Skip to content

Our Principal

Our Principal

Alicia Perez-Katz, BCCHS Principal

Alicia Pérez-Katz has been the principal of Baruch College Campus High School (BCCHS) since 2003. In 2015, Pérez-Katz served as a Principal Ambassador Fellow for the US Department of Education, bridging policy and practice. In 2007, Pérez-Katz was selected to be a Cahn Fellow for Distinguished New York City Principals. Prior to her current tenure as BCCHS principal, she served as an English teacher and staff developer at BCCHS and was a Guest Practitioner and Co-teacher at Baruch College School of Public Affairs.  Her career in education began at WINGS Academy in Bronx New York, where she taught 9th grade Humanities, Advisory & Journalism. 

Ms. Pérez-Katz holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Tufts University, Master’s degree in English Education from Columbia University and a Master’s of Science in Education Administration from Baruch College. She spent most of her childhood in Ecuador, South Korea, and Brazil, attending International Schools.

Under Pérez-Katz’s leadership BCCHS has been consistently recognized as one of NYC’s top High Schools; attaining a 100% graduation rate and a 98% college entry rate. BCCHS has been selected as an iZone school and “High Performing/Gap Closing” School. BCCHS was a finalist for the Elizabeth Rohaytin Prize for School Innovation and the Intel Innovative Mathematics Program. It was named a Gold Medal School by US News & World Report in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In fall 2014, and 2019, BCCHS was one of 15 schools awarded the InvenTeam Grant in order to pursue year-long inventions that addressed real-world problems.

Pérez-Katz believes that community is the core value for developing a strong school culture. The BCCHS advisory program has been studied by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a model to replicate nationally. Pérez-Katz also believes in small schools having the capacity to connect with families and students in a more intimate way. When students are known in school and form attachments to adults, they are able to succeed and take risks. In order to support college readiness, Pérez-Katz believes that guidance counselors and a college office are critical. BCCHS funds a full-time college office, providing students and families with one-on-one college counseling, leveling the playing field for all students to have access to college, regardless of their families’ backgrounds. Pérez-Katz believes that teacher development is an essential component of a successful school. Through dedicated mentoring, classroom inter-visitations and in providing teachers the freedom to be creative in their planning, students are challenged to learn at the highest level, with scaffolding and supports in place to assist them in achieving their full potential.