Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School
Location
29 Fort Greene Place NY 11217
29 Fort Greene Place
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Information
Type Public, Specialized High School
Established 1922
Founder Dr. Albert L. Colston
School board New York City Public Schools
School number 430
Principal Randy Asher
Faculty 227[1]
Grades 912
Enrollment 5,184[2]
Color(s) Blue      and White     
Mascot Engineer
Nickname The Engineers
Newspaper The Survey[3]
Yearbook The Blueprint
Website

Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States.[4]

Together with Stuyvesant High School and Bronx High School of Science, it is one of three original specialized science high schools, operated by the New York City Department of Education, all three of which were cited by The Washington Post in 2006 as among the best magnet schools in the United States (a category the school is often placed in, though its founding pre-dates the concept of "magnet school" and whose intended purpose was not the same).[5] Admission is by competitive examination though, as a public school, there is no tuition fee and only residents of the City of New York are eligible to attend.[6]

Brooklyn Tech is a founding member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology. Brooklyn Tech is noted for its famous alumni[7] (including two Nobel Laureates), its academics, and the large number of graduates attending prestigious universities. Routinely, more than 98% of its graduates are accepted to four-year colleges[8] with the 2007 graduating class being offered more than $1,250,000 in scholarships and grants.[9] It appears as #63 in the 2009 ranking of the annual U.S. News & World Report "Best High Schools" list.[10]

Contents

Building and facilities

The school, built on its present site from 1930-33 at a cost of $6 million, is 12 stories high, and covers over half a city block. Brooklyn Technical High School is directly across the street from Fort Greene Park. Facilities at BTHS include:

A 456-foot (139 m)-tall rooftop broadcasting antenna, when added to the height of the building itself (145 ft), makes Brooklyn Tech the borough's tallest structure, at 597 feet (182 m) high.[13] It is 85 feet (26 m) taller than Brooklyn's tallest building, the 512-foot (156 m) Williamsburg Savings Bank.

In 1934, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), which later became the Works Projects Administration (WPA), commissioned artist Maxwell B. Starr to paint a mural in the foyer depicting the evolution of man and science throughout history.

Brooklyn Tech's founder and first principal, Dr. Albert L. Colston, had an apartment built for himself in the tower of the building, and was the only person to live at Brooklyn Tech.

In December 2006, developer and New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner proposed a new building for Tech as part of the basketball arena he is constructing at the Atlantic Yards. In May 2008, school and city officials said no such proposal was under consideration.[14] The building will reportedly be able to fit about 6000 students.[15]

History

Original plan

In 1918, Dr. Albert L. Colston, chair of the Math Department at Manual Training High School, recommended establishing a technical high school for Brooklyn boys. His plan envisioned a heavy concentration of math, science, and drafting courses with parallel paths leading either to college or to a technical career in industry. By 1922, Dr. Colston's concept was approved by the Board of Education, and Brooklyn Technical High School opened in a converted warehouse at 49 Flatbush Avenue Extension, with 2,400 students. This location, in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, is the reason the school seal bears that bridge's image, rather than the more obvious symbol for the borough, the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn Tech would occupy one more location before settling into its site at 29 Fort Greene Place, for which the groundbreaking was held in 1930. [2]

Early academics

Atypical for American high schools, Brooklyn Tech uses a system of college-style majors. The curriculum consists of two years of general studies with a technical and engineering emphasis, followed by two years of a student-chosen major.

The curriculum remained largely unchanged until the end of Dr. Colston's 20-year term as principal in 1942. Upon his retirement, Tech was led briefly by acting principal Ralph Breiling, who was succeeded by Principal Harold Taylor in 1944. Tech's modernization would come under Principal William Pabst, who assumed stewardship in 1946 after serving as chair of the Electrical Department. Pabst created new majors and refined older ones, allowing students to select science and engineering preparatory majors including Aeronautical, Architecture, Chemical, Civil, Electrical (later including Electronics and Broadcast), Industrial Design, Mechanical, Structural, and Arts and Sciences. A general College Preparatory curriculum, would be added later.

1960s

Principal Pabst retired in 1964. A railroad club was established by the late Vincent Gorman, a social studies teacher, and students attended fan trips, tours of rail repair facilities and participated in the restoration of steam engine #103 and a historic rail passenger car at the former Empire State Railroad Museum. In August 1965, a ten-year-old boy named Carl Johnson drowned in the swimming pool at Brooklyn Tech while swimming with his day-camp group. The next year, more than 30 graduating Seniors in the school (including many student leaders) complained that Tech's curriculum was old and outdated. Their primary complaint was that the curriculum was geared toward the small minority of students who were not planning on attending college. In 1967 the schools of New York City got to view television in the classrooms for the first time, thanks to the station WNYE-TV, then located in the transmitter center on top of Brooklyn Tech.

New York City specialized high schools

In 1972, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant High School, and High School for Performing Arts become incorporated by the New York State Legislature as specialized high schools of New York City. The act called for a uniform exam to be administered for admission to Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, and Stuyvesant. The exam would become known as the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) and tested students in math and English. With its statewide recognition, the school had to become co-educational.

In 1973, Tech celebrated its 50th anniversary with a dinner-dance at the Waldorf Astoria. To further commemorate the anniversary, a monument was erected, with a time capsule beneath it, in the north courtyard. The monument has eight panels, each with a unique design representing each of Tech's eight majors at that point. In 1976, the school added the Graphic Communications major. http://www.bths.edu/school_history.jsp

In 1983, Matt Mandery's appointment as principal made him the first Tech alumnus to hold that position. The following year, Tech received the Excellence in Education award from the U.S. Department of Education. The Alumni Association was formally created during this time, and coalitions were formed with the New York City Department of Transportation. Mandery oversaw the addition of a Bio-Medical major to the curriculum. Technological advances again changed Tech's character in 1976, with the school adding the Graphic Communications major, now commonly known as the "Media" major. In 1988, Spike Lee shot a video from his movie School Daze, entitled "Da Butt" at Brooklyn Tech. [3][4] John Tobin followed as principal in 1987 and abolished the Materials Science department and closing the seventh-floor foundry.

In the mid 1980s, a violent street gang known as the Decepticons were founded at Brooklyn Tech.[16][17] As well, in 2000, the city issued a special report concerning the lack of notification to law enforcement during a string of robberies within the high school, including armed robbery with knives and stun guns.[18]

The Brooklyn Tech Cheerleading Squad appeared in the 1988 Spike Lee film School Daze.[19]

Endowment

In March 1998, an alumni group led by Leonard Riggio, class of 1958, announced plans for a fund-raising campaign to raise $10 million to support their alma mater financially through facilities upgrades, establishment of curriculum enhancements, faculty training, and a university-type endowment.[20] The endowment fundraiser, the first of its kind for an American public school, received front-page attention in The New York Times and sparked a friendly competition amongst the specialized high schools, with both Bronx Science and Stuyvesant announcing their own $10 million campaigns within weeks of the Brooklyn Tech announcement. In November 2005, the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Association announced the completion of the fundraising phase of what they had termed the Campaign for Brooklyn Tech.[21] In April 2008, the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation launched a second endowment campaign.[22]

Lee McCaskill controversy

Dr. Lee D. McCaskill, appointed principal in 1992, served for 14 years, during which Tech saw the installation of more computer classrooms and the switch from traditional mechanical drawing by hand to teaching the use of computer-aided design programs. McCaskill also presided over the elimination of long-standing hallmark academic concentrations at Tech such as aerospace engineering.

In 2003, The New York Times published an investigative article that noted "longstanding tensions" between the faculty and Principal McCaskill, "spilled into the open in October, with news reports that several teachers accused him of repeatedly sending sexually explicit e-mail messages from his school computer to staff members".[23] The article described the principal as autocratic, controlling the school "largely through fear and intimidation", and documented acts of personal vindictiveness toward teachers; severe censorship of the student newspaper and of assigned English texts, including the refusal to let the Pulitzer Prize-finalist novel Continental Drift by Russell Banks be used for a class; and of bureaucratic mismanagement. The article also quoted praise from McCaskill's supervising superintendent, Reyes Irizarry, who cited the principal's expansion of music and sports programs.

A follow-up column in 2004[24] found the situation had worsened due to increased teacher exodus, and documented Principal McCaskill's campaign against Alice Alcala, described as one of the city's leading Shakespeare teachers. Alcala had won Brooklyn Tech a $10,000 grant and brought in the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain for student workshops. "When [McCaskill] tried killing her Shakespeare program", the Times wrote, "she went over his head to the central administration and got it reinstated. The day after she was quoted in news articles criticizing McCaskill, she received an unsatisfactory classroom observation rating for the first time in 28 years of teaching. She was repeatedly denied access to the auditorium and in June, got an unsatisfactory for the year." Alcala left for Manhattan's Murry Bergtraum High School, where she shortly thereafter brought in $1,800 in grants for Shakespeare education, while at Brooklyn Tech, the article reported, there was no longer any course solely devoted to Shakespeare.

2005 articles in the New York Daily News[25] and New York Teacher[26] note that a $10,000 grant obtained by Dr. Sylvia Weinberger in 2001 to refurbish the obsolete radio room remained unused. New classroom computers were covered in plastic rather than installed because the classrooms had yet to be wired for them.

The Office of Special Investigations of the New York City Department of Education launched an investigation of McCaskill on February 2, 2006, concerning unpaid enrollment of New Jersey resident McCaskill's daughter in New York City public school, which is illegal for non-residents of the city. On February 6, McCaskill announced his resignation from Brooklyn Tech and agreed to pay $19,441 in restitution.

On February 7, 2006, the Department of Education named Randy Asher, founding principal of the High School for Math, Science and Engineering (HSMSE), as interim acting principal.[27] Mr. Asher had previously served as Tech's assistant principal in mathematics from 2000-2002 before leaving to become founding principal of HSMSE.

Special commissioner Richard J. Condon rebuked the Department of Education a week later for allowing McCaskill to retire, still collecting $125,282 in accrued vacation time, just days before the OSI completed its investigation. Condon also recommended that Cathy Furman McCaskill, the principal's wife, be dismissed from her position as a teacher at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn for her part in submitting fake leases and other fraudulent documents to indicate the family lived in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn.[28][29] The next day, the Department of Education announced it would move to fire her.[30]

Tech in the 21st century

Since 2001, Brooklyn Tech has undergone such refurbishing as the renovation of the school's William L. Mack Library entrance, located on the fifth-floor center section. As well, two computer labs were added. The school also reinstated a class devoted to the study of Shakespeare, which students can elect to take in their senior year.

Classes were held during the 2005 New York City transit strike, though attendance was sparse.

Tech uses a college-style system of majors, unusual for an American high school. As of June 2008, majors include:[31]

Students apply for majors in sophomore year, and take ten semesters of major classes throughout junior and senior year. Tech also has a Bio-Chemistry major as part of its "Gateway to Medicine" program, to which, unlike the other majors, students apply to as incoming freshmen. All Advanced Placement science courses are taught as double periods to accommodate the large lab requirement.

Extracurricular activities

Brooklyn Tech fields 30 junior-varsity and varsity teams in the Public School Athletic League (PSAL). The school's historic team name has been the Engineers. The school colors are navy, blue and white. The school's more than 100 organizations include the Brooklyn Tech Amateur Radio Club (club station callsign W2CXN), Civil Air Patrol Brooklyn Tech Cadet Squadron, chess,[32] debate, football, Wrestling, forensics (speech), hockey, mock trial, robotics (TechKnights334)[33] , and rowing[34] teams and clubs, and a news website, BTHSNews.org.[3] The Model United Nations provides students with a venue for discussing foreign affairs. Other clubs cater to a wide range of topics such as anime, Dance Dance Revolution, ultimate Frisbee, politics, quilting, fashion, debate, which offers both Lincoln Douglas And Policy, table tennis and animal rights. The cheerleading squad is named the Enginettes. S.I.N.G. is an annual tradition that pits seniors against juniors against freshmen and sophomores in a competition to create the best student-produced play. Additionally, Tech students put on a musical each spring. Brooklyn Tech has also started its own student union, to address issues on a student level. Tech also has a medical society called the Provident Clinical Society, as well as a Red Cross club.

There are two step teams, Lady Dragons and Organized C.H.A.O.S.

The school has a Coordinator of Student Activities (COSA).

Beginning with the class of 2010, each student must meet the following requirements by the end of their senior year to receive a Brooklyn Technical High School diploma:

I. A minimum of 50 hours of community service outside of the school or through specified club activities.

II. A minimum of 32 service credits earned through participation in Tech clubs, teams, and/or participation in designated school related events.

A. Service Credits are earned as follows: 1. 8 service credits per term to all students in BETA, NHS, Student Government, student productions, stageworks, cheerleading, and PSAL teams. 2. 6 service credits per term to all students participating student leadership, who work on office squads, or compete in non-PSAL teams. 3. 4 service credits per term to all students who participate in all other clubs not referred to above. 4. 2 service credits for participation in specified school events

Awards and honors

Brooklyn Tech appears as #63 in the 2010 ranking of the annual U.S. News & World Report "Best High Schools" list.[10] Newsweek in 2008 listed Brooklyn Tech among five public high schools that were not in the magazine's 13 "Public Elite" ranking, explaining, "Newsweek 's Challenge Index is designed to recognize schools that challenge average students, and not magnet or charter schools that draw only the best students in their areas. These [...] were excluded from the list of top high schools because [...] their sky-high SAT and ACT scores indicate they have few or no average students".[35]

Notable alumni

Hall of Fame inductees[7] listed separately at end, by year. Inductions held 1998-2000, 2003, and 2005.

1998 Hall of Fame inductees

Inaugural year

1999 Hall of Fame inductees

2000 Hall of Fame inductees

2003 Hall of Fame inductees

2005 Hall of Fame inductees

Alumni lost to events on Sept 11, 2001

Partial source:[41]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ New York City Dept. of Education 2004-2005 Annual School Report: Brooklyn Technical High School
  2. ^ NYC DOE School Portal: Brooklyn Technical High School (K430): Register, Statistics, About Us
  3. ^ a b BTHSNews.org
  4. ^ New York City School Reports 2006-07
  5. ^ Matthews, Jay (January 24, 2006). "Help Find the Super High Schools". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/24/AR2006012400671_pf.html. 
  6. ^ Three new schools were added to that list in the mid-2000s: the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College, the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, and the Queens High School for the Sciences at York College. However, these were not afforded Specialized High Schools status under New York State Law.
  7. ^ a b Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame
  8. ^ New York City Public Schools: "2004-2005 Annual School Report: HS 430 - Brooklyn Technical High School
  9. ^ Class of 2007 Is Awarded $1.25 Million in Scholarships
  10. ^ a b U.S. News & World Report, "Best High Schools", December 4, 2008
  11. ^ "Brooklyn Technical High School". NYC High School Directory. NYC Dept. of Education. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061005011611/http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/StudentEnroll/HSAdmissions/HSDirectory/Book/?sid=647. 
  12. ^ New York Post (Oct. 6, 2001) via FreeBTHS.com: "Tech Finally Has a Place to Call Home"
  13. ^ About.com: "Fort Greene Brooklyn Walking Tour - Historic Sites"
  14. ^ Monahan, Rachel. "Brooklyn Tech building not slated for Atlantic Yards", New York Daily News, May 19, 2008
  15. ^ Daily News (Dec. 22, 2006): "Nets Go High Tech: Ratner throws in new home for elite Brooklyn HS in arena deal", by Tanyanika Samuels
  16. ^ Sims, Seandra. "The Decepticons: Gangs Of New York Part 1", AllHipHop.com, September 15, 2010
  17. ^ Terry, Don. "A Gang Gives a Name to Students' Fear: Decepticons", The New York Times, March 1, 1989
  18. ^ Stancik, Edward F., Robert M. Brenner, Gerald P. Conroy, Richard Iannozzi "Dangerous Consequences: Officials at Brooklyn Technical High School Fail to Report Armed Robberies to the Police" , City Of New York, The Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District, November 2000
  19. ^ "School Daze Cast - Full - Alphabetical", InBaseline.com
  20. ^ Steinberg, Jacques (March 20, 1998). "Alumni to Give Brooklyn Tech Huge Donation". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/20/nyregion/alumni-to-give-brooklyn-tech-huge-donation.html. 
  21. ^ "Brooklyn Tech Alumni Celebrate Completion of Association's $10 Million Capital Campaign". November 29, 2005. http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/press_releases/2005_Brooklyn_Tech.html. 
  22. ^ "21/21: The Sustaining Excellence Campaign at Brooklyn Tech", by Jeanine Ramirez, NY1 (n.d.), via Brooklyn Technical High School official site]
  23. ^ Winerip, Michael (January 15, 2003). "On Education: Evaluating a Brooklyn Principal, Measure for Questionable Measure". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/15/nyregion/on-education-evaluating-a-brooklyn-principal-measure-for-questionable-measure.html. 
  24. ^ Winerip, Michael (January 28, 2004). "On Education: Principal's War Leads to a Teacher Exodus". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/28/education/28educate.html?ex=1137301200&en=a0eea3e7e14a680f&ei=5070. 
  25. ^ Lucadamo, Kathleen (October 23, 2005). "B'klyn Tech's Crass Warfare: Principal at Center of Storm in B'klyn Tech". Daily News. http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:MAczJnGfJ7EJ:www.nydailynews.com/news/story/358244p-305287c.html+%22brooklyn+technical+high+school%22+%22lou+ferrigno%22&hl=en&lr=&strip=1. 
  26. ^ Callaghan, Jim (October 5, 2005). "Brooklyn ' Wreck'". New York Teacher. United Federation of Teachers. http://www.uft.org/news/teacher/in_news/brooklynwreck. 
  27. ^ "Randy J. Asher Named Interim-Acting Principal of Brooklyn Technical High School" (Press release). NYC Dept. of Education. February 7, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061015094459/http://schools.nyc.gov/Administration/mediarelations/PressReleases/2005-2006/02072006pressrelease.htm. 
  28. ^ Gootman, Elissa (February 15, 2006). "Investigator Rebukes City Schools Over Retirement of a Principal". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/nyregion/15principal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. 
  29. ^ Callaghan, Jim (February 6, 2006). "Brooklyn Tech Principal Probed". New York Teacher. United Federation of Teachers. http://www.uft.org/news/teacher/in_news/probed. 
  30. ^ Lucadamo, Kathleen (February 15, 2006). "A Lack of Principles: Ex-School Head Lied Under Oath". Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/391424p-332014c.html. 
  31. ^ Brooklyn Technical High School official site: List of majors
  32. ^ Tech Knights Chess Team
  33. ^ [1]
  34. ^ Brooklyn Tech Rowing Club
  35. ^ Pace, Gina. "Web Exclusive: The Public Elites, Newsweek.com, May 18, 2008]
  36. ^ "Forum Guests: Warren Adler", Forum on Law, Culture & Society at Fordham Law
  37. ^ Brooklyn Tech 85th Anniversary Gala Honors Herbert L. Henkel
  38. ^ Brooklyn Tech High School, Brooklyn NY at The Baseball Cube. WebCitatiion archive.
  39. ^ Gonzales, Michael A. "93 Minutes With Corey Glover and Vernon Reid", New York, October 4, 2009
  40. ^ My9TV.com: Russ Salzberg
  41. ^ "September 11: A Memorial". CNN.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20110515194751/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/. 

References

External links