John Dewey High School

John Dewey High School
Established 1969
Type Public
Principal Kathleen Elvin
Students 3,289
Grades 9-12
Location 50 Avenue X,
Brooklyn, NY 11223, United States
Coordinates 40°37′15″N 73°57′33″W / 40.6207°N 73.9592°WCoordinates: 40°37′15″N 73°57′33″W / 40.6207°N 73.9592°W
Colors      Red
     Grey
Newspaper

The Dewey Classic

The Dewey Current
Website www.johndeweyhighschool.org

John Dewey High School is a public school in Brooklyn, New York City, founded and based on the educational principles of John Dewey. It opened in the late summer of 1969 and is located at 50 Avenue X in Gravesend, Brooklyn, near the Bensonhurst-Bath Beach border; the Bay 50th Street subway station is located nearby. The school was also named a New American High School in 2000. The school is under the supervision of the New York City Department of Education.

It was established in 1969 and started out with only freshmen and sophomores. Gradually, the school grew to include juniors and seniors. Today, there are over 3,200 students enrolled in the school. It counts among its alumni producer and director Larry Charles, filmmaker Spike Lee, New York rock and comedy club owner (Luna Lounge) Rob Sacher, Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies, Radio personality David Brody, photographer Gregory Crewdson, WWE wrestler Jayson Paul (aka JTG), scientist Robert Sapolsky, astrologer-journalist Eric Francis, and news correspondent Ray Suarez.

Academics

In order to graduate from John Dewey High School, each student must take a certain amount of specific classes. For example, each student must take 16 cycles of English; 8 literature classes, 4 writing classes, 2 communication classes, and 2 elective classes. For Social Studies, each student must take 16 cycles of classes. Students need 8 Global courses, 4 American History, 2 Economic classes, and 2 Participation in Government classes. Mathematics requires 12 cycles, each student must complete 3 years of math, and must complete Math A. The Science Department requires students to take 12 cycles of Science. John Dewey High School also offers many foreign languages such as Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Russian and French. When a student chooses his or her preferred languages, they must take the course either for 1 year (4 cycles) or for 3 years (12 cycles). Art and Music are important in the Dewey curriculum, a student can take photography, music, or film classes. There are also many electives and extra curricular activities in which are useful for college. John Dewey High School has been accredited for being a college-like high school. Each student must take 2 cycles of each. Also, like in every high school, John Dewey offers health education and physical education. Each student must take 14 cycles of physical ed. and 2 cycles of health; totaling up to 16 cycles (4 years). John Dewey High School offers many electives. A student may want to take Dance classes, or Business Education classes. It also offers Technology, Home Economics, Health Careers and Occupations. There is also a COOP program that senior students can be a part of.

Advanced Placement Courses

John Dewey High School offers approximately 17 Advanced Placement courses, one of the highest for New York City public high schools. These include courses in

School Facilities

One of the many innovative features of John Dewey High School are the Dewey learning centers which are commonly referred as "Resource Centers." These are centers located centrally between five or six classrooms, staffed by a teacher and a paraprofessional. Each major department has one—English & Literature, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Language, Music, Art and the Universal RC. For each band (period), subject teachers in designated RCs will always be there to facilitate students in Academics, students who are free may head to the RCs for assistance in homework, projects etc. or socialize with others.

John Dewey High School’s library has around collections of over 30,000 books, magazines, and about 12 computers for student, parent and faculty use.

Students utilize the many facilities in which they worked side-by-side with either their teachers/peers/ friends, this not only enable students to fulfill their personal interests but can concurrently build a steady foundation for advancements in their future life.

Academy of Finance

John Dewey High School houses the "first" Academy of Finance, which was started by Sandy Weill in 1982. The Academy of Finance prepares students for post-secondary education and careers through a theme-based, contextualized curriculum approach.

The Academy of Finance introduces high school students to the broad career opportunities of the financial services industry. One of three member programs of the National Academy Foundation, the Academy of Finance operates as a small learning community and is located in more than 275 high schools nationwide.

At John Dewey, each student is allowed to apply for the Academy of Finance. During the Sophomore year, a student who is interested in joining the Academy, gives in his or her application and waits for an interview with Academy coordinator. The Academy of Finance is only available to Juniors and Seniors who applies during their Sophomore year.

ARISTA

ARISTA is the scholastic honor society of John Dewey High School. Applicants must have achieved an overall scholastic average of 90 or above as a student at John Dewey High School. The student must also have a record of service performed each cycle in some facility in the school. In the early decades of operation, the school offered students no letter or number grades, and there was no school-wide academic honor society.

Extracurricular Activities

John Dewey High School's Student organization facilitates clubs in organizing, fundraising etc. John Dewey High School offers clubs such as: Anime, Asian, Art-Ink, Christian Culture, Ceramics, Classic Rock, Chess, Dance, Diversity, Fashion Design, Finance, Key Club, Hebrew Culture, Award Wining Robotics Team, Math, Marine Science, Muslim Culture, Modeling, Model Congress, Sci-Fi, Gay-Straight Alliance(Decommissioned) and Soccer.

Each year there are annual events throughout the campus and the school, such as the Octoberfest, Multicultural Show, Fashion Show, Clash of the Genres (in which different music genres compete), Country Fair (where all over the school games are played, inflatable balloons, caricatures etc. also involving music and food, sports and fundraising), Field Day, Spirit Week, Blood Drive (students 16 or older have the option to donate blood to those in need) and the Dewey or Don't We? talent show.

Team #333

Dewey's nationally-ranked and award winning robotics team, Team #333 also known as The Megalodons, has participated in various national and regional competitions. The team avidly participates in the FIRST Robotics competition, a competition that attracts schools with robotics teams internationally. The team has also been featured in various local newspapers, including the New York Daily News.

Their efforts have resulted in beating some of the top high schools in the country and some of the specialized high schools in New York City, such as Brooklyn Tech. Their accomplishments have led to visits from the previous New York City school chancellor Dennis Walcott and astronaut Gregory Olsen.[1] The team has also participated in the opening pitch for the Brooklyn Cyclones.[2]

The team originated from a small after school club and gradually grew into a highly-selective program with its own classes and curriculum, and currently consists of over fifty members who work during and after school in a shop. The team has a very active presence within the school.

Sports

From its founding John Dewey has not fielded varsity sports teams. That lack of inter-school sports competition grew out of its educational design, meant to de-emphasize competition, winning and losing, and to encourage achievement for its own sake. The school does however have intramural athletic programs which students can take advantage of to play sports for recreation.

However, starting in the 2011-2012 school year, competitive sports with other public high schools are beginning due to a majority vote towards it. It starts with a male and female soccer team and a female basketball team, cross country, and as well as cheer-leading due to the new arrival of sports. The title for the sport teams in John Dewey are named The Dewey Dragons.

Race and Ethnicity

Ethnic Group[3] 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Asian/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 33% 34% 36%
Black or African American 25% 26% 29%
Hispanic or Latino 21% 20% 20%
White (Non-Hispanic) 13% 13% 14%
American Indian or Alaska Native 0.4% 0.4% 0.5%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 0.2% 0.3% 0.3%

Awards

In 2000, John Dewey High School was named a New American High School for serving as a model for schools nationwide that have achieved high levels of success, and was showcased nationally at the White House.

In 2007, John Dewey High School was named one of America's Top 500 High Schools by U.S. News & World Report.

In 2008 and 2009, Newsweek named John Dewey High School one of America's Top 6% of high schools in its rankings, citing "how hard staffs work to challenge students with Advanced Placement college-level courses and tests."

In 2010, John Dewey High School's short film produced by the Film Class titled "A Block From Home" which was about an innocent victim who was caught in cross fire gun violence nearby Sheepshead Bay High School and takes on the progressive healing and the will to forge ahead. It was a part of Tribeca Film Festival in the Our City My Story event.[4]

In 2013, U.S. News & World Report awarded John Dewey High School a silver medal for ranking as one of America's Top High Schools, and for ranking #127 in New York State.[5]

In popular culture

Notable alumni

The "Key to Knowledge" statue in front of John Dewey High School on the campus.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.193966624087628.1073741832.140249176126040&type=3
  2. ↑ http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/high-school-metal-heads-mechanical-master-article-1.1379561
  3. ↑ http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/21/K540/AboutUs/Statistics/register.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/youth/118990274.html
  5. ↑ http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-york/districts/new-york-city-public-schools/john-dewey-high-school-13461
  6. ↑ http://elvisduran.com/pages/bios/brody.html?article=512410
  7. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/14/nyregion/mrs-clinton-suggests-bonuses-to-attract-more-teachers.html
  8. ↑ http://elvisduran.com/pages/bios/brody.html?article=512410
  9. ↑ http://FERN.org
  10. ↑ http://fromartz.com

External links