W. Tresper Clarke High School is a high school in Westbury (technically in Salisbury) New York, USA. It is operated by the East Meadow Union Free School District, also known as the East Meadow School District. The school opened in 1957, and was named in honor of W.(William) Tresper Clarke, a former president of the East Meadow School Board. The Class of 1959 was the first graduating class. The Class of 1960 was the first graduating class to have spent all three years of high school in Clarke. The school serves students living in South Westbury, East Meadow, and Levittown, New York.
Clarke's school newspaper, The Vanguard, is an award winning publication that wins awards every year. Recently, the newspaper was awarded as being the Most Outstanding Newspaper in all of Long Island again at the 2010 Adelphi Press Day Awards Ceremony; a continuing success from the previous year. The newspaper began shortly after the launch of the Russian satellite, Sputnik. The paper was named after the U.S. Navy's satellite program, Project Vanguard. The paper was far more successful than Project Vanguard.
Clarke won the New York State High School Baseball Championships in 2002 and 2005, and won the New York Statewide High School Mock Trial Tournament in 2003. They have also won numerous Nassau County and Long Island Championships. The school has a strong history and tradition in the sport of baseball throughout New York State. Clarke won the 1985 New York State Girls Varsity Soccer Championship to finish an undefeated season. Clarke's football team also beat the number two seed in the county in the playoffs to become the Big-4 champs in 2009, they were also 1997 Nassau County Champions and Long Island Finalist. The winner of the 2010 Wyndham Championship, Arjun Atwal also attend Clarke for two years
The Clarke chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society (chapter #1768) was named the New York State Chapter of the Year in 2003. In 2006, the chapter repeated this feat, and in addition, was named National Chapter of the Year for that year. In 2007, the Tri-M chapter was named first runner-up for National Chapter of the Year.
The media spotlight was on the school in 1967 when Newsday reported: 300 flag-waving protesters outside the building, and an enthusiastic crowd of 1,100 inside, folk singer Pete Seeger came to W. Tresper Clarke High School on March 8, 1967, and he sang. The concert was a year late, but it was a victory against censorship. ``Mr. Seeger is a highly controversial figure, and as such, injecting him into our community in East Meadow we thought would stir passions, create discord, [and] disharmony ..., the school board said in December, 1965, as it canceled a scheduled Seeger appearance. The main question of controversy, the board said, was that on an earlier trip to the Soviet Union, Seeger had sung songs opposing the Vietnam War.
Getting Seeger into the high school auditorium took court battles that went all the way to the State Court of Appeals. The state's highest court said that canceling an earlier invitation because of Seeger's controversial views violated both the state and federal Constitutions.
Playing a key role in the legal battle was the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed an amicus brief to the Court of Appeals. This is just one of the constitutional battles that the Nassau Cchapter has fought over the years. A number of them are featured in a traveling exhibit titled ``Challenging Censorship that is currently on display at the Levittown Public Library and will later appear at other libraries throughout the county.
``The First Amendment is the basis of all other freedoms, said Barbara Bernstein, executive director of the Nassau chapter. ``You don't have any freedom unless you have free speech, and freedom of religion.
The high school was again brought into the media spotlight in January, 2007 when the school's principal barred a deaf student, John Cave, from bringing a service dog to school. The school stated that its decision was motivated by concerns over student welfare, such as allergies.[1][2] The student's parents responded in early February 2007 by filing a $150-million discrimination lawsuit against the East Meadow School District, claiming that school officials subjected the student to "bias, bigotry and prejudice,".[3]
Clarke Principals through the years... Mr. George Hopke 1957-1970 Dr. Albert Renken 1970-1993 Dr. Vincent Cirello 1993-2006 Mr. Timothy Voels 2006-Present
