The specialized high schools of New York City are selective public high schools, established and run by the New York City Department of Education to serve the needs of academically and artistically gifted students. The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) examination is required for admission to all the schools except LaGuardia, which requires an audition or portfolio for admission.
The schools
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science was founded in 1938 as a specialized science and math high school for boys, by resolution of the Board of Education of the City of New York, with Morris Meister as the first principal and guiding light of the school. They were given use of an antiquated Gothic-gargoyled edifice located at Creston Avenue and 184th Street. The building, built in 1918 for Evander Childs High School, had been successively occupied by Walton High School (1930) and by an annex of DeWitt Clinton High School (1935). The initial faculty were comprised in part by a contingent from Stuyvesant High School.[1] Principal Meister put his imprint on the school from its formation, for example selecting as school colors "green to represent chlorophyll and gold the sun, both of which are essential to the chain of life."[2]
Brooklyn Latin School
The Brooklyn Latin School was founded in 2006. The ideals governing Brooklyn Latin are borrowed largely from the Boston Latin School, the oldest school in the United States and among its most prestigious, listing luminaries like Ben Franklin and Leonard Bernstein. Like Boston Latin, The Brooklyn Latin School stresses a classical education more akin to a private school than that of an urban high school. All students read Homer, Virgil, Sophocles and other canonical writers and thinkers of the Western tradition. In addition, all students are expected to participate in Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). The Brooklyn Latin School is the only public high school in New York City to require four years of Latin language instruction; it is also the only Specialized High School to mandate a uniform dress code. The current, and founding, Head Master is Jason Griffiths, and the school is supported by Replications Inc. It is located at 325 Bushwick Avenue in the thriving neighborhood of East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Technical High School
In 1918, Dr. Albert L. Colston, chair of the Math Department at Manual Training High School, recommended establishing a technical high school for Brooklyn boys. His plan envisioned a heavy concentration of math, science, and drafting courses with parallel paths leading either to college or to a technical career in industry. By 1922, Dr. Colston's concept was approved by the Board of Education, and Brooklyn Technical High School opened in a converted warehouse at 49 Flatbush Avenue Extension, with 2,400 students. This location, in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, is the reason the school seal bears that bridge's image, rather than the more obvious symbol for the borough, the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn Tech would occupy one more location before settling into its current (as of 2008) site, for which the groundbreaking was held in 1930.
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Adjacent to New York's Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, the building that is now home to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts was opened in 1984 to bring together two "sister" arts high schools of the day, The High School of Music & Art (started by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in 1936) and the High School of Performing Arts, established in 1947. Prior to the building's completion in 1984, Music & Art (a/k/a "The Castle on the Hill") was located on Convent Avenue and 135th Street in what has since become part of City College (CCNY)'s South Campus; Performing Arts was located in midtown on 46th Street, both in Manhattan. Mayor La Guardia regarded Music & Art as the "most hopeful accomplishment" of his long administration as mayor.[3]
High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College
The High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College was created in 2002, with an emphasis on engineering. HSMSE was designed to be a small school with only about four hundred students.
High School of American Studies at Lehman College
The High School of American Studies at Lehman College is located on the Lehman College campus, one block from the Bronx High School of Science, in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx. Unlike the rest of the specialized high schools, American Studies curriculum emphasizes U.S. History, offering three years (as opposed to only one) of AP-level U.S. History. The partnership with Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has afforded the school to plan multiple trips outside of New York City, with students paying relatively cheap fees. In 2008, US News and World Report ranked American Studies as the 29th best public high school in the country and 2nd in New York State.
Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
The Queens High School for the Sciences at York College was formed in 2002 and continued to grow each year as a new class entered, reaching its present size in 2006, when the fifth class was admitted. There are now more than 400 students.
Staten Island Technical High School
Staten Island Technical High School began in 1982 as an annex of Ralph R. McKee Vocational-Technical High School, located in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, after New Dorp High School, which had occupied the building since it was built in the 1930s, moved to its current location on New Dorp Lane. The technical courses were taught in the annex, while the vocational courses stayed in St. George. Through the advocacy of parents, staff, and students, Staten Island Tech was made an independent high school by the New York City Board of Education in May 1988. Nicholas M. Bilotti, who had been serving as director of the annex, was appointed principal of the new high school.
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School is named after Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Netherland before the colony was transferred to England in 1664.[1]
The school was established in 1904 as a manual training school for boys, hosting 155 students and 12 teachers. In 1907, it moved from its original location at 225 East 23rd Street to a building designed by C. B. J. Snyder at 345 East 15th Street, where it remained for 85 years. Its reputation for excellence in math and science continued to grow, and enrollment was restricted based on scholastic achievement starting in 1919.[4]
Background
Each of the specialized high schools has its own unique features but most emphasize mathematics and science. They offer many intriguing electives and advanced placement courses, including enrichment courses in the humanities.
Originally there were three of these high schools: Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, and Stuyvesant. The other schools were later created to absorb some of the students who did not get into these three specialized high schools. [5]
History
In 1934, Stuyvesant implemented a system of entrance examinations. The examination was developed with the assistance of Columbia University, and the program was later expanded to include the newly founded Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech.[6]
Their status as specialized schools was frequently threatened by factions within the New York City school system and government. As a way to preserve their special status, in 1972, the Hecht-Calandra Act was passed by the New York State Legislature, designating these schools as specialized science and math high schools for New York City. The Hecht-Calandra act called for a uniform exam in math and science to be administered for admission to these schools, in keeping with the uniform examination that had already been required by the New York City Board of Education for admission to these schools. The School of Performing Arts and The High School of Music & Art (consolidated in 1984 into LaGuardia High School) were also designated by the legislature as specialized high schools, and admission was by audition and portfolio rather than examination, in keeping with their artistic mission.[7]
Staten Island Tech began in 1982 as an annex of Ralph R. McKee Vocational-Technical High School and was made an independent high school in May 1988. HSAS, HSMSE, and QHSSYC were opened in 2002. Brooklyn Latin was established in 2006. All of these schools are required by state law to admit students based on the uniform Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, and positions are assigned on a ranked system, depending on numbers of seats available and how many applicants requested a given school.
References
- ^ a b (PDF) (Former) Stuyvesant High School. Landmarks Preservation Commission. May 20, 1997. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928022617/http://www.stuyvesant.ourstrongband.org/LandMarkDesignation/Stuy+Landmark+Designation.pdf. Retrieved May 28, 2006.
- ^ "About Bronx Science". The Bronx High School of Science. http://www.bxscience.edu/about.jsp?rn=2690. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
- ^ Steigman, Benjamin (1984). Accent on Talent — New York's High School of Music & Art. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0686879759.
- ^ "Stuyvesant High School Timeline by Class Year". The Campaign for Stuyvesant. March 27, 2007. http://www.ourstrongband.org/history/timeline.html. Retrieved June 4, 2006.
- ^ Krownstein, Gerry (May 2002). "New Exam Schools". New York Stringer Magazine (9). http://www.nystringer.com/html/examsch.htm. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ^ Blaufarb, Eugene (2005). "History of Stuyvesant High School" (PDF). Stuyvesant High School Parent Handbook. Stuyvesant Parents Association. http://www.stuy-pa.org/files/documents/04-05ParentHandbook.pdf. Retrieved May 28, 2006.
- ^ Mac Donald, Heather (Spring 1999). "How Gotham’s Elite High Schools Escaped the Leveller’s Ax". City Journal. http://www.city-journal.org/html/9_2_how_gothams_elite.html. Retrieved May 28, 2006.
See also
External links
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