Benjamin Banneker Academy

Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development (usually called Banneker) is a public high school located in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, New York City. The school was originally a Drake's Cakes factory. Still today, different floors of the school are in Drake's colors. It has a small, but family type atmosphere for a high school. It is usually called a junior college because the faculty and students are so focused on college. Banneker, which serves grades 9 through 12+, is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Many of the graduates attend SUNY schools, HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) and CUNY schools. There are also a few that attend Ivy League schools. The school's graduation rate has been at least 90% since 2002.

School Information

The school's colors are black and gold. Each year Banneker holds a homecoming party for the students in which they wear the school colors. This event is usually the final event to their School Spirit Week, which places a different theme on each day of that week. School Spirit week and Homecoming events are planned by the senior committee and is held the Friday before the Thanksgiving recess.

The school was founded in 1987. Its name commemorates Benjamin Banneker, an African American scientist, surveyor, almanac author and farmer.

Student Demographics

There are 831 students in the school. The demographics are 83.39% African American, 12.03% Hispanic or Latino, 2.76% Asian, 1.5% White (non-Hispanic) and 0.32% Native American.

Extracurricular activities

Benjamin Banneker Academy is known for its many great extracurricular activities, which include a variety of sport teams, clubs and community service organizations.

Two special events that happen at Banneker annually are the fashion shows that are presented by the school's fashion clubs, "The Banneker Scarlets" and the "Senior Fashion Show".

Clubs

Sports teams

References

See also

• Empowerment school