Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn)

Last updated
Thomas Jefferson High School
Jefferson HS 400 Pennsylvania Av jeh.jpg
Address
Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn)
400 Pennsylvania Avenue

Brooklyn
,
New York
11207

United States
Coordinates 40°40′01″N73°53′41″W / 40.666919°N 73.894841°W / 40.666919; -73.894841
Information
Funding type Public
Established1922
Closed2007
Grades 9-12
Enrollment3804
YearbookAurora

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]

Contents

History

Thomas Jefferson High School, located at 400 Pennsylvania Avenue, had its groundbreaking in 1922 with New York City mayor John Francis Hylan officiating.

Elias Lieberman (1883-1969), American poet, writer and educator, known for the 1916 poem "I Am an American,” served as principal from 1924 to 1940. [3] Alumni of his time include movie star and comedian Danny Kaye (who did not graduate) and songwriter Jack Lawrence. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson was one of seven public high schools in New York to receive a M. P. Moller pipe organ in 1926. The instrument was removed and discarded in the 1990s. [4]

A relatively prosperous lower middle class community throughout the interwar epoch, the surrounding neighborhood of East New York faced a host of socioeconomic problems in the mid-to-late 20th century, including widespread unemployment and crime stemming from a lack of private investment (exemplified by redlining, mortgage discrimination and the gradual diminution of remunerative manufacturing jobs) amid the segregated wave of postwar suburbanization. On November 26, 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] [5] [6] The 14-year old shooter, Jason Bentley, was sentenced to three to nine years in prison for second degree manslaughter. Bentley was on parole for this homicide on June 22, 1997, when Luis Cabral Corcino was murdered in a robbery. Bentley was convicted of murder and was sentenced to 35 years to life. [7]

On February 26, 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. [8] The victims were 17-year-old Ian Moore and 16-year-old Tyrone Sinkler. [9] In 1993, the shooter, Kahlil Sumpter, was sentenced to between 62⁄3 and twenty years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. [10] He was released on parole in 1998.

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]

In the photograph above, the main entrance of TJHS is clearly engraved with a quote from Abraham Lincoln, "May reverence for the laws become the political religion of the nation." For 90 years students, and perhaps faculty, have wondered why the authorities were unable to find an appropriate quotation from Thomas Jefferson himself to grace the entrance to his namesake school.

Today

Since 2007, the school building is known as the Thomas Jefferson Educational Campus, and is the home of: [2]

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. [8] 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. [11]

Notable alumni

Lloyd Blankfein Lloyd C. Blankfein.jpg
Lloyd Blankfein
Danny Kaye Kaye, Danny.jpg
Danny Kaye

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archbishop Molloy High School</span> Private school in Briarwood, Queens

Archbishop Molloy High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9–12, located on 6 acres (24,000 m2) on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Zaslofsky</span> American basketball player and coach (1925–1985)

Max "Slats" Zaslofsky was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) where he was selected to the all-league first-team from 1947 to 1950. In the 1947–48 BAA season, at 21 years of age, he led the BAA in scoring, and in the 1949–50 NBA season, he led the league in free throw percentage (.843).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Schools Athletic League</span> Athletics organization in New York city

The Public Schools Athletic League, known by the abbreviation PSAL, is an organization that promotes student athletics in the public schools of New York City. It was founded in 1903 to provide and maintain a sports program for students enrolled in New York City public schools. It is the oldest and largest sports league in the United States. The PSAL serves both boys and girls. The PSAL holds competitions in a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports in fall, winter and spring seasons. In 2007, the league included 185 schools involving nearly 2,400 teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland Technical High School</span> Public high school in Oakland, California, USA

Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six comprehensive public high school campuses in Oakland. Oakland Tech's attendance jurisdiction includes several neighborhoods, including Oakland Chinatown, Rockridge, North Oakland, and Temescal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winter Park High School</span> Public school in Winter Park, Florida, United States

Winter Park High School located in Winter Park, Florida, United States is one of nineteen public high schools in Orange County. Winter Park High School is an International Baccalaureate school and delivers Advanced Placement courses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xaverian High School</span> Private school in New York City , New York, United States

Xaverian High School is an independent Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college preparatory program and grades 6-8 are middle school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette High School (New York City)</span> Public school in New York City , New York, United States

Lafayette High School was a large secondary school located in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn, New York. It closed in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn)</span> Public high school in Brooklyn, New York, United States

Abraham Lincoln High School is a public high school located at 2800 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, New York under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education. The school was built in 1929, and since graduated four Nobel Prize laureates. The current principal is Ari A. Hoogenboom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin K. Lane High School</span> Public high school in New York City

Franklin K. Lane High School (FKLHS) was a public high school in New York City, New York, United States. It began as a combined junior-senior high school in 1923 and moved into its current building in 1937. In 2012, it was shut down by the City of New York "for poor performance".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ the King Regional High School</span> Catholic school in Queens, New York

Christ the King Regional High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school for grades 9–12 located in Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States and established in 1962. It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. The school is next to the Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue station of the New York City Subway's M train.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School</span> Private, coeducational school in Brooklyn, New York City, US

Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Open from 1962 through 2014, it closed following a period of steeply falling enrollment and with an estimated $4 million in outstanding debt. Now called the Bishop Ford Educational Complex, the building is used by New York City Department of Education to house a pre-kindergarten school and two middle schools.

Power Memorial Academy (PMA) was an all-boys Catholic high school in New York City that operated from 1931 through 1984. It was a basketball powerhouse, producing several NBA players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Len Elmore, Mario Elie, Chris Mullin, as well as NBA referee Dick Bavetta and a record 71-game winning streak. Its 1964 basketball team was named "The #1 High School Team of The Century".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canarsie High School</span> Public school in the United States

Canarsie High School, which opened in 1964, is a defunct public high school in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie in New York City. Closed in 2011, the building currently operates as Canarsie Educational Campus, housing several smaller high schools.

Sidney Harold Tanenbaum was an American professional basketball player. He was twice a consensus first-team All-American and twice a Haggerty Award winner. He went on to play professionally for the New York Knicks and the Baltimore Bullets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boys and Girls High School</span> Public high school in Brooklyn, New York, United States

Boys and Girls High School, the oldest public high school in Brooklyn, is a comprehensive high school in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, United States. The school is located at 1700 Fulton Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Jefferson High School (San Antonio)</span> High school in San Antonio, Texas, United States

Thomas Jefferson High School is a public high school in San Antonio, Texas, United States, and is one of ten high schools in the San Antonio Independent School District. Completed in 1932 at a cost of $1,250,000, it was the third high school built in the city. For the 2021-2022 school year, the school was given a "B" by the Texas Education Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Plains High School</span> Public school in White Plains, Westchester County, New York, United States

White Plains High School is a high school in the White Plains Public Schools system of White Plains, New York, United States. Built in 1962, it sits on 75 acres and has been expanded. It was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a School of Excellence in 1986–1987. The school's code of conduct and state accountability report are available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tilden High School (Chicago)</span> Public secondary school in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Edward Tilden Career Community Academy High School is a public 4–year high school bordered between the Canaryville and Fuller Park neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in Chicago as Lake High School in 1889, Tilden is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamorie Ponds</span> American basketball player

Shamorie Saequan Ponds is an American professional basketball player for the Astros de Jalisco of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). He played college basketball for the St. John's Red Storm.

References

  1. 1 2 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.
  2. 1 2 3 "Thomas Jefferson Educational Campus". InsideSchools.org. May 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Dr. Elias Lieberman Dies at 85; Poet Wrote 'I Am an American'; Retired Executive of Schools Here Was Author of 4 Volumes of Verses". The New York Times. 1969-07-14. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  4. ↑ "Thomas Jefferson High School". New York City American Guild of Organists. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
  5. ↑ Newman, Maria (28 November 1991). "Where Hallway Shootings Erupted, Teachers Are Afraid". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ "Nation IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Student Killed in School Shooting". Los Angeles Times . 26 November 1991.
  7. ↑ People v Bentley on Justia
  8. 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.
  9. ↑ Mitchell, Alison. "2 Teen-Agers Shot to Death in a Brooklyn School".
  10. ↑ Fried, Joseph. "Youth Receives Maximum Prison Term in 2 Students' Killings".
  11. ↑ Harris, Elizabeth A. (January 11, 2016). "New York City's High School Graduation Rate Tops 70%". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Monet's Palate Lifestyle Brand Adds Wine to its Offerings". Forbes .
  13. ↑ "Thomas Jefferson (Brooklyn, NY) Baseball". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Erskine (January 3, 1965). "Did Cathleen Throw Tomato?". The Tennessean. Tennessee, Nashville. p. 105. Retrieved 9 February 2019– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Corby, Jane (May 18, 1938). "Confessions of an Autograph Collector". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 15. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  16. ↑ Mossman, Jennifer, ed. (1982). Pseudonyms and Nicknames Dictionary : A Guide to Aliases, Appellations, Assumed Names . Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company. p. 313. ISBN   0-8103-0547-X.
  17. ↑ "Shamorie Ponds - Men's Basketball". St. John's University Athletics.
  18. ↑ Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977
  19. ↑ New York Times, Harvey Schein, Promoter of Betamax at Sony, Dies at 80
  20. ↑ Goldaper, Sam. "Sid Tanenbaum, 60, Is Slain; N.Y.U. Basketball Star In 40's", The New York Times , September 6, 1986. Accessed February 27, 2023. "Tanenbaum, who grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, was an all-scholastic player at Thomas Jefferson High School."
  21. ↑ "Zaslofsky, Max: Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum". Jewsinsports.org. December 7, 1925. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.