OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT¶
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts¶
Student Information
| Name | Carlos Santiago Rivera |
| Address | [Rivera Family Home], Jackson Heights, Queens, NY |
| Student No. | [TBD] |
| Birthdate | 11/03/2007 |
| Gender | M |
| Parent/Guardian | Reina Rivera, Juan Rivera |
| Date Entered 9th Grade | 09/2021 |
| Studio | Instrumental Music (Saxophone) |
| Graduation Date | 06/2025 |
| Diploma | NYS Regents Diploma |
School Information
| School | Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts |
| Address | 100 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10023 |
| CEEB Code | 333515 |
| Principal | Deepak Marwah |
Grading Scale¶
| Grade | Range |
|---|---|
| Pass | 65-100 |
| Fail | Below 65 |
NYC DOE uses numerical grades (0-100). Minimum passing grade is 65. LaGuardia does not weight GPAs for honors/AP; course rigor is reflected in the course itself. A "regular" LaGuardia course carries rigor equivalent to an honors course at a standard high school.
2021-2022 -- Grade 09¶
[Attendance: 160/180 days. 20 absences -- medical.]
| Course | Grade | Cr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| English 9 | 81 | 1.0 | Reading and writing he could do from bed on bad days. |
| Global History I | 80 | 1.0 | |
| Algebra I | 74 | 1.0 | Regents exam: 82. Course grade dragged by missed homework. Test score tells the real story. |
| Living Environment | 76 | 1.0 | Regents exam: 83. Missed 3 labs; made up 2. Course grade hurt by incomplete lab portfolio. |
| Spanish for Heritage Speakers I | 95 | 1.0 | Native speaker. |
| Health Education | 83 | 0.5 | |
| Physical Education | 72 | 0.5 | Modified participation 6 weeks (unspecified medical). |
| Jazz Ensemble | 93 | 1.0 | Nelson Taveras, director. First chair saxophone by October. |
| Concert Band | 90 | 1.0 | |
| Instrumental Class: Saxophone | 95 | 1.0 | |
| Sight Singing | 88 | 1.0 | |
| Music Theory I | 91 | 1.0 |
Credits Earned: 11.0 Cumulative Average: ~85.7
[The pattern is already visible freshman year: test scores outperform course grades by 6-8 points in every academic subject. The boy understands the material. He just can't be in the building often enough for the daily work to reflect it.]
2022-2023 -- Grade 10¶
[Attendance: 150/180 days. 30 absences -- medical. Escalating. Academic probation warning issued spring 2023 when cumulative average neared the threshold.]
| Course | Grade | Cr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| English 10 | 79 | 1.0 | |
| Global History II | 77 | 1.0 | Regents exam: 84. |
| Geometry | 70 | 1.0 | Regents exam: 78. Sequential math punishes absences harder than any other subject. |
| Chemistry | 68 | 1.0 | Regents exam: 76. Lab attendance: 72%. Course grade cratered by incomplete labs. |
| Spanish for Heritage Speakers II | 93 | 1.0 | |
| Physical Education | 68 | 0.5 | |
| Jazz Ensemble | 92 | 1.0 | Taveras. The chair by the door. |
| Symphonic Band | 87 | 1.0 | Moved up from Concert Band. |
| Instrumental Class: Saxophone | 94 | 1.0 | |
| Music Theory II | 89 | 1.0 | |
| Music History I | 85 | 1.0 |
Credits Earned: 10.5 Cumulative Average: ~82.0 Academic Standing: Probation warning issued. Not yet formal probation. The threat.
[Sophomore year is the escalation, not the crisis. The body is getting worse. The absences are climbing. The gap between test scores and course grades is widening. Teachers are starting to split into two camps: the ones who see a kid who's struggling and the ones who see a kid who's unreliable.]
2023-2024 -- Grade 11¶
[Attendance: 132/180 days. 48 absences -- medical/personal crisis. Suicide attempt November 2023 (gabapentin overdose, age 16). Hospitalization at Montefiore Pediatric ICU. Medical withdrawal from PE, fall semester. Multiple incompletes finished over winter break and spring. YouTube video "What It's Really Like Being Me" posted spring 2024.]
| Course | Grade | Cr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| English 11 (American Literature) | 76 | 1.0 | ELA Regents exam: 85. Fall incomplete, finished over winter break. He can write. He couldn't always hold the pen. |
| US History | 75 | 1.0 | US History Regents exam: 83. |
| Algebra II/Trigonometry | 67 | 1.0 | Regents exam: 74. Lowest course grade. Missed weeks in fall during hospitalization. |
| Physics | 69 | 1.0 | No Regents exam required. Lab attendance: 58%. |
| AP Psychology | 82 | 1.0 | AP exam: 4. Took this because part of him didn't know if music was sustainable and he wanted to find out what else he was good at. Turns out: understanding how minds break. |
| Spanish for Heritage Speakers III | 94 | 1.0 | |
| Physical Education | MW/70 | 0.5 | Fall: Medical Withdrawal. Spring: 70, modified. |
| Jazz Ensemble | 91 | 1.0 | 48 absences and Taveras still gave him solos. |
| Wind Symphony | 86 | 1.0 | Advanced ensemble. Attendance affected the grade. |
| Instrumental Class: Saxophone | 93 | 1.0 | |
| Music History II | 82 | 1.0 |
Credits Earned: 10.5 Cumulative Average: ~80.5 Academic Standing: Formal probation narrowly avoided. Summer course completion required to clear incompletes.
[This is the year. November 2023 -- gabapentin overdose. Montefiore Pediatric ICU. The spring semester grades are the aftermath: a boy putting himself back together with incomplete coursework and a body that still won't explain itself. The 4 on AP Psychology during the year he tried to die is the transcript's quiet scream -- he's brilliant, he's drowning, and the institution can see the grades but not the water.]
2024-2025 -- Grade 12¶
[Attendance: 155/180 days. 25 absences -- medical. The number looks like improvement. It isn't. He learned where every bathroom is. He learned which practice rooms lock from the inside. He learned to throw up quietly. The absences went down because he stopped going home when his body broke; he just found a place in the building to break in private and came back for next period. Juilliard acceptance (April 2025) gave him something to survive toward.]
| Course | Grade | Cr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| English 12 | 82 | 1.0 | |
| Government & Economics | 83 | 1.0 | |
| Pre-Calculus | 73 | 1.0 | Not required for diploma but LaGuardia expects 4 years of math. |
| [Science Elective] | 75 | 1.0 | |
| AP Spanish Language | 96 | 1.0 | AP exam: 5. Native speaker. |
| AP Music Theory | 97 | 1.0 | AP exam: 5. This was never a question. |
| Physical Education | 68 | 0.5 | |
| Jazz Ensemble | 96 | 1.0 | Senior year. Lead soloist. NY Youth Jazz Fellowship. |
| Wind Symphony | 91 | 1.0 | |
| Instrumental Class: Saxophone | 97 | 1.0 | |
| Composition | 94 | 1.0 | Elective. Original pieces that would become early CRATB material. |
Credits Earned: 10.5 Cumulative Average: ~86.5 (senior year) / ~83.7 (cumulative)
Cumulative Record¶
| Total Credits Earned | 42.5 + summer/winter makeup |
| Cumulative Average | ~83.7 |
| Diploma Earned | NYS Regents Diploma |
| Studio | Instrumental Music (Saxophone) |
| Class Rank | Not ranked (LaGuardia does not rank) |
AP Examinations¶
| Exam | Year | Score |
|---|---|---|
| AP Psychology | Junior (2024) | 4 |
| AP Spanish Language | Senior (2025) | 5 |
| AP Music Theory | Senior (2025) | 5 |
Three APs across four years at a conservatory high school. Two fives in subjects where his talent and heritage did the heavy lifting. A four in psychology during the year he tried to die.
NYS Regents Examinations¶
| Exam | Date | Score | Course Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algebra I | June 2022 | 82 | 74 |
| Living Environment | June 2022 | 83 | 76 |
| Global History & Geography II | June 2023 | 84 | 77 |
| Geometry | June 2023 | 78 | 70 |
| English Language Arts | June 2024 | 85 | 76 |
| US History & Government | June 2024 | 83 | 75 |
| Algebra II/Trigonometry | June 2024 | 74 | 67 |
The Regents column tells a different story than the course grade column. Every test score is 6-10 points higher than the corresponding course grade. Charlie understood the material. The grades didn't measure understanding -- they measured the ability to show up every day, complete every assignment, attend every lab, and perform consistency his body physically could not sustain. The institution graded attendance and called it academics.
Attendance Summary¶
| Year | Days Present | Days Absent | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 (2021-22) | 160 | 20 | 11.1% |
| Grade 10 (2022-23) | 150 | 30 | 16.7% |
| Grade 11 (2023-24) | 132 | 48 | 26.7% |
| Grade 12 (2024-25) | 155 | 25 | 13.9% |
| Total | 597 | 123 | 17.1% |
NYC DOE chronic absence threshold is 10% (18+ days). Charlie exceeded it every year. He was chronically absent for four consecutive years without a medical diagnosis to explain why.
Senior year's 25 absences looks like recovery. It isn't. It's a boy who learned to be sick inside the building instead of going home.
Supplemental Notes¶
Juilliard Pre-College Division (concurrent enrollment)¶
Charlie attended Juilliard's Pre-College Division on Saturdays for classical saxophone training from approximately 2019 (middle school) through 2025. Pre-College is a separate program and does not appear on the LaGuardia transcript. The concurrent training load is relevant context: five days at a conservatory high school, Saturdays at Juilliard Pre-College, on a body that was failing without diagnosis.
Daily Schedule Structure¶
LaGuardia runs ten 41-minute periods (8:05 AM - 3:35 PM). Instrumental Music students have 3-4 periods of music and 6-7 periods of academics per day. Charlie commuted from Jackson Heights on the 7 train, leaving home by 7:00 AM and arriving back after 4:30 PM -- nine and a half hours before practice time started.
NY Youth Jazz Fellowship¶
Awarded senior year. External recognition of jazz talent.
Summer Juilliard Composition Grant¶
Received during high school years.
Academic Maintenance¶
LaGuardia requires minimum GPA maintenance. Charlie received a probation warning spring of sophomore year. Junior year nearly triggered formal probation after the hospitalization. He was never formally placed on probation but lived under the threat every semester.
What the Transcript Doesn't Show¶
- A teacher who put a chair by the rehearsal room door so a kid could sit without asking
- A saxophone that said everything his body couldn't
- A YouTube video that reached thousands of chronically ill teenagers who recognized their own lives in his
- A Juilliard audition where he played four tunes from memory with an alumni rhythm section while his body fought him for every note, and got into a program that accepts seven to nine people per year
- That the gap between his test scores and his course grades is not a mystery -- it's a medical record the institution couldn't read because nobody had written it yet
- That his highest grade in four years was a 97 in saxophone and AP Music Theory, and his lowest was a 67 in Algebra II during the semester he tried to die, and both numbers are the same kid