Students come from over 30 countries and speak over twenty native languages.

The first international high school, located on the campus of LaGuardia Community College, opened in 1985; two more followed in the 1990s.

Since 2001, the network has opened and supported 9 additional high schools with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The network of schools annually serves 4,000 students immigrating from 90 countries.

The network's mission is to provide quality education to recently arrived immigrants by developing and networking small high schools based on the Internationals approach.