful SRP students are awarded a special joint diploma by the school and research institution. Students spend one entire day per week at RPCI/HWMRI working with their mentor and on their research. SRP students are exempt from 20% or more of class time to do their research, however their academic course work is not allowed to suffer. Students in the program must maintain a B average in ALL academic courses including Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. SRP students are also required to present the ongoing findings from their research at several regional and national science symposiums each year. Students have a research mentor who is a professional scientist at RPCI/HWMRI. The research mentor is responsible for helping the student plan and oversee his/her research experience. The mentor provides the student with necessary work space, supplies, technical expertise and accepts the student as a contributing member of the research team. The students have an education mentor who is the “link” between City Honors School and RPCI/HWMRI. The education mentor provides students with assistance in writing research abstracts and papers, rehearsing presentations and also provides a basic academic foundation in biology and chemistry. The education mentor also monitors academic progress of all students in the program. This program is unique because it offers the students an opportunity to do actual scientific research and gives students a head start on entering the fields of medicine or medical research. Students are prepared to become leaders in Buffalo’s new economy in medical research and treatment. Many students in the program go on to attend colleges and universities with prestigious health/medicine research programs. Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, and University of Chicago are just a few of the universities that students attend after graduating from City Honors.