Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York)
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| Established | 1875 | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of institution | Public | |
| Staff | 160 | |
| Faculty | 130 | |
| Students | grades 9-12 | |
| Enrollment | 1600 | |
| Location | Ithaca, New York, United States | |
| Colors | Red and Gold | |
| Mascot | Little Red Bear | |
| School district | Ithaca City School District | |
| Website | http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/highschool | |
- For other schools by this name, see Ithaca High School
Ithaca High School (IHS) is a public high school in Ithaca, New York. It is part of the Ithaca City School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,675. Joseph M. Wilson has been principal since 2004.
Ithaca High School has historically had a reputation for strong academics. While today the school faces various problems, many common to most high schools, by most objective measures Ithaca High School students still score well above state and national averages. 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[1].
Twenty advanced placement courses in Biology, Calculus (AB & BC), Chemistry, Computer Science AB, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, French Language, German Language, Human Geography, Latin (Vergil), Latin Literature, Physics B, Physics C, Spanish Language, Statistics, Studio Art, and U.S. History are offered. There are 140 professional staff members, including about 120 classroom teachers, and over 85% of the faculty has a Master's degree or higher. The school is part of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference (STAC).
Since 1960, Ithaca High School has been located at 1401 North Cayuga Street in the north end of Ithaca, near Stewart Park and Cayuga Lake. 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. The offices of the ICSD employee unions are also nearby.
Currently, additions are planned that would double 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 [1].
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[edit] History
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. 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 then saved from demolition by 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.
[edit] Notable alumni
The following is an incomplete list of notable Ithaca High School alumni:
- Dion Benetatos, model/actor Elite Model Management
- Dustin Brown, hockey player, rightwinger for Los Angeles Kings
- Stephen Carter '72, author and Yale Law School professor
- Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo, musician, Gym Class Heroes
- Daniel Mark Fogel, President of the University of Vermont
- Mary McDonnell, actress (Battlestar Galactica, Dances With Wolves)
- Paul Wolfowitz '61, Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001-2005), World Bank President (2005-present)
[edit] Notable
- Founded in 1892, the Ithaca High School school newspaper, The Tattler, 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. Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Carter both wrote for the paper during their time at Ithaca High School.
- From 1955 until 1967, the Ithaca High School Band under the direction of Frank Battisti 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 many 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.
- Ithaca High School has won five New York State Class A Boys’ Ice Hockey championships (1984, 1987, 1994, 2000, 2007), as well as three Upstate New York Girls' Hockey League championships (2001, 2002, 2003).
- Two Ithaca High School math teachers received the prestigious Edyth May Sliffe Award, given annually to about 25 math teachers nationally: David Bock (twice, in 1990 and 1993), and Roselyn Teukolsky (in 1991).
- The Ithaca High School Orchestra, currently directed by George Myers, is one of the oldest in the country. Established in 1904, it recently celebrated its 100th anniversary with a celebration and concert that included a newly commissioned work by composer Robert Paterson.
- The Ithaca High School FIRST Robotics Team, Code Red Robotics (Team 639), notably sponsored by Borg Warner Morse TEC and Cornell University, has won first place in several regional competitions including the 2004 Canadian Regional and the 2005 Finger Lakes Regional as well as the GM Industrial Design Award (2002, 2004, 2005 Canadian Regional).
- The Ithaca High School Boys' Lacrosse Program has established itself as a Section IV, Class A powerhouse, winning five straight sectional championships from 2000-2005 and often finding itself in the State and National Rankings.
- The Ithaca High School Boys' Track and Field Program went undefeated in dual meets for 8 years until 2005, when defeated by 70-71 by Vestal High School. The program turns out state competitors regularly in both Cross Country and Track and Field. In 2005, it produced two state and Federation Champions, Drew Hilker in the Pentathalon and Peter Thompson in the Pole Vault.
- IHS athletic teams compete as the "Little Red", in counterpoint to the "Big Red" of nearby Cornell University.
[edit] See also
[edit] References and further reading
- ^ 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.
- ^ Alexander, Andrew. "Ithaca's Boynton Was a Model Educator", Ithaca Journal, 2006-09-09, pp. 3B.
- Terzian, Sevan G. "The Emergence of a Comprehensive High School: Ithaca High School in Ithaca, New York, 1875-1941." Doctoral thesis, Indiana University, 2003
- Terzian, Sevan G. "The Elusive Goal of School Spirit in the Comprehensive High School: A Case History, 1916-1941." The High School Journal, October/November 2004:42-51
- 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.
