NYC’s Institute for Collaborative Ed. (ICE) has a branding problem

A progressive public school in Manhattan long known by its acronym — ICE — has decided it's time for a rebrand.

Parents and staff at the Institute for Collaborative Education say those letters have taken on a grim connotation in President Donald Trump’s second term, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, waging a crackdown nationwide that has resulted in deportations, including of New York City students and recent public school grads.

The Institute for Collaborative Education now refers to itself as “Ny.ICE” — often pronounced “nice.”

“Moving forward I will be referring to our school community as Ny.ICE or the Institute for Collaborative Education in official communications to avoid any confusion or unnecessary emotional responses to our school’s acronym,” Principal Peter Karp wrote in a letter to the school community earlier this year. “Although we were founded in 1993, I believe that this is an appropriate and respectful response to the current climate in our city and our country. I hope you will join me in this, and know that I do not make this adjustment lightly.”

City education department officials said the school has not formally changed its name. But parents and students said the shift to Ny.ICE has been slowly underway since at least Trump’s first term. Trump’s re-election hastened the change.

“I think it's a good way to be more inclusive of our community because when you hear the word ICE, it can be pretty triggering for some people,” student Mosi Nathan, 16, said. “It sounds bad when you're just like, ‘Oh, I go to ICE. … You don't really want to be associated with those people. So I just say Ny.ICE now.”

The school’s website references both its old and new name.

“Merchand-ICE” is for sale, along with an archive of previous issues of the “ICE Dispenser” school newsletter. New mugs and sweatshirts feature the new moniker. Sports uniforms also reflect the shift.

Alison Riley, a parent of a junior at the school, said it “prioritizes being a place that is safe for children and families … and is not interested in aligning itself in PR and in policy” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Riley, a creative director, acknowledged the addition of “Ny” is “aesthetically a little clunky.” But she said the majority of the school community felt avoiding association with federal ICE is more important.

“They want their students to feel proud of the school they go to, and it’s reflective of the candor and caliber of conversation there,” she said.

The small school serving sixth through 12th graders near Stuyvesant Town emphasizes hands-on, project-based learning, according to its website. It’s part of a consortium of schools that use projects, reports and experiments for assessments instead of standardized tests.

At a recent dismissal, students said they alternate between the new and old names, but have noticed people often flinch when they hear "ICE."

“They changed it because with all the immigration, all the things that are happening with ICE, it’s just not a good look for our school anymore,” student Cheyne Nesbitt, 16, said.

"When I refer to [the school] to people I don't know, I refer to it as Ny.ICE,” Nesbitt said. “Other than that, I refer to it as ICE.”

The rebrand is another example of how immigration policies have reverberated through the city’s public school communities, with some becoming hubs of resistance.

Weeks into the new administration, parents and teachers across the city were distributing red cards outlining undocumented immigrants’ rights and holding informational sessions for families. Some parents and teachers created encrypted chats to alert the community if ICE agents were spotted nearby. In at least a couple of cases, the alerts prompted schools to move dismissal indoors to shield families from immigration authorities.

No immigration agents have entered city public schools this school year, according to city education department spokesperson Nicole Brownstein.

"We will always advocate for all of our students, no matter their status. As we have said, we urge our families to continue to send their children to our schools, where they are safe,” she said.

Multiple public school students and many of their relatives have been detained and deported. A Bronx high school student, thought to be the first public school student in the city to be detained by ICE during Trump's second term, was picked up attending a court appearance in May and remains in detention in Pennsylvania. The student, known by his first name, Dylan, spent his 21st birthday in custody last month.

Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos have encouraged immigrant students to keep coming to class, and the education department has sent guidance to administrators about what to do if federal agents try to enter their buildings. Under the city’s sanctuary city policies, federal law enforcement officials are not permitted in school buildings unless they have a judicial warrant. The city has instructed school staff to contact education department lawyers if any federal agents try to enter.

According to Adams' office, some 50,000 migrant students entered the city’s schools since 2022. Chalkbeat New York reported enrollment declined steeply this fall at several of the public schools that received the most migrant students in recent years.