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Principal wannabes hoping to open up new city high schools got marching orders from city officials last night: Try to focus on students still learning English or vocational programs.

The advice came at a meeting held by the Office of Portfolio Planning, where more than a dozen people stood before an audience of community board members and parents and tried to sell their vision for a new high school. Most said they wanted to open schools that focus on English Language Learners or students who are older and are not on track to graduate.

Though the final proposals are not due until December, the principal-hopefuls were there to see what kind of reception their envisioned new schools would get from parents and community board members.

Johanny Garcia, an assistant principal at the Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports, proposed a high school for ELL students, which he once was.

“I came to this country at the age of 13 and I couldn’t say ‘hello’,” Garcia said. He made it through George Washington High School thanks to special instruction for ELL students, he said.

His proposed school would start ninth grade students in classes, 60 percent of which would be in Spanish and 40 percent in English. As the student progressed from year to year, the number of classes taught in English would increase until by senior year all classes would be English-only.

Another applicant proposing a high school for ELL students said her school would rely on engaging students through art and theater.

“Art and theater lower the anxiety for ELLs and give them more venues to increase their literacy” said Stela Radovanovic, who has been teaching in New York for 14 years.

Mary Rice-Boothe, principal of Harlem Renaissance High School, described what a typical student at her high school would look like. Cameron, the model student, would have repeatedly failed ninth grade until she arrived at the proposed transfer school, where she would work two days a week at a clothing design internship, Rice-Boothe said.

One applicant described the vocational school she would open, which would focus on preparing students to work in the healthcare industry, while another said she wanted to open an all-male transfer high school.

Hoa Tu, who heads the DOE’s new schools initiative, said where a new school would go wouldn’t be decided until January. On its website, the DOE notes that it’s looking to place one new high school in the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex next year.