James Monroe High School

For schools with a similar name, see James Monroe High School.

James Monroe High School was a comprehensive high school located at 1300 Boynton Avenue and E 172nd Street in the Soundview section of the Bronx.

Opened in 1924, the original school ran for seventy years before being shut down in 1994 for poor performance. The original building now houses four smaller high schools: the Monroe Academy for Visual Arts and Design (H.S. 692), the Monroe Academy for Business and Law (H.S. 690), the High School of World Cultures (H.S. 550), and the Bronx Coalition Community School (H.S. 680), which is being phased out. The building also used to house an elementary school, The Bronx Little School.

The building was designed by William H. Gompert, who was the New York City Superintendent of School Buildings. The building was built by the T.A. Clarke Co., and is substantially identical to a handful of other high school buildings that were built in the city at the same time.

Famous alumni

• Hank Greenberg ('29), major league baseball player with the Detroit Tigers, AL MVP, and a Hall of Famer. Greenberg led Monroe to the PSAL basketball championship in 1927 and to the PSAL baseball title in 1929. He was a three-sport All-City selection at Monroe in soccer, basketball and baseball.
• Leon M. Lederman ('39), Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1988.
• Jules Feiffer (‘47), cartoonist for the Village Voice, won the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning.
• Art Fleming ('41), original host of TV's Jeopardy! and former Monroe football star.
• Ed Kranepool ('62), major league baseball player, signed by the Mets just days after his 1962 graduation from Monroe, one of the original New York Mets and a member of 1969 World Series Champs.
• Jonathan Harris ('31), actor, the conniving Dr. Smith in the television series Lost In Space, who graduated from Monroe at age 16.
• Danny Aiello, actor, who attended Monroe for two weeks before dropping out to enlist in the National Guard.
• Wilbur Young ('64) led Monroe to gridiron glory in the ‘60s before a Hall of Fame career with the Kansas City Chiefs that included a Super Bowl victory in 1970.
• Danny Monzon ('64) carried the baseball torch handed to him by Kranepool and then went on to play for the Minnesota Twins.
• Stan Getz, pioneer jazz musician in cool, bossa nova and modern jazz. During hot Bronx summers, Getz developed a love for swimming at Crotona Park.
• Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett, and Barbara Lee of the singing group the Chiffons.
• Estelle Reiner, wife of Carl Reiner, mother of Rob Reiner, and actress in When Harry Met Sally, who said, "I'll have what she's having."
• Malloy Nesmith ('88), renowned streetball player. Nesmith played professionally overseas and in the USBL and has been featured in numerous Nike commercials that display his ballhandling skills. He played collegiately for Utah State University before earning a tryout with the Golden State Warriors of the NBA in 1995. He was the final player released by the team that summer.
• Template:Darren Carrington,('84) former NFL player 8 year veteran (Broncos, Lions, Chargers, Panthers). Played in two Super Bowls
• Nathan Glazer, sociologist who co-authored Beyond the Melting Pot.
• Cornelius H. Charlton, U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient in the Korean War.
• Lenny Hambro, jazz musician (woodwinds), notably with the bands of Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller, Machito, and Chico O'Farrill.
• Judith Merrill, science-fiction author and editor.
• Stanley Milgram, social psychologist.
• Margaret Roggero, opera singer, sang at Metropolitan Opera.
• Regina Resnik, opera singer and actress, sang at Metropolitan Opera.
• Jeannette L. Sasmor, Nurse Educator, Fellow the American Academy of Nursing.
• Nancy Savoca, Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award-winning filmmaker.
• Philip Zimbardo, a social psychologist.
• Doris Wishman, a filmmaker.
• T Baines, Author, Music Management, Promoter.
• Luis Pereyra $150 million Mega Millions jackpot winner.
• Tamara Baines, number-one female Black Belt in karate.
• Alfred L. Cruz, Campaign employee for former presidential runner-ups John Kerry and Al Gore.
• Craig Limmer ('69), Gatorade/NYSCA National Youth Coach of the Year in Baseball 1985, '87, '88, College Lecturer in Anthropology in New Mexico. Retired from Public Service after 29 years with the 9th Judicial District Attorney's Office, State of New Mexico

Coordinates: 40°49′54″N 73°52′43″W / 40.83171°N 73.878729°W / 40.83171; -73.878729

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