West Side High School, New York City

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New York City's West Side High School was established in the early 1970s as an alternative public high school in a challenging mixed neighborhood of upper Manhattan.

In the 1970s, "West Side High" was a hotbed of revolutionary educational thinking. Its students were troubled kids, its teachers and curriculum extremely liberal and experimental, befitting its locale on the Upper West Side. Urban studies, liberal arts and sciences were taught alongside alternative courses in cultural diversity, non-violent coping skills and modern politics, in addition to the standard course requirements of all New York City public schools.

Ed Reynolds was its founder and principal for more than 25 years until his sudden death in 2001. Originally located on West 93rd Street, between Broadway and West End Avenue, it was shut down briefly for its controversial ideology and chaotic ambience, later reemerging at its current address at 140 West 102nd Street.

The Board of Education passed a resolution renaming it the Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School, in recognition of its beloved founder.