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Cathie Black won’t take over as Schools Chancellor until January 3. But she hass been visiting schools throughout the city. On Wednesday, she let reporters tag along to find out what she's been seeing and how that has shaping her view of the job.

The incoming chancellor visited Medgar Evers College Preparatory school in Crown Heights. It's a school where college prep is more than just a name.

In the Advanced Placement biology lab, Black watched Dr. Albert Stoddart teach a lesson on the nervous system.

"The brain is not just one big mass," he said, pointing to a model.

The 22 students in the room were in grades 10-12. Black stood on the side and nodded as the class ignored her and an entourage that included Assemblyman Karim Camara, the principal, a couple of parents, and a few reporters. The Hearst Magazines chair wore gray pants and a gray jacket with three-quarter sleeves. When the class was dismissed she asked the students about their plans for the future.

"Any potential doctors in the room?" Five hands shot up instantly. Black noticed the weight of the textbooks and asked if the students work really hard. "Yes," they chimed in, laughing. Seventeen year-old Shani Pacal lingered for a few minutes as her classmates went to lunch. She told Black she wants to go to New York University.

As Black toured the school, she also saw 8^th graders taking physics and sixth graders who just started learning Mandarin Chinese. They sang a few welcoming phrases to her in loud voices. Then four students got up to do a dance with colorful scarves while singing a different tune, which they were apparently still learning because few kids in the class knew the lyrics.

Afterwards, the incoming chancellor encouraged them to keep studying as she told the children about how Hearst Magazines has a branch in China. "We publish seven magazines in China," she said. "It’s been very exciting to see the growth for us. Maybe somebody can have a job at a magazine in China."

Black met separately with about twenty older students. They told her about the sixth through 12^th grade school’s demanding curriculum. The students take Regents exams before ninth grade and then start getting ready for college. Fourteen year-old Kaeyla Kerr said it’s challenging.

"Because I’m currently taking A.P. US history and I realize that you can’t do it by yourself," she explalined. "There’s other people to help you. And it’s like one big family where you can go to anyone. Anything you need it’s always there."

Black asked the students where they want to go to college. University of Pennsylvania, Brandeis, Cornell and NYU were a few of the names. "Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown" said one girl. "That's a pretty good list," Black laughed.

She asked the students if there's "anything you wish the school could do?"

A boy in the back knew the answer on everyone's mind. "We need an auditorium and a gym," said sophomore Tafari John-King to applause.

The school’s 1,000 students take gym in the cafeteria and hallways. Black got the message loud and clear but she couldn’t make any promises. "We'll give as much support as we can," she told the principal, students and parents who had joined the meeting. "I'm getting emails about everything!"

The principal then told her his graduation rate had gone from 60 percent to 95 percent in the past decade, with a population that’s predominantly black and low-income. This year’s graduates were accepted by 100 different colleges, including some Ivy Leagues.

The Department of Education says Black has visited thirteen schools since the mayor appointed her in November. As she left, the publishing executive was asked what she’s learned about education.

"The leadership starts at the top, as it always does in any organization," she said. "It is about the standards that the principal sets."

But Medgar Evers Prep has higher standards than most schools. Students must have good grades to be accepted. Black was asked by reporters if she’s getting an accurate look at the city schools.

"Well, I’ve been to the South Bronx and that’s about as realistic as you can get and I felt the same thing," she said. "The principal’s been there for four years. And I asked if it looked like that four years ago and she said no it did not look like that, so that comes from leadership."

Black did acknowledge that Medgar Evers Prep is unique. The principal had mentioned that he doesn’t focus on test prep. "I need to know more about that, but it would seem looking at the success of this school that it perhaps is a model," she said.

The principal of Medgar Evers has been in charge for ten years. Michael Wiltshire says he found out the previous night that Black would be visiting. If there’s one thing she remembers, he said, it’s that education is about developing the whole child. But that’s hard to convey in a less-than-one-hour visit.

"You can’t just come in and look it’s a philosophy," he said. "We’re not just doing our thing, we’re guided by a philosophy."

And Cathie Black’s philosophy on education is still taking shape.