Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York)

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Brentwood High School is a secondary school in Brentwood, New York. It is one of the largest high schools in New York State, on the southern shore of Suffolk County, Long Island. Thomas O'Brien, formerly a science teacher[1], is the current principal.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1956-1960

The first class to graduate from Brentwood High School was the class of 1957. Prior to this, public school students in the district attended Bay Shore High School.

[edit] 1961-1970

John Bacon, a Brentwood High School football and lacrosse player of the class of 1967, became a member of the famed lacrosse team at Baltimore's Morgan State University, the story of which is recounted in the 2001 book Ten Bears by Dr. Miles Harrison Jr. and Chip Silverman.[2]

[edit] 1971-1980

From 1974 to 1989, the student body was large enough that the two primary buildings, Ross and Sonderling, were treated as two distinct high schools. Students from North Junior High School and West Junior High School fed into Sonderling, while students from East Junior High School and South Junior High School fed into Ross. The graduating classes for the years 1980 through 1984 were around 700 each for Ross and Sonderling. By 1987, it had dropped to 450 each.

Brentwood High School was the site of the Maslow-Toffler School of Futuristic Education[3], an alternative high school, from 1974 to 1983.[4]

In 1975, WXBA-FM[5][6] was founded at Brentwood High School, with its first studio and office on the second floor of the Ross Building near the science classrooms. WXBA's first general manager was experienced Long Island radio personality Bob Ottone[7], now the public address announcer for the Long Island Ducks. The initial output of WXBA was ten watts (which means that the signal barely made it to the Brentwood/Central Islip border three miles east of the school under some conditions), then was upgraded in the summer of 1981 to 180 watts. Students would undergo a training program, usually during the summer between ninth and tenth grade, as DJ's, news readers and engineers. Alumni of WXBA include Rick Belyea, a television and radio personality on Long Island; Bill LiBrandi, a filmmaker; Brian Campbell, a C4I test Engineer; Lisa Piazza, a psychiatrist based in New York City[8][9]; Rahadyan Sastrowardoyo[10] of the The New York Times; Chuck Everson, Villanova University basketball star[11][12] in the mid 80's; radio dj's Christine Cono, Alison Farrington and Helen Howard; and Gerry Cooney (not to be confused with the professional boxer).

Brentwood High School established an Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AFJROTC) in 1977. As of the fall of 2006, it was one of only two Long Island high schools to offer the program.[13]

The Associated Press reported in 1980 that, a week after the principal, Stanley P. Yankowski, instructed homeroom teachers to take down the names of students who do not stand for the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the practice was stopped after a teacher complained to the New York Civil Liberties Union[14]

[edit] 1981-1990

In May of 1983, Robert Wickes, a 1977 graduate of Brentwood High School who had become a teachers' aide at East Junior High School, took several students hostage, wounded the EJHS principal, Stephen Howland, and then fatally shot himself.[15][16][17]

WXBA moved to expanded facilities in the newly-built G. Guy DiPietro Learning Center[18] during the 1988-89 school year.

The Brentwood Science Olympiad team competed in the New York State Science Olympiad tournament held at West Point on April 16, 1988. According to Newsday, "[t]he team finished second in Suffolk County, third on Long Island and 13th out of 147 schools in the State of New York."[19]

In 1988, Brentwood's AFJROTC unit was named honor unit by the U.S. Air Force. "Only the top 20 percent of all units in the nation are considered for recognition as honor unit. In addition, Lt. Col. Arthur Bennett and Master Sgt. James Waide have been named outstanding instructors," according to a Newsday report.[20]

Newsday, the mainstay Long Island newspaper, awarded Brentwood High School the High School of the Year Award in 1989.

[edit] 1991-2000

In 1991, Katti Gray wrote in Newsday:

"A 4-by-8-foot wooden plaque, painted white and festooned with a painted yellow bow, hangs in a foyer of Brentwood High School. It lists the names of 313 who serve in Operation Desert Storm -- most of them men and women who grew up or live in the Brentwood and North Bay Shore areas.

The plaque carries the names of reservists and full-time soldiers, first-class privates and colonels, a West Point graduate or two, soldiers with a family history of military service and poor people for whom enlistment was the only way to earn a living."[21]

A 1992 New York Times article by Linda Saslow recounted "At Brentwood High School, a group of students in marketing classes worked as interns at Entenmann's bakery in Bay Shore. After conducting surveys to see what customers wanted, the students presented to company executives their ideas for doughnuts and holiday cookies. Some of the ideas were adopted."[22]

In January of 1993, John T. McQuiston reported in The New York Times that Matthew Hunter, a former student, had been shot and wounded during a basketball game between Brentwood and arch-rivals Sachem.

"Anthony Felicio, president of the Brentwood School Board, said he planned to take steps to assure that 'nothing like this would ever happen again.'

Mr. Felicio and other officials decided at a meeting [January 6] that they would require students to show their school identification cards before entering sporting events." [23]

The incident is cited in Todd Stasser's book Give a Boy a Gun.[24]

In 1999, 56 solar panels were installed on the Ross Building[25].

In early 2000, BHS student Ousman Senghore (referred to in an article as one of "[t]hirteen of the nation's brightest teenagers") visited NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif.[26]

[edit] 2001-present

On February 12, 2001, the district held an Anti-Violence Initiative Day. Among the guest speakers was Parrish Smith (of BHS's class of 1986) of the rap group EPMD. "The difference between thinking and reaction can be 25-to-life.... If you have respect for yourself and those around you, then you think about how your actions will affect you, your family and your community."[27]

Michael H. Waye[28][29][30][31], a 1981 graduate of Brentwood Ross High School and a U.S. Navy veteran, was one of the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. He had been recently promoted to vice president at Marsh and McLennan. Another Brentwood High School alumnus who died that day was David W. Halderman Jr., a second-generation firefighter and member of Squad 18 of the Fire Department of New York.[29][31][32][33][34]

In 2004, The New York Times reported that Brentwood would be one of four Long Island school districts (the others being Hempstead, Lawrence and Manhasset) that would be audited by the state comptroller in the wake of charges of theft made against school administration officials in Roslyn.[35]

The Chicago Tribune reported in 2004 that "the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at Brentwood High School drew national attention after two students who had participated in the program and then joined the military were killed."[36]

A 2005 article in The New York Times[37] noted that three Brentwood graduates -- Jose L. Ruiz (class of 1995); Raheen Tyson Heighter (class of 2000); and Ramon Mateo (class of 2002) -- had died in Iraq, and one -- Michael J. Esposito (class of 1999) -- had died in Afghanistan.

On Veterans' Day in 2005, Newsday covered the dedication of a memorial to 15 graduates of the high school who had died during the Vietnam War.[38] From top to bottom, the names and graduation years are: Richard P. Lancaster, Jr. (1960); Jose Vazquez (1963); Edward LaBarr (1964); James Seidensticker (1965); Peter Colicchio (1966); Frank Sardina (1965); Nicholas Fritz (1965); Michael Cacciuttolo (1966); Gary Guasp (1964); Daniel Hommel (1965); Joseph Funk (1964); Lawrence Soltan (1966); David Scolnick (1966); John Rosa (1968); and Thomas Wynne (1967).

In October 2006, Brentwood High School's Green Machine won in the category of Large School III at the New York State Field Band Conference in Syracuse, New York. With a score of 83.75 they defeated their rivals Walt Whitman Wildcats, and the Sachem Flaming Arrows.[citation needed]

On October 28, 2007, the Green Machine completed an undefeated season by defending its New York State Championship in Large School III at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. For 2 consecutive years the Brentwood Green Machine has won the NYSFBC Governors Cup. In 2007, they went undefeated at 9 competitions across the island and at Arlington H.S. They won once again at the Carrier Dome with a score of 86.10.[citation needed]

[edit] General knowledge

[edit] School Information

Brentwood High School is among the nineteen elementary and secondary schools in the Brentwood Union Free School District In Suffolk, NY. Brentwood High School educates students from grades 9-12 and also has an adult continuing education programs. According to city-data.com The school has a total population of 3532 students attending. 1371 from 10th graders, 991 from 11th graders, 806 from 12th grader, and 275 from adult continuing education. the high school has two Auditoriums, two gymnasium, and six cafeterias. The school is divided into 3 centers, Ross center, Sonderling center, Dipietro learning center. Students that came from East or South middle schools go to the ross center and students who came from West and North middle schools go to the Sonderling center. The Dipietro learning center holds art and music classes. it also has a weight room and a fair sized adaptive gym.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] 1961-1980

[edit] 1981-2000

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Brentwood High School Pow Wow, November/December 2006. Accessed 01 January 2007.
  2. ^ Q&A with Ten Bears author Miles Harrison at LaxPower.com
  3. ^ Maslow-Toffler School of Futuristic Education alumni website
  4. ^ Geographic Information Systems: a Tool for Success
  5. ^ WXBA-FM/88X website
  6. ^ WXBA 88.1FM Time Capsule
  7. ^ Nash, Collin. "In Tune With Long Island High School Radio." Newsday, 28 May 2000.
  8. ^ Jeansonne, John. "Countdown to Seoul." Newsday, 12 June 1988.
  9. ^ Barnard College Newscenter 20 February 2002. Accessed 7 February 2007.
  10. ^ Sastrowardoyo, Rahadyan. "'Babylon 5' Enters Its Final Stages." The New York Times, 19 July 1998.
  11. ^ Chuck Everson, Villanova, 7-1, C
  12. ^ Pinckney, Ed with Bob Gordon. Ed Pinckney's Tales from the Villanova Hardwood. Sports Publishing, 2004 ISBN-10: 1582618097 ISBN-13: 978-1582618098
  13. ^ Brentwood Bulletin, October 2006. Accessed 01 January 2007.
  14. ^ "Principal to Stop Listing Those Sitting for Pledge." Associated Press, 10 October 1980.
  15. ^ McFadden, Robert D. "Hostages at L.I. School Are Freed, and Gunman Then Kills Himself." The New York Times, 17 May 1983.
  16. ^ Barron, James. "Last Hostage Recounts the Violent End of Siege at L.I. School." The New York Times, 19 May 1983.
  17. ^ Toufexis, Anastasia. "Delving into Deep Pockets." Time, 13 June 1983.
  18. ^ "School Roundup." Newsday, 28 October 1987
  19. ^ "School Roundup." Newsday, 27 April 1988.
  20. ^ "School Roundup." Newsday, 21 December 1988.
  21. ^ Gray, Katti. "The Americans Who Went to War: Brentwood Community Is Filled With Prayers and Pride For Its Hundreds in the Gulf." Newsday, 3 March 1991.
  22. ^ Saslow, Linda. "Students Also Learn Skills That Companies Need." The New York Times, 2 August 1992.
  23. ^ McQuiston, John T. "School Upset By Shooting Of Teen-Ager During Game." The New York Times, 7 January 1993.
  24. ^ Stasser, Todd. Give a Boy a Gun. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2000. ISBN-10 0689811128 ISBN-13 978-0689811128
  25. ^ New York Power Authority website
  26. ^ Levine, Jay. "Students Find Tours, Mentors of Great Value." The Dryden X-Press, 14 April 2000. Accessed 14 February 2007.
  27. ^ a b Kaufman, Bill. "Girding Students Against Violence at Brentwood HS." Newsday, 25 February 2001.
  28. ^ Kreytak, Steven. "Michael Henry Waye: A Keen Technical Whiz Who Mastered Computers." Newsday, 15 November 2001.
  29. ^ a b Lueck, Thomas J. "City Compiles List of Dead And Missing From Sept. 11." The New York Times, 20 August 2002.
  30. ^ "Portraits of Grief: The Victims -- They Put Out Fires, Delighted in Giving Gifts and Dared to Dream." The New York Times, 8 September 2002.
  31. ^ a b Evans, Martin. "Tough Choice to Serve After Lesson of War." Newsday, 26 January 2005.
  32. ^ "Portraits of Grief: The Victims -- A Dream Fulfilled, a Devoted Father and a Mother With No Answers." The New York Times, 23 October 2001.
  33. ^ English, Merle. "Standing Tributes: Homes for Poor Jamaicans Shelter Memories of Heroes." Newsday, 23 March 2003.
  34. ^ http://www.qando.net/ - September 11, 2001 : "We lost David"
  35. ^ O'Donnell, Michelle. "Scrutiny Born of Roslyn Scandal Turns to District High in Need and Low on Capital." The New York Times, 20 September 2004.
  36. ^ Gutsche, Robert Jr. "War Protesters Target Military Recruiting." The Chicago Tribune, 17 December 2004.
  37. ^ Healy, Patrick O'Gilfoil. "A High School Counts Its War Dead." The New York Times, 28 August 2005.
  38. ^ Tabatchnick, Cara. "Brentwood Honors Brothers in Arms." Newsday, 13 November 2005.
  39. ^ Home websight of Leonard (Len) H. Tower Jr.
  40. ^ Ketcham, Diane. "About Long Island: At the Repository of High School Memories." The New York Times, 12 February 1995.
  41. ^ "Nets Have Kupchak on List." The New York Times, 6 May 2000.
  42. ^ More than just Luck
  43. ^ Forbes, John B. "At Johns Hopkins, Lacrosse Is No.1." The New York Times, 10 April 1983.
  44. ^ National Lacrosse Hall of Fame website
  45. ^ Ungrady, David. Tales from the Maryland Terrapins. Sports Publishing, 2003. ISBN-10: 1582616884 ISBN-13: 978-1582616889
  46. ^ Sastrowardoyo, Hartriono B. "Autistic Students Benefit From Riding Program." The Asbury Park Press, 20 January 2007. Accessed 23 January 2007.
  47. ^ Samuels, Anita M. "Icon of Rap World at Home on the South Shore." The New York Times, 29 January 1995.