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Students at the High School of Graphic Communication Arts work on web-design projects Jan. 9.

When the city unveiled its school closure proposals last month, the High School of Graphic Communication Arts was not on the list. So students and staff there were surprised to learn last week that their school might well be closed in June after all.

Many students walking to the Manhattan school’s Hell’s Kitchen building this morning said they were primed for a typical school day, despite the news that Graphics, which received an F on its most recent progress report, would be one of 33 schools to undergo the “turnaround” process this year. Under that plan, which Mayor Bloomberg announced in his State of the City speech last week, the school would reopen in September with a new name and at least 50 percent of the current teachers gone.

Brendan Lyons, the school’s first-year principal, said the news was “definitely a surprise for our organization and our community,” but said he would wait for more details from the city before commenting on potential changes in store for the school.

If the turnaround plan is approved by the State Department of Education, Lyons would be eligible to stay on. But along with a team of educators and union officials, he would be responsible for selecting a new staff, drawing on current teachers for exactly half of the slots.

“Every crisis is an opportunity,” Lyons said. “I’d like to show how our school is a model turnaround that other schools can learn from.”

He added, “Right now we are in the dark, but hopefully in the next week this picture will go from black and white into color.”

Ashley, an 11th-grader who asked to keep her last name private, said teachers at Graphics discussed the turnaround model with students on Tuesday and shared a letter from Chancellor Dennis Walcott outlining the changes the school could expect.

“They said it was going to be a new and improved school, that it will be better,” she said. “But I think it’s going to be the same thing. It was sad to hear that they’d lose their jobs.”

Gamalier Aquin, also in 11th grade, said the school has already made positive strides under Lyons’s leadership, but he doubted that the Turnaround would have a large impact, whether or not it spells the end of some teachers’ jobs.

“The new principal, he’s great. He is in the hallways now, he shows up in classes. The other principal I didn’t even know,” Aquin said. “Honestly, if it’s just changing the name and the number, I’m not sure.”

Even before the turnaround announcement, Graphics was in the process of phasing out its longstanding printing program. Melissa Silberman and Vanda Belusic, Department of Education officials who support career and technical education schools, told me today that the program was unlikely to lead to jobs, so the school is focusing instead on other fields, such as photography and graphic design, that are expanding. They declined to comment on how the school’s turnaround and staff turnover could affect its career curriculum offerings.