Hunter College High School

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Hunter College High School
Image:Hunter.gif
Motto: Mihi Cura Futuri
(The Care of the Future Depends on Me)
Established 1869
Type Public, Selective Magnet
Principal Dr. John Mucciolo
Students approx. 1,200
Grades 7-12
Location 71 E 94 St.
New York, New York, USA
Colors Lavender and White
Mascot Hawk
Website hchs.hunter.cuny.edu
This article is about the school in New York, New York. For other uses of the acronym HCHS, see HCHS (disambiguation).

Hunter College High School, colloquially known as Hunter or HCHS, is a New York City magnet secondary school for gifted students located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It is administered by Hunter College, a division of the City University of New York. Although it is not operated by the New York City Department of Education, there is no tuition fee and it is publicly funded. While the school's curriculum strikes a balance for achievement in the humanities and the sciences, it is better known for the former. Hunter is noted for sending a very large percentage of students to the Ivy League and other excellent colleges and universities.

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[edit] History

Established in 1869 as "The Female Normal and High School," a lab school to prepare young women to become teachers, Hunter now offers a competitive college preparatory program. The original school was composed of an elementary and a high school. A kindergarten was added in 1887, and in 1888 the school incorporated a college. The high school was separated from what would become Hunter College in 1903. In 1914, both schools were named after the Female Normal School's first president, Dr. Thomas Hunter. [1] Despite its success in teaching generations of gifted young women, it was almost closed by Hunter College President Jacqueline Wexler in the early 1970s.

Hunter was an all girls school for the first 104 years of its existence. The prototypical Hunter girl was the subject of a song entitled "Sarah Maria Jones," who, the lyrics told, had "Hunter in her bones." The school became co-ed in 1974 as a result of a lawsuit by Hunter College Elementary School parents. The New York Daily News described this development with the headline "Girlie High Gets 1st Freshboys". In January 1982, the school was featured in a New York Magazine article entitled "The Joyful Elite."[2]

The high school has occupied a number of buildings throughout its history, including one at the East 68th Street campus of the College (1940–1970). In the 1970s it was housed for several years on the 13th and 14th floors of an office building at 466 Lexington Avenue (at East 46th Street). The current location (since 1977) is at East 94th Street between Park and Madison Avenues, occupying the historical 94th Street Armory. The brick facade and near-windowless classrooms have led to its being given the popular moniker of "The Brick Prison" among its "inmates".[3] The high school and Hunter College Elementary School are both housed in this building, and are collectively known as the Hunter College Campus Schools.

The current principal of the high school, and director of the Campus Schools since 2005, is Dr. John Mucciolo.

[edit] Admissions

Admission to the high school is only granted in seventh grade. About 2,000 students from the five boroughs of New York City are eligible to take the Hunter College High School Entrance Exam in the January of their sixth grade school year. Eligible students must meet Hunter's standards in reading and mathematics proficiency on fifth grade standardized exams (typically minimum scores of 90-95 percentile on both tests). For example, in 2006, sixth grade students who wished to enter Hunter during the 2006-2007 school year must have had achieved scores of 715 out of 804 on the CTB Reading test and 724 out of 797 on the TEM Math test taken in fifth grade.

The admissions test has multiple-choice mathematics and English sections and a writing sample. Admission is granted to approximately 175 students on the basis of the exam.[4] The total enrollment from grades 7 through 12 is approximately 1,200 students.

Approximately 50 students from Hunter College Elementary School also enter the 7th grade class. Beginning with incoming students in the 2004-2005 school year, elementary school students must make satisfactory progress by the fifth grade in order to gain admission to the high school.[5]

Most students who enter the high school remain there through their senior year. In eighth grade, some Hunter students take the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test to transfer to other competitive public high schools in New York City. The number of students transferring has declined in the last five years.

[edit] Academics

All Hunter students pursue an academically enriched six-year program of study. The curriculum is a rigorous college preparatory program that provides a liberal arts education. The majority of subjects are accelerated such that high school study begins in the 8th grade and state educational requirements are completed in the 11th. During the 12th grade, students take electives, have the option to attend courses at Hunter College, New York University, or Columbia University (for transferable credit), undertake independent academic studies, and participate in internships around the city.

Students in grades 7 and 8 are required to take courses in Communications and Theater (a curriculum that includes drama, storytelling, and theater). Students in grades 7-9 must take both art and music, each for half a year, and then choose one to take in tenth grade. One of the three available foreign language courses (French, Latin, or Spanish) must be taken each year in grades 7-10. A year each of biology, chemistry, and physics must be completed in addition to the introductory science classes of environmental science and physical science in the 7th and 8th grades, respectively. During 7th and 8th grades, students must also participate in the school's science fair; the fair is optional for older students. A series of social studies, English, and mathematics courses are taught from 7th through 11th grades. (The math curriculum is split into a track of "honors" and a track of "extended honors" classes for students of different strengths after 7th grade). Two semesters of physical education are taught each year, including swimming in the 8th grade (held at Hunter College). In 9th grade, students are required to take a CPR course for one semester. Starting in their sophomore year, students are allowed to take a limited number of electives and Advanced Placement courses. In the 11th grade, there is also a choice of P.E. selectives (racquetball, weight training, and lifeguard training, among others). The senior year, however, is free of mandated courses except for a year of physical education selectives and for any unfulfilled educational requirements.

Upper-level electives and Advanced Placement courses are offered by all six academic departments. Advanced Placement courses include: AP Computer Science, AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, AP Psychology, AP European History, and AP Art History. Electives include: International Relations, Constitutional Law, Western Philosophy, Archeology, advanced French, Spanish and Latin, introductory Italian language, Journalism, Creative Writing, Joyce's Ulysses, Photography, and Physiology.

Hunter's AP offerings are currently being evaluated by the faculty and curriculum committee.

There are six guidance counselors serving the student population of 1200. Each junior and senior is assigned a college guidance counselor. In recent years (classes of 2002 through 2005), nearly 99% of Hunter's students have gone on to college, and about 25% of these students accept admission into an Ivy League school [6].

Hunter students win many honors and awards during their high school careers [7], including numerous Scholastic Writing Awards. Of particular fame are the winners of the Intel Science Talent Search- the first-place winner in 2005 was Hunter senior David L. V. Bauer ('05), while the 1997 winner was Adam Cohen ('97). In addition, two of New York State's four 2005 Presidential scholars were Hunter College High School seniors.

In light of its academic excellence, The Wall Street Journal recently identified Hunter College High School as the top public school in the nation and a feeder to Ivy League and other leading colleges. [6].

[edit] Extracurricular activities

The dozens of clubs and organizations at Hunter cater to a variety of interests, from politics to film and music to knitting. Clubs and organizations at Hunter are all student-run, with faculty members as advisors.

[edit] Student Government

The General Organization (G.O.) represents the student body. The executive board is elected by the students and comprises seven members: President, Vice President, Activities Vice President, Treasurer, Publicity Secretary, Club Manager and Recording Secretary.

The President, in addition to presiding over the Student Senate (a distinct body of the government) and G.O. board meetings, is most directly involved in affecting school policy. He or she meets with the Principal on a weekly basis to address student concerns, and acts as a liaison between the G.O. and the Administrative Council.

The Vice President (Administrative) takes on the roles and duties of the president, should he or she be incapable of attending a meeting. Hunter's VP also presides over Senate and G.A. (General Assembly) on a regular basis. The role of the VP is perpetually in flux, and has been interpreted differently by the various administrations of the last few years. Most recently, the Vice President is responsible for helping the President in interpreting student sentiment, and advocating for that body during policy change, and, more traditionally, managing Convention (an event which incorporates student government representatives from around the city).

The Activities Vice President is responsible for the two biggest events of the year: Spirit Day and Carnival. It is also his or her responsibility to manage the events of Spirit Week, run the School Wide Costume Contest on Halloween, help the Publicity Secretary with the School's Talent(less) Show.

The Treasurer manages all financial aspects of the student government, allocates funding for G.O. events and works directly with the school treasurer.

The Publicity Secretary is effectively the voice of the G.O. (and, to a degree, the students). He or she is responsible for all morning P.A. messages, which are broadcast into each class at the end of second period.

The Club Manager, G.O.'s newest position, was added to the executive board in 2004 and has since been responsible for registration and approval of all student clubs. He or she is, as a result, heavily involved in Carnival, which features booths run by the majority of registered clubs.

The Recording Secretary takes minutes of all G.O. meetings, and is responsible for sending them to each member of the executive board. His or her assistant does the same for G.A.

These officers organize school activities and communicate with the administration and faculty, frequently becoming involved in school policy. The G.O. organizes school-wide events such as Spirit Day, a school-wide outdoor recreation day held in October, and Carnival, held at the end of the school year. The G.O. also works to maintain the social and academic integrity of the school. For the past three years, the leaders of the General Organization have been sent to an academic leadership conference, run each summer by the American Management Association.

Term Councils are grade governing bodies. They plan grade-wide events such as dances and fundraisers, as well as Semiformal and Prom.

[edit] Co-curricular activities

Students can choose to further pursue their academic interests through school activities such as the Hunter United Nations Society (HUNS), Fed Challenge (economics), Mock Trial, Debate Team, Math Team, the Hunter Chess Team and the Washington Seminar. The Hunter Chess Team is famous nationwide for winning numerous tournaments and championships. The Washington Seminar on Government in Action was introduced in the 1950s; students selected for this program research public policy issues throughout the year. They arrange meetings with various public figures in Washington, D.C., and then meet with them for questioning and discussion regarding their researched issue during a three-day trip in May.

[edit] Musical extracurriculars

Students with substantial musical training can choose to enroll in the String Ensembles, Band, and/or Chorus groups. In 2002, the music groups toured in Spain, performing a number of collaborative pieces. They were recently made into classes that meet during the lunch period, as part of both new teacher contract stipulations and a desire to excel.

The string ensembles are divided into "Strings" and "Chamber Orchestra," the latter being a much more selective group. They have performed a number of both contemporary and traditional pieces. The band is a woodwind-brass-percussion ensemble, and their focus is mainly on contemporary music, though they sometimes branch off into classical pieces such as Mozart's horn concerto in E flat. Chorus is divided into the concert choir and the chamber chorus. The concert choir is a larger group than the chamber choir, and consists of members from the tenth to twelfth grades. There is also a selective jazz chorus, founded by music teacher Campbell Austin, which focuses solely on jazz and pop. The Jazz band performs arrangements of jazz music.

One may also audition for Junior Orchestra (grades 7-9, except in special cases) or Senior Orchestra (grades 10-12, except in special cases), which perform in the two semi-annual concerts at Hunter, the Winter Concert and the Spring Concert.

[edit] Sports

Many teams are called "Hunter Hawks" because the school mascot is a hawk. Some exceptions, however, are the boys' volleyball team (Hunter Hitmen) and the girls' volleyball team (Headhunters). In the 2004-2005 school year, forty percent of Hunter students in the ninth to twelfth grades were members of at least one varsity sport. Hunter has several sports teams that compete in the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL). These sports are bowling (co-ed varsity), cross-country (boys' and girls' varsity), fencing (boys' and girls' varsity), soccer (boy's and girl's varsity and middle school), swimming (boys' and girls' varsity), volleyball (boys' varsity and girls' varsity and middle school), basketball (boys' have two middle school teams, one junior varsity team, and one varsity team, while the girls' have one middle school and one varsity team), indoor track (boys' and girls' varsity), outdoor track (boys' and girls' varsity), baseball (boys' middle school and varsity, softball (girls' middle school and varsity), tennis (boys' and girls' varsity). In 2006, an ultimate team, co-ed middle school swimming and a co-ed middle school wrestling team were added to Hunter's athlitic curiculum. Hunter's sports teams are surprisingly competitive given the school's size; several, including both Girls and Boys Volleyball, Swimming, Fencing, and Tennis are usually among the top 10 in the city. In 1988 and 1995, the boys' volleyball team won the New York City PSAL title. In more recent years, a few teams have made runs at the city championship. In 2005, the boys' volleyball team finished 4th in the city , the girls' soccer team reached the playoff semifinals, and co-ed fencing finished 3rd in the city. In the winter of 2005, co-ed fencing captured the city title. This was quickly followed, on November 22, 2005, with the Hunter Girls Varsity Volleyball team's defeat of JFK High School to become the New York City Champions. Boy's and girl's swimming have also found recent success in 2005. The boy's swimming team defeated their rival, Bronx Science, breaking a 15 year dry spell against the school. The girls' had the first ever tie in PSAL Playoff history against Brooklyn Tech (47-47). The win was later awarded to Hunter. The girl's and boy's tennis teams also did well in the 2006 season, with the girls' team ranked 4th in the city, and the boys' team ranked 7th. In the winter of 2006 the boy's fencing team won the PSAL city championship, beating rival school Stuyvesant in the finals. But on the other side of the spectrum some teams have had very little success such as the boy’s soccer, basketball, and baseball teams which are a have a combined four wins in their last individual seasons. Indeed, the basketball team has struggled mightily since its glory days in the 1998-2001 era, where an unusual concentration of athletic talent led the team deep into the PSAL playoffs for 3 consecutive seasons.

The Athletic Association (AA) works to increase school spirit around sports events, including varsity teams and intramural tournaments, through the sale of Hunter apparel and general promotion of sporting events.

[edit] Student publications

Hunter has many student publications, including What's What, the official school newspaper since 1922, and its rival independent paper, The Observer. Weekly circulations include "What's G.O.ing On", a joint presentation of the G.O. and What's What. Student-produced magazines include Chapter 11 (humor), Tapestry (science fiction and fantasy), Radicals (math), The Desk (literary magazine for lower-termers), Argus (literary), Annals (the school's yearbook), Biosphere (science), "F-Stop" (photography), "eMagazine" (entertainment), and Cardigan (independent culture magazine).

[edit] HCHS Productions

The Hunter theater program now has five full productions which are put on every year (expanded from its original three: HTE, REP, and BRICK). The first is Shakespeare, which is a performance of a play by William Shakespeare and, for the last two years, has been directed by Meg Sturiano. The past Shakespeare productions include The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The second production is the Hunter Theater Ensemble (HTE), which normally consists of a straight play. This production is fully student directed. The past HTE productions include The Skin of Our Teeth and The Bad Seed. The third production of the year is Musical Reperatory (Musical REP). This show is a musical, and the direction, vocal direction, musical direction, and choreography is entirely done by students. The past REP productions include Damn Yankees, Little Shop of Horrors, Into the Woods, Grease, and How to Suceed in Business Without Really Trying. The fourth, and most recently added production is Hunter Classics. This production is entirely for students in grades 7 through 9, and did not exist until three years ago (with the first production being Our Town). This way, younger students have chances for larger parts in the HCHS productions. This production is faculty-directed, however. The past Classics productions have been The Government Inspector, See How They Run, and Our Town. The final production of the year (traditionally having the first performance fall on the same day as Carnival) is Brick Prison Playhouse. This production showcases several student-written plays, and is entirely student produced and directed.

[edit] School events

Much of the student body of Hunter participate in the various social events that are sponsored by the school administration and faculty and the General Organization.

  • Seventh Grade Picnic: an orientation and welcoming event held in Central Park in September. Seventh-graders play various sports and become more familiar with each other under the supervision of 11th grade "Big Sibs."
  • Spirit Week: a week in October in which each day consists of activities centered around a "theme" (e.g. retro) as designated by the G.O. It was created in the 1990s as a replacement for a spring "Field Day", which was once organized by the Athletic Association.
  • Spirit Day: the last day of Spirit Week. It is a day-long school-wide excursion to a recreation spot. The trip is often to Bear Mountain State Park, but in certain years, the destination has been Belmont Lake State Park, Playland, or Central Park. It includes the annual Senior-Junior football game.
  • Homecoming: a day in which the previous year's graduates return to the school to revisit current students in December. A Varsity Basketball game is usually scheduled on this day.
  • Senior Walkout: carried out on the first day of snowfall. Seniors leave class for the day to engage in snowball fights or pursue other activities outside of the school. Oftentimes these snowball fights will take place in the school courtyard. During years without snowfall, Senior Walkout is transferred to the first day of the year in which the temperature tops 90° Fahrenheit.
  • Ski trips: one is run by the school; another is run by the Asian Cultural Society, which is organized by students and is chaperone-free (although students and parents must sign consent forms).
  • Carnival: a major end-of-year event for the student body. It usually has a theme, features both live and recorded music, and stalls run by various school clubs that showcase games, food, or other items of interest.
    • Mascot presentation and the Big Show have been components of Carnival. The junior class chooses its own mascot and writes a song about it. The Big Show was for decades an opportunity for students from each grade to put on a 5-10 minute skit that parodied the school. Students did imitations of popular faculty, and the faculty produced a show making fun of the students and saying goodbye to seniors. Following the move to 94th Street, observance of fire codes made it difficult to have the whole school attend the show. By the 1990s it was only attended by upper termers. At that point juniors and senior classes started focusing their skits on each other. The new character of the material resulted in increased scrutiny of the show, and then a decision by the administration to abandon the activity.
  • Senior Week: traditionally the week after Carnival and before graduation. During this week, there are events designed to say goodbye to the graduating seniors. They include:
    • Senior Tea: students of the graduating class are presented with white carnations and served refreshments by their teachers.
    • Senior Barbeque: graduating students serve lunch to the faculty.

Several formal dances are arranged throughout the year:

  • Prom is a similar event to many proms held all across the United States, consisting of formal dress and a sit-down dinner. Because Hunter is an urban school, a smaller number of students opt to rent limousines, but the choice is still fairly popular. The event is usually followed by an after-party at a student's house.
  • Semi-formal is the "junior prom", held for eleventh graders.
  • Lower-termers have their own annual dances, including dances for Valentine's Day and Halloween for the seventh and eighth graders, as well as ninth and tenth grade dances.

There are also special trips outside of New York City. International trips include the bi-annual AP Art History trip, the Shakespeare Etc. club trip, and trips taken by various school-run musical groups (such as Jazz Band or Chorus).

[edit] Student culture

Student hang-outs include:

  • The G.O. Office.
  • The so-called "freak hallway" (or "loser hallway" because its inhabitants frequently lose The Game) provides a temporary home for fans of computer games, sci-fi/fantasy literature, and anime alike. The locker hallway acquired its name in the mid-1990s because many of the students who relaxed there were socially unconventional or awkward.
  • The A.A. (Athletics Association) office, located next the gymnasium.
  • The computer lab, located on the 4th floor, is often over-crowded during peak "free period" hours, as many students fail to complete homework at home and instead choose to do so at school in between classes or in the morning before first period.
  • The library, which features several computers and a printer, is similarly flooded during peak hours.
  • The Senior Lounge has recently been renovated and includes café-style furniture as well as a foosball table and a new basketball hoop.
  • As late as 2003, it was common practice for Hunter students to eat in their respective grade hallways. After repeated efforts to compel students to clean up after themselves failed, a new rule barring hallway eating was created. Students often still hang out in the hallways during free periods despite the ban on food. They still eat anyway.
  • The newly renovated courtyard, which offers basketball hoops and three handball walls.

[edit] 2006 Annals controversy

In May 2006, the school administration stopped the publication of the annual Annals yearbook due to concerns about inappropriate content from the yearbook's editors, which included insults directed at other students, drug and alcohol references, and other lax journalistic standards. The student editors felt the administrators were censoring their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. An online petition was created by alumni in an effort to rally support from current students and alumni, without showing any examples of the controversial content.[8] The New York Sun published an article called "Hunter Students Threaten a Lawsuit Over Yearbook" [9]. Ultimately, Annals 2006 was published without the questionable material, which was distributed by yearbook staff and other seniors as a separate handout called "Club Lit." In addition, the suit never went forward due to the Supreme Court precedent of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.

[edit] Alumnae/alumni

Notable alums include[10]:

[edit] Trivia

  • The school's Madison Avenue facade appeared in the Terry Gilliam film The Fisher King (1991). In the film, the facade is supposedly on 5th Avenue, and reverse angle shots include Central Park.
  • A nickname of the school by its students is Brick Prison.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Milestones in Hunter College's History
  2. ^ "The Joyful Elite," a 1982 article about the school
  3. ^ A history of the armory building that now houses the school
  4. ^ HCHS Admissions
  5. ^ Insideschools.org: Hunter College Elementary School
  6. ^ a b Cynthia Nixon Addresses Hunter College High School Graduates
  7. ^ Hunter College High School Honors and Awards
  8. ^ Petition to Protect Extracurricular Freedoms
  9. ^ Kolben, Deborah. "Hunter Students Threaten a Lawsuit Over Yearbook." New York Sun, May 10, 2006.
  10. ^ Some alumnae information comes from HCHS Distinguished Graduate Awardees

[edit] External links

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