Thomas A. Edison High School (Queens)

Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School (often referred to locally simply as Edison) is a public secondary school in Queens's Jamaica community in New York City. It is one of the few public high schools in New York City to offer vocational training programs as well as traditional college preparatory tracks and well known for its largely male population. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education.

Location

The campus is located near the top of a fairly steep hill at the corner of 168th St. and 84th Ave., and sits on the south side the Grand Central Parkway; it is situated diagonally across the parkway, southwest from St. John's University. Hillside Avenue, at the foot of the hill, is several blocks to the south.

Jamaica High School is separated from Edison by 84th Avenue and the Jamaica High School Track and Football Field, these school do not share any afflictions with each other. Hillcrest High School, another nearby high school, is located at Highland Avenue and Parsons Blvd.

Academic programs

Students at Edison generally take required courses in health, music theory, and art appreciation during their freshman year, at the end of which they choose a track to pursue in grades 10-12. Edison offers college-preparatory technological programs such as mechanical, electronic and pre-medical pharmaceutical technologies as well as more trade-oriented programs such as automotive and computer repair (A+ Certification), mechanical engineering / AUTOCAD, C++ programming, computer graphics design, and the Cisco Networking Academy, in which one can earn a CCNA network certification upon completion of the program. In information technology, students take Electronics and Cabling for one term. After they pass both classes, they have a choice of major (i.e. A+ Repair, Cisco, MOS) for junior and senior year.

Career and technical education courses

Thomas Edison High School viewed from 84th ave.

• Collision Repair and Refinishing
• Pre-Medical Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• Technical Electronics Engineering/ Robotics
• CAD / Mechanical Engineering
• Cisco Networking
• Computer Repair (A+ Certification Specialists)
• Commercial Art
• Automotive Technologies
• Electrical Installation Technologies
• Web Design
• Graphic Art Communications

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Demographics

The school has an enrollment of just over 2,800 students of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including African American, Latino, South Asian, East Asian, Guyanese. Edison's gender population is approx 60.0% male and 40.0% female.

In the Fall of 2006, Edison admitted 873 freshmen (9th graders). The total student population is approximately 250 larger than the 2005-2006 school year. The increase in student population has required the hiring of more than 20 new teachers. Crowding is an issue in a building designed for 1,600 Students.

When the it first opened in 1950 as an all-boys school, there were 700 students. Girls were first admitted in the late 1970s.

Student activities

Edison participates in a wide variety of citywide sporting activities in the (PSAL) Public School Athletic League some of these sports are basketball, soccer, track and wrestling (excluding football). Its teams are known as the Inventors. Also, unknown to some, their mascot is a light bulb, but it is never used during a game.

As a Career and Technical Education High School, teams from Edison have performed highly in Annual Competitions dealing with Auto Repair. In the 2005-06 School year, Edison teams finished First and Second in NYC. For the Current (2006–07) School Year, Edison teams have taken the top three spots in the NYC Competition (1st, 2nd & 3rd).

Other clubs include:

Notable alumni

• Stephen A. Smith- ESPN sports personality and Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist is a member of the graduating class of 1986.
• Mike Windischmann- Professional Soccer Player, 2004 National Soccer Hall of Fame

References

• Student Handbook

External links

• Thomas Edison High School Home Page
• NYC Dept. of Education page on Edison
• Google Maps Hybrid Image
• Public Schools Athletic League Thomas Edison pages link on the PSAL Public Schools Athletic League Web Site.
• http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=our_schools&id=5324667 WABC-TV News High school sections by elementary school students

Coordinates: 40°42′57″N 73°47′57″W / 40.7159°N 73.7993°W / 40.7159; -73.7993