DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in The Bronx, New York. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years. In 1983, it became co-ed. From its original building on West 13th Street in Manhattan, it moved in 1906 to its second home, located at 59th Street and Tenth Avenue (now the site of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice). In 1929, the school moved to its present home on Mosholu Parkway in The Bronx, which more recently has been across from the renowned Bronx High School of Science.
After more than a century of operation, DeWitt Clinton High School in the early 2000s has faced serious problems involving student performance, gang culture, and security.[3][4]
Clinton opened in 1897 at 60 West 13th Street at the northern end of Greenwich Village under the name of Boys High School,[5] although this Boys High School was not related to the one in Brooklyn. This school was renamed for former New York governor DeWitt Clinton in 1900.[5]
The school's H-shaped building, designed by C. B. J. Snyder, was said to be the biggest high school building in the United States at the time.[6] After the school moved to the Bronx, this building became Haaren High School. It is now Haaren Hall on the campus of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.[7]
Until a high school education became compulsory in the early 1930s, Clinton, like all other public schools in the city, had a Classics Department, where Greek and Latin were taught. Perhaps its most famous teacher was history teacher Dr. Irwin Guernsey, known to generations of students as "Doc" Guernsey. He came to Clinton in the fall of 1914 and retired in the spring of 1959, due to illness. Using two "Irish" canes, he taught from the chair and won twice in his lifetime the title of Master Teacher in New York City. He was also head of the Honors Association, Arista. The History wing is named "Guernsey Hall" in his memory, and one can still see the library cart named "Doc's Special" on which he sat while students wheeled him to class during the last years of his tenure when he was sick.[8]
The school moved to a new building on a 21-acre (85,000 m2) campus at 100 West Mosholu Parkway South and East 205th Street in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx in 1929,[5] where it has remained. Paul Avenue, which runs to the side of the school from Mosholu Parkway to Lehman College, is named after a DeWitt Clinton High School principal, Dr. Paul. It was under this principal that the school moved to its current location in the Bronx.
In the 1930s, its enrollment peaked at 12,000 and it was said to be the largest high school in the world. Enrollment by 1999 was about 4,000.[9][10] In 2021, the New York City Department of Education reports 1,118 students.[11]
It remained the last gender-segregated public school in New York City until 1983.
In 1996, Clinton was selected by Redbook magazine as one of the five most improved schools in America. In 1999, U.S. News & World Report designated Clinton as one of 96 outstanding schools in America.[9]
In 1999, Geraldine Ambrosio became the first woman to hold the principal's post at the school.
The school qualifies for government aid because of the low income status of its students. As of 2006, the school has a large Hispanic population, followed by African-Americans, Asians, non-Hispanic Whites, and Albanians.[12]
Clinton received poor evaluations from the New York City Department of Education in its 2010–11 Progress Report. It received a grade of F (39.4 out of 100) with the worst marks in school environment and closing the achievement gap.[13] The Quality Report for the academic year 2011-12 rated the school as "underdeveloped", its lowest rating. It particularly faulted the school for failing to design "engaging, rigorous and coherent curricula" and for failing to ensure that teaching was "aligned to the curriculum, engaging, and differentiated to enable all students to produce meaningful work products."[14] In 2013, to address these issues, the city's Department of Education tapped Santiago Taveras, one of its former deputy chancellors, as the school's principal to replace the retiring Ambrosio.[15] In November 2016, after Department of Education investigators found evidence of grade tampering, Taveras was removed as principal.[16]
Organization-houses and small learning communities
Clinton is split into several small learning communities. They include the Macy Honors Gifted Program (internally often called the Macy House), Health Professions, Veterinary Professions, Public Service, Business Enterprise, Future Educators, Academy House, and Varsity House.
The Macy Program, begun in 1985 with funding from the Macy Foundation,[9] attracts intelligent, hard-working children and preparing them for exceptionally selective colleges. The Macy program has been expanded to serve 1,200 students. The current Macy coordinator is Ernesta Consolazio.[17] The Macy Honors Gifted Program in the Sciences and Humanities has its own teachers, and a nine-period day compared to the regular New York City eight-period day. The program offers Specialized and Advanced Technology (SMT) courses, Science, Math, English, Law, Government, Philosophy and Great Books. All students in the program are required to have a minimum average of 80 and not to fail any courses. When Macy students are removed from the program, they are placed in Excel, a special Macy-run program just for its kick-outs and drop-outs, before being fully demoted to the lower programs. From at least 1998 to 2002, some students went directly into the Excel program.[clarification needed]
Advanced Macy students are invited to join the even more selective Einstein Program, which has about 50 students in each grade. This program has even more rigorous academic performance requirements. Einstein students in their junior year are required to take a College Now course for philosophy and government science, in their first and second semester, respectively. These courses allow students to earn college credits. Einstein students are automatically assigned to honors and AP classes as early as freshman year, followed by the mandatory AP United States History and AP English Language for Einstein students who make it to their junior year.
Many Macy students are invited to MASTERS, a month-long summer program that offers many hands-on college courses emphasizing mathematics and science. These include Forensic Science, Robotics, Anatomy, Business, Consumer Chemistry and Electricity.
The school has over 40 academic and interest clubs.
The Clinton News, the school's newspaper,[18] is written and managed by its students. However, like many other outstanding Clinton possessions, The Clinton News publishes several multi-page full color papers a year by a grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavour Foundation.
Another Clinton High School publication is The Magpie. Published yearly, the historic color edition of this magazine came out May 2007. This literary collection received the most attention for its association with the Harlem Renaissance.[19]
DeWitt Clinton teams are known as the Governors; there are approximately 35 teams. Some teams no longer exist, such as fencing and rifle. Teams for the 2007–2008 school year included:[20]
DeWitt Clinton High School is located at 100 West Mosholu Parkway South. It dominates the entire block, excluding the ground at the south where the Bronx High School of Science is situated. Facing the main entrance of the building, Paul Avenue runs to the east and Goulden Avenue to the west. The school faces Mosholu Parkway, and has its turf field and track behind it, followed by the softball field, and then the school's baseball and grass football field, Alumni Field. It is after this point that DeWitt Clinton's territory ends, meeting that of Bronx Science.[22]
Clinton has a small branch of Montefiore Medical Clinic within it, capable of supplying essential services to the students of the campus.[23]
The ceiling of a hallway had a 1930s mural by Alfred Floegel called "Constellations", a part of the Federal Art Project. In 2018 the mural was painted over accidentally as part of a roof repair.[24]
The institution was featured in A Walk Through The Bronx with David Hartman and historian Barry Lewis. In it, Hartman and Lewis take a peek at the library.[25]
The DeWitt Clinton Chorus performed songs in the 2000 production, Finding Forrester.[26]
A book has been written about the school: Pelisson, Gerard J., and James A. Garvey III (2009). The Castle on the Parkway: The Story of New York City's DeWitt Clinton High School and Its Extraordinary Influence on American Life. Hutch Press. ISBN978-1-883269-30-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Clintonites made headlines and New York City School history in September 2005, when they walked out. The 1,500 strong walk out was a result of the installation of metal detectors.[27]
Tracy Morgan comedian, also attended Clinton and with the approval of the New York City Department of Education, Morgan was awarded an honorary diploma in 2003.[65]: 64
Jerome S. Spevack (1918–1999) (Class of 1935) Scientist, inventor, chemical engineer, Manhattan Project scientist, Developed most economical method to produce heavy water[citation needed]
DeWitt Clinton High School students organized one of the largest high school walkouts in New York on September 19, 2005. The protest occurred over installation of airport-style metal detectors and X-ray scanners, which had already been installed in many other schools throughout New York City.[105]
^"About the Charles Henry Alston Papers", Archives of American Art. Accessed September 14, 2009. "Found here are Charles Henry Alston's resumes, vital information, a copied marriage certificate, memorial information, and educational records from Dewitt Clinton High School and Columbia University."
^Herzog, Bob; and Barker, Barbara. "Ewing, Five Former Knicks Among NBA's 50 Greatest", Newsday, October 30, 1996. Accessed September 14, 2009. "Three former Nets, Julius Erving (Roosevelt High), Rick Barry (Roselle Park, N.J., High) and Nate Archibald (DeWitt Clinton), also were selected"
^ abStaff. "Richard Avedon", The Daily Telegraph, October 2, 2004. Accessed September 14, 2009. "He also edited the school magazine at DeWitt Clinton High, on which the black American writer James Baldwin was literary editor."
^Miller, Bill. "Plus: Track and Field – National Scholastic Championships - Ayre of the Bronx Speeds to Victory", The New York Times, June 13, 1999. Accessed September 14, 2009. "Sanjay Ayre of the Bronx, who attended DeWitt Clinton but did not compete for the school this year as a senior, won the boys' 400 meters in a swift 46.25 seconds last night in the Foot Locker national scholastic championships at North Carolina State in Raleigh."
^Van Gelder, Lawrence. "Martin Balsam Is Dead at 76; Ubiquitous Character Actor", The New York Times, February 14, 1996. Accessed September 14, 2009. "He grew up on Mosholu Parkway and became involved in theater and music at DeWitt Clinton High School."
^Berstein, Alice. "Harlem artist Robert Blackburn remembered", The New York Beacon, October 22, 2003. Accessed September 14, 2009. "Blackburn's early work at DeWitt Clinton High School, where classmates included artists Burton Hasen, David Finn and Harold Altman, was recently exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum."
^Burger, Timothy J. "Prez Taps Maverick for Surgeon General"[permanent dead link], Daily News (New York), March 27, 2002. Accessed September 14, 2009. "Carmona, 52, who dropped out of DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx at 16 and later joined the Army, got a GED and was a Green Beret in Vietnam, where he was wounded twice."
^via The New York Times, "'Marty' And 'Network' Author Dies", Star-Banner, August 2, 1981. Accessed September 14, 2009. "He was born in the Bronx in 1923 and attended DeWitt Clinton High School."
^ abcWasserstein, Wendy. "Theater, A Place They'd Never Been: the Theater", The New York Times, June 20, 1999. Accessed September 15, 2009. "DeWitt Clinton High School, named for the 19th-century New York mayor and governor, is the alma mater of the comedian Robert Klein, the designer Ralph Lauren and the writers James Baldwin and Avery Corman."
^ abcdefghPelisson, Gerard J. (July 2021). "DWC Notable Alumni"(PDF). DeWitt Clinton Alumni Association. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
^Greenfield, Josh. "Bruce Jay Friedman Is Hanging by His Thumbs", The New York Times, January 14, 1968. Accessed September 15, 2009. "While attending DeWitt Clinton High School, Friedman became interested in writing for the first time."
^Waddles, Hank. "Bronx Banter Interview: Arnold Hano". Alex Belth Bronx Banter. September 28, 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2015. "I grew up in the Bronx and went to DeWitt Clinton High School, which is the high school at the north end of the Bronx, and we were there until I was maybe fourteen or fifteen when we moved into Manhattan. ... So I was writing at that age, and when I went to college – I started college when I was fifteen – I was going to be a doctor."
^"Writer Creates a Scholarship for Journalists"Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. LIU Planned Giving. Retrieved August 25, 2015. "Arnold Hano B'41 is creating a scholarship in his will for journalism majors so the next generation of students can improve their lives as he did at LIU."
^Jeffrey B. Perry, "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883–1918", Columbia University Press, 2008, pp. 56–57.
^Staff. "Selling a Dream of Elegance and the Good Life", Time, September 1, 1986. Accessed September 15, 2009. "At DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, Lauren attended business classes but paid little attention to studies. His adolescent idols were British and American style setters: the Duke of Windsor, for example, and Katharine Hepburn, who stole the show in The Philadelphia Story with her pants-and-pearls look."
^"Seymour "Cy" Leslie". Syracuse University Office of Veteran and Military Affairs. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
^"The Newsletter"(PDF). Dewitt Clinton Alumni Association. September 2019. p. 5. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
^Garraty, John Arthur; Carnes, Mark Christopher (1999). American National Biography. Vol. 16. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 388. ISBN0195127951.
^Ramsey, Guthrie P." (2013). The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 49. ISBN9780520243910.
^Solomon, Herbert (1986). "Looking at Life Quantitatively". In Gani, J. (ed.). The Craft of Probabilistic Modelling. Applied Probability. Vol. 1. Springer. pp. 10–30. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-8631-5_2. ISBN0-387-96277-8.