Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn)
Thomas Jefferson High School | |
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Address | |
400 Pennsylvania Avenue Brooklyn, New York United States | |
Coordinates | 40°40′01″N 73°53′41″W / 40.666919°N 73.894841°WCoordinates: 40°40′01″N 73°53′41″W / 40.666919°N 73.894841°W |
Information | |
Funding type | Public |
Established | 1922 |
Closed | 2007 |
Grades | 9-12 |
Enrollment | 1,600 (1991)[1] |
Yearbook | Aurora |
Thomas Jefferson High School was a high school in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York. It was the alma mater of many people who grew up in the Great Depression and World War II and rose to prominence in the arts, literature, and other fields.[1] In 2007, the New York City Department of Education closed the school and broke it into several small schools because of low graduation rates.[2]
History
Thomas Jefferson High school, located at 400 Pennsylvania Avenue, had its groundbreaking in 1922 with New York City mayor John Francis Hylan officiating. Thomas Jefferson was one of seven public high schools in New York to receive a M. P. Moller pipe organ in the 1920s.[3]
In 1991, Darryl Sharpe, a ninth-grade student who was an innocent bystander, was shot to death in the school. Another youth was trying to help his brother in a fistfight, drew a gun, and opened fire in the crowded hallway. The three shots killed the 16-year-old student and critically wounded a teacher, Robert Anderson, who was approaching to intervene. At the time, education officials in New York called it "one of the school system's worst crimes" and noted that besides an accidental shooting in 1989, it was the first killing of a student in a school in more than a decade.[1]
In 1992, a 15-year-old student at the school shot two other students, who died thereafter, in the hallway an hour before then-mayor David Dinkins was supposed to tour the school.[4]
In 2007, the New York City Department of Education closed the school and broke it into several small schools because of low graduation rates.[2]
Today
Since 2007, the school building is known as the Jefferson Campus, and is the home of:[2]
- The High School for Civil Rights
- The FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety
- The Performing Arts and Technology High School
- The WATCH (World Academy for Total Community Health) School
In 2015, two of the new schools were graduating about 70 percent of their students and the other two have graduation rates in the 50s.[4] In New York City overall in 2015, just over 78 percent of New York State students who entered high school in 2011 graduated on time according to state officials. However, the percentage is 88 percent for white students and only 65 percent for black and Hispanic students during the same time period.[5]
Shamorie "Slick" Ponds and Rasheem "Flocko" Dunn shares MVP as Jefferson wins PSAL since 1954.
Notable alumni
- Mitchell Aigen, founding partner, Eisner LLP
- Harvey "Arvito" Averne, won first two Grammys for Latin music
- Ralph Bakshi, animator
- Sandy Baron, comedian and stage, film, and television actor
- Roy C. Bennett, popular music composer
- Jason Berman, Special Counsel for Trade for President Clinton
- Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs
- Helen Rappel Bordman, first American Lecturer and Founder of the Volunteer Program at Museum Claude Monet Giverny since 1980 also starring in the film Monet's Palate[6] The New York Times April 19, 2008 with Meryl Streep[7]
- Riddick Bowe, boxer
- Stanley Brezenoff, former NYC Deputy Mayor under Mayor Koch
- John Brockington, Ohio State Buckeyes' 1968 undefeated national championship football team; running back for the NFL Green Bay Packers
- Dorian Daughtry, American baseball player and criminal
- Bob Davidson, CEO of Daytona Hotel & Motel Association[8]
- Shawon Dunston, major league baseball player[9]
- Barry Elbaum, Chairman of the Dept. of Dentistry at Monmouth Medical Center[10]
- Leroy Ellis, former NBA center, 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers championship team
- Alex Fefer, M.D., (1938–2010) Named one of 400 Best Cancer Doctors
- Sylvia Fine, lyricist
- William Fishbein, Ph.D., professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience in the Graduate School of the City University of New York.[11]
- Paul Fried, CEO of D. Robbins & Co., the largest wholesaler of magic tricks in the world.
- Frukwan, hip hop musician
- Jack Garfinkel, former Boston Celtics player
- Hy Gotkin, basketball player
- Sidney Green, NBA player
- Sharon Jones, soul singer
- Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky), actor
- Ezra Jack Keats (born Jacob Ezra Katz), illustrator and author of children's books
- Daniel Keyes, author: Flowers For Algernon
- Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Leibowitz), popular music singer
- Al Lewis, actor, political activist
- Lil' Fame, rapper and member of M.O.P.
- Willie Lozado, major league baseball player[9]
- Irving Malin, literary critic
- Paul Mazursky, Hollywood director
- Jim McMillian, former NBA forward, 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers championship team
- Randolph Merced, Ph.D
- Alan B. Miller, founder, Chairman and CEO of Universal Health Services
- Linda November, singer
- Martin Pope, physical chemist
- Stu Scherr, account manager for M&M/Mars and inventor of Skittles
- Barry Schwartz, Chairman & CEO of The Doe–Spun Group: Multi-brand children's wear manufacturer; Chairman of The Parks Commission of the Village of Lawrence for 30 years; founding member of K.I.D.S (Kids in Distressed Situations)
- Phil Sellers, former NBA player
- Jimmy Smits, actor
- Youman Wilder, Mexican League Professional baseball player
- Shelley Winters, actress
- Jerry Wolkoff, multi-million dollar real estate developer
- Sam Zarember, award winning photographer
- Max Zaslofsky, NBA guard/forward, one-time FT% leader, one-time points leader, All-Star, ABA coach[12]
- Si Zentner, trombone virtuoso and big band leader
- Howard Zinn, historian, political activist
- Lila Friedman (née Summers, née Goldstein), grandmother, painter
References
- 1 2 3 McFadden, Robert D. (November 26, 1991). "16-Year-Old Is Shot to Death In a High School in Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 "H.S. 435 Thomas Jefferson High School". InsideSchools.org. November 30, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ↑ "Thomas Jefferson High School". New York City American Guild of Organists. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- 1 2 Kolodner, Meredith (September 29, 2015). "Once sold as the solution, small high schools are now on the back burner". The Hechinger Report. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ↑ Harris, Elizabeth A. (January 11, 2016). "New York City's High School Graduation Rate Tops 70%". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/arts/television/19genz.html?ref=television&pagewanted=print
- ↑ http://njmonthly.com/blogs/soup–to–nuts/2012/7/9/claude–monet–one–of–the–first–foodies.html
- ↑ Chairman of the United Way of Volusia/Flagler Counties and has raised over $3.5 million for 46 local charities.
- 1 2 "Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, NY) Baseball". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ↑ Recipient of Pinnacle Award which is highest honor to be bestowed on a member of the dental profession.
- ↑ His "Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Sleep" at CCNY produces research in the areas of the neurobiology of sleep and memory
- ↑ "Zaslofsky, Max: Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum". Jewsinsports.org. December 7, 1925. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
External links
- TJHS yearbooks online, 1927-1987
- Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Association
- Alumni website, ad-free