John F. Kennedy High School is a four-year comprehensive New York City public high school, located at 99 Terrace View Avenue in the Marble Hill section of Manhattan, on the border with the Bronx. The school serves grades 9-12 and is operated by the New York City Department of Education. The campus contains four other schools, BETA, Bronx Theatre, Bronx Law and Finance and Marble Hill School for International Studies. The school is known in New York for its football and basketball teams.
John F. Kennedy opened its doors in 1972. Although in the 1980s and 1990s, JFK was known as one of the most dangerous schools in New York City for a student being murdered on campus, but that did not affect the school's popularity as attendance reached six thousand in the mid 1990s. In New York, the school is well known for its sports programs. Nicknamed the Knights of the Red Flaming Torch, they have won numerous championships in basketball, football, volleyball, gymnastics, and track and field. The school was divided into four smaller schools in 2004. Students get accepted to top universities and the graduation rate is nearing 80%.