Ithaca High School was founded in 1875 as the successor to the Ithaca Academy, a private school that had operated since the 1820s. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the school had a significant side business as a tuition-charging college preparatory school; then-Cornell University President Jacob Gould Schurman called it "one of the finest in the Northeast."[2]
A new building for the high school on the site of the former academy was built in 1885; that building burned on February 14, 1912.
The renowned architect William Henry Miller, who designed many buildings at Cornell, designed the new building, which the high school occupied from 1915 to 1960. That building was later used as DeWitt Junior High school for a number of years and was saved from demolition by the local architect William Downing. Downing converted the building into an eclectic collection of shops, offices, studios, apartments, and restaurants known as the Dewitt Mall. The nationally renowned Moosewood Restaurant is also in the mall.
The new campus, which opened in 1960, is at 1401 North Cayuga Street in the north end of Ithaca, near Stewart Park, Cayuga Lake, and Ithaca Falls.[3] Designed by the architecture firm Perkins and Will,[4] it is a California-style campus, with 11 mostly interconnected buildings spread across a fairly wide area. Some have praised the campus as being architecturally innovative, while others have criticized it as inefficient and inappropriate to Ithaca's climate (notably as students routinely travel outdoors between classes, out of necessity or for a more direct route). The campus includes the Frank R. Bliss Gymnasium, the 840-seat Claude L. Kulp Auditorium and York Lecture Hall. Most of the Ithaca City School District's administrative offices and the Board of Education building are located on the same campus, as are the offices of the ICSD employee unions. The building is one of the few schools that use deep lake water cooling (from Cayuga Lake) for air conditioning.
From 2007 to 2009, additions were built that doubled the size of Kulp Auditorium, adding separate rehearsal, practice and office spaces for the orchestra, choir and band, as well as create a large fitness center and competition gymnasium .[5]
Local demographics have resulted in continuing socio-economic tensions:
The [Ithaca] schools have children of professors at Cornell University and Ithaca College, who would not be rattled by a dinner-table chat about quantum physics. They also have students from Ithaca's poorer streets and from the hardscrabble farms and mobile homes in the villages that surround this Finger Lakes city.
"We have kids who live on dirt floors and go outside to the restroom and come to school to take a shower, and we have Carl Sagan's kids," said Peter Romani, a history teacher at Ithaca High School.[6]
More recently, the school experienced difficulties in 2004[7] and 2007. In December 2007, over 200 Ithaca residents signed a petition calling for principal Joseph M. Wilson to be fired[8] after what they believed was Wilson's mishandling of a series of racially charged incidents.[9]
Academics
The mean SAT score in 2003 was 1169, compared to 1026 nationally. Typically, about 70% of students matriculate at four-year colleges and 20% at two-year colleges following graduation. The school traditionally sends a very large number of graduates to nearby Cornell University; from 2000 to 2004, an average of 37.6 students per class (slightly less than ten percent) matriculated at Cornell immediately following graduation.[10]
Twenty-one advanced placement courses are offered.[11]
There are 140 professional staff members, including about 120 classroom teachers, and over 85% of the faculty has a master's degree or higher. Two Ithaca High School math teachers received the Edyth May Sliffe Award, given annually to about 25 math teachers nationally: Dave Bock (twice, in 1990[12] and 1993[13]), and Roselyn Teukolsky (in 1991).[14]
Athletics
The school is part of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference (STAC). Athletic teams compete as the "Little Red", in counterpoint to the "Big Red" of nearby Cornell University. Ithaca High School has won five New York State Class A boys’ ice hockey championships (1984, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2007), as well as four Upstate New York Girls' Hockey League championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2011). The Ithaca women's varsity swim team has had more than two decades of consecutive Section IV titles and several unofficial state titles. The Boys' Lacrosse Program won five straight sectional championships from 2000 to 2005. Little Reds lacrosse team has reached the Section IV, Class A finals in both 2010 and 2011.[15] The boys' and girls' track and field program was undefeated in dual meets for eight years until 2005. In 2005, it produced two state and federation champions.
Music
From 1955 to 1967, the Ithaca High School Band received national recognition for its musicianship and innovation. During this time, the band commissioned 24 new compositions (many by Pulitzer Prize winners and some now important wind ensemble pieces), performed at locations such as the Eastman School of Music, the New York World's Fair and Rockefeller Center, and played with guest soloists and conductors including Benny Goodman and Doc Severinsen. A book, One Band that Took a Chance by Brian Norcross, was later published about the IHS band of this era.[16]
The Ithaca High School Orchestra is one of the oldest high school orchestras in the country, having been established in 1904. It celebrated its 100th anniversary with a concert that included a newly commissioned work entitled Enlightened City by composer Robert Paterson.[17]
Publications
The Ithaca High School newspaper, the Tattler, founded in 1892, is one of the oldest high school student newspapers in the country. At times in its history (in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as more recently beginning in 2005) it has been involved in controversy over claims of unconstitutional school censorship.[18]Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen L. Carter were both editors for the paper during their time at Ithaca High School.
Administration
IHS has in recent years had very high administrator turnover. Since 1988, fourteen principals have passed through IHS, and only one has stayed for longer than three years.[19]
In February 2008, principal Joseph M. Wilson was granted tenure in return for agreeing to resign at the end of the 2008–2009 school year.[20] Wilson had been the subject of considerable controversy in his time at IHS. In 2005 he was sued in federal court for the alleged censorship of the school newspaper, The Tattler; the case was ultimately ruled on by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In December 2007, over 200 Ithaca residents signed a petition calling for him to be fired[8] after what they believed was Wilson's mishandling of a series of racially charged incidents in the school.[9]
In August 2014, Jarrett Powers announced he was leaving to become Superintendent of the Union Springs Central School District.[21] He was replaced by longtime teacher and coach Jason Trumble.
Principals
D.O Barto, 1890-1892
Frank David Boynton, 1893-1912
Frank R. Bliss, c. 1930-1962
Dr. John Graves, 1963-1973
Steve Musco 1973-1979
John Caren, 1979-1988
Leslie Graves (interim), 1988-1989
Randy Ehrenberg (interim), 1989-1991
George Kiley, 1991-1993
Dr. Mark Piechota (interim), 1993-1994
Dr. Kathryn Hellweg, 1994-1996
Dr. Kevin Mack, (interim), 1996-1997
Susan B. Strauss, 1997-2000
Ismael Villafañe, 2000-2003
Charles LaBarbera (interim), 2003-2004
Joseph M. Wilson, J.D., 2004-2009
Donald Mills, 2009-2011
Jarett Powers, 2011-2014
Jason Trumble, 2014-present
Notable alumni
The following is an incomplete list of notable Ithaca High School alumni:
Jacob Cornelius, rower who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Caryn Davies, rower, who won gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, silver at the 2004 Olympics, and the 2023 Thomas Keller Medal, the highest accolade in the sport of rowing
↑ IHS Admission Decisions by Decile, 2000-2004, Ithaca High School Guidance Office. A total of 188 students from the classes of 2000 through 2004 were offered immediate acceptance at Cornell.
Terzian, Sevan G. (2004). "The Elusive Goal of School Spirit in the Comprehensive High School: A Case History, 1916-1941". The High School Journal. 88 (1). University of North Carolina Press: 42–51. doi:10.1353/hsj.2004.0021. JSTOR40364276. S2CID142993494.
Terzian, Sevan G. "The Founding of IHS", serialized in The Tattler, 2004–2005
Terzian, Sevan G., & Beadie, N. "'Let the People Remember It': Academies and the Rise of Public High Schools, 1865-1890", in N. Beadie & K. Tolley (Eds.), Chartered Schools: Two Hundred Years of Independent Academies in the United States, 1727-1925, pp.251–283. New York: RoutledgeFalmer, 2002.
Cayuga Lake is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area and second largest in volume. It is just under 39 miles (63 km) long. Its average width is 1.7 miles (2.8 km), and it is 3.5 mi wide (5.6 km) at its widest point, near Aurora. It is approximately 435 ft deep (133 m) at its deepest point, and has over 95 miles (153 km) of shoreline.
Ithaca is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named after the Greek island of Ithaca. As of 2020, the city's population was 32,108.
Cayuga Heights is village in Tompkins County, New York, United States, and an upscale suburb of Ithaca, New York. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census.
The Tattler is the student newspaper of Ithaca High School in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1892, it is one of the oldest student newspapers in the United States. It is published twelve times a year and has a circulation of about 3,000, with distribution in both the school and in the community.
Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) is a public community college in Dryden, New York. It is supported by Cortland and Tompkins Counties and has extension sites that are located in Ithaca and Cortland. It is part of the State University of New York system.
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) is the school of architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It offers 20 undergraduate and graduate degrees in five departments: architecture, art, urban planning, real estate, and design technology. Aside from its main campus in Ithaca, AAP offers programs in Rome, Italy and in New York City, New York.
The Redbud Woods controversy was a dispute between protesters and the administration of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York over the demolition of a patch of woodlands known as the "Redbud Woods." The area received this name because of the many Redbud trees that grew there and whose blossoms gave the woods a pink tint in the springtime. The website of Cornell University Plantations contained, on September 3, 2005, a description of the woods, and used the name Redbud Woods, so it had some official status at Cornell under this name.
The Cornell Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located adjacent to the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. The Botanic Gardens proper consist of 25 acres (10 ha) of botanical gardens and 150 acres (61 ha) of the F. R. Newman Arboretum. The greater Botanic Gardens includes 40 different nature areas around Cornell and Ithaca, covering 4,300 acres (1,700 ha).
The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school in New York City.
The Paleontological Research Institution, or PRI, is a paleontological organization in Ithaca, New York, with a mission including both research and education. PRI is affiliated with Cornell University, houses one of the largest fossil collections in North America, and publishes, among other things, the oldest journal of paleontology in the western hemisphere, Bulletins of American Paleontology.
Cornell University is a private Ivy League land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. The university was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White. Since its founding, Cornell has been a co-educational and nonsectarian institution. As of fall 2023, the student body included over 16,000 undergraduate and 10,000 graduate students from all 50 U.S. states and 130 countries.
The Edyth May Sliffe Award is given annually to roughly 20 teachers in the United States by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The awards are funded by a bequest from a retired high school mathematics teacher named Edyth May Sliffe, of Emeryville, California. Her purpose was to award high school teachers whose students have done well on the AHSME, now the AMC 12. She felt students who won in math competitions received honors, but their teachers never received any recognition.
Nanuet Senior High School is a public high school located in Nanuet, New York. It is formally known as "Nanuet Senior High School: The John P. Burke Building," named after the school's long-time principal. The Nanuet Senior High School houses grades 9 - 12. Its leadership team consists of a Principal and two Assistant Principals. In addition there are four guidance counselors, a Dean, a nurse, a student assistance counselor, a psychologist, a School Resource Officer, and department chairpersons. It is also a National Blue Ribbon School.
Samuel Kendrick Vandervelde is a mathematician who, along with Sandor Lehoczky and Richard Rusczyk, is most notable for creating the Mandelbrot Competition, and being listed first under "Thanks" in the mathematical textbook The Art of Problem Solving.
William Henry Miller (1848–1922) was an American architect based in Ithaca, New York.
Emery High School is a public high school in Emeryville, California, United States for 9th through 12th grades. It is part of the Emery Unified School District. The school has an enrollment of around 200 students.
The Cayuga Nature Center (CNC) is an educational institution addressing nature and environmental issues. It is located on the west side of Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County, New York.
900 Stewart Avenue is a building in Ithaca, New York, noted for its Egyptian Revival architecture, its dramatic placement partway down a cliff, and being the residence of astronomer Carl Sagan. The building is on a ledge about 50 feet (15 m) below street level, overlooking Fall Creek and Ithaca Falls.
Yervant Terzian was an American astronomer. He was the Tisch Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Cornell University's Department of Astronomy, which he chaired between 1979 and 1999.
N'Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba is Ivorian researcher who studies the African diaspora and education. She is a Professor of Africana Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. She also serves as President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies and Chair of UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations Scientific Advisory Committee.
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