Thomas R. Proctor High School

Thomas R. Proctor High School
Front entrance to Thomas R. Proctor High School off Hilton Ave.
Address
1203 Hilton Ave. Utica, New York USA
Information
Type	Public
School district	Utica City School District
Color(s)	Red, black, white and silver
Mascot	Raiders
Website	proctor.uticacsd.org

Thomas R. Proctor High School is a public high school within the Utica City School District in Utica, New York. The school was built in the early 1930s through the U.S. Works Progress Association and Thomas R. Proctor and opened its doors in September 1936.^[1] The school is located within Oneida County and the current school principal is Steven Falchi.^[2] The school is the only public high school in Utica due to the closing of Utica Free Academy in 1990,^[1] and there are about 200 full-time teachers and around 2,600 students.^[2]

Athletic department

Thomas R. Proctor High School offers a variety of sports for both girls and boys to compete in at varsity and junior varsity levels.^[3] The 2007 boys varsity baseball team are class AA NYSPHSAA champions. The varsity cheerleading squad also holds a national title, and placed first in all five of their competitions in the school year of 2007-08.

College level courses

Besides the core classes, Proctor High School offers various AP classes in: calculus, physics, biology, English language and composition (11th grade), English literature (12th grade), chemistry, accounting, U.S. history, and global history. Students who take AP classes are given five points on top of their final marking period grade because they took a college class, unlike those students who take regular classes. The students must maintain a grade of 65 and above in order to pass any class at Proctor High.

Dual credit programs

There is also a dual credit program given by the Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) across the hill from Proctor. It gives students a chance to take a community college class in high school and earn a college credit for it. They have to maintain a grade of 75 or above to be able to get a college credit for that class from MVCC. Dual classes include government, economics, and statistics.

ESL students

There is a large immigrant population around the area that adds a colorful demographic to the high school. Many ethnicities exist at Proctor. Over 40 languages are spoken in the school by students who immigrated from Thailand, Burma, Bosnia, Russia, Ukraine, and other regions. Since so many students are immigrants, Proctor offers classes with special instruction for them. Many English as a second or foreign language students are taught by teachers who are trained specifically to instruct those students on how they may understand the material better and improve their English. Some students have never spoken English before they came to Proctor High School.

Graduation requirements

There are two available diplomas a student can earn by graduation: a Regents Diploma and an Advanced Regents Diploma. A Regents Diploma can be earned by completing the core classes and passing the English, U.S. history, algebra, biology, and earth science regents courses, which are mandatory by New York State. An Advanced Regents Diploma is earned after taking and passing more than one regents examination given by NYS. For example, instead of only taking an algebra regents exam, a student must also take a trigonometry regents exam and pass it. Every graduate must earn 22 high school credits, which means completing 22 classes with a 65 or better grade.

Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp (NJROTC)

There is an NJROTC program in Proctor, which was founded in 2001. Over 300 students are part of the program which is considered a regiment of cadets. Cadets volunteer around the community and learn the importance of leadership. The cadets make trips to about three to five schools a year for regional drill meets where they compete with other JROTC schools in drill, academics, and athletics.

Each year the program holds a "Military Birthday Bash", a military ball, and some traditional naval ceremonies like the "Change of Command Ceremony" and an awards ceremony.

Notable alumni

• Michael Arcuri, congressman of New York's 24th congressional district
• Dave Cash, former Major League Baseball player
• David D'Alessandro,chairman and CEO, John Hancock Financial Services
• Tiffany Pollard, reality star ('New York' - I Love New York and New York Goes to Hollywood)
• Will Smith, football player (New Orleans Saints)
• Josh Wright, basketball player (Syracuse Orange)
• Brianna Kiesel, 2015 WNBA draftee^[4]

Changes

^[5][6]

Renovations

Phase 1 took place from June 2012 to Feb 2014 and consisted of renovation of auditorium, new windows throughout building, and masonry restoration. Phase 2 took place from June 2013 to Dec 2014 and consisted of a 56,000 square foot addition of Gymnasium, a two Story cafeteria, and two story kitchen. The work for the two phases was about $16 million,but did not include plumbing, heating or electric. Some difficulties of the renovations included, "[c]onnecting the old and new buildings together and what only made it worse was how we kept discovering asbestos every time we opened a wall because the building is so old. Also there were no existing drawings of the building, so there were a lot of change orders." ^[7]

References

Notes

1. 1 2 Bottini, Joseph P.; Davis, James L. Utica Then & Now. pp. 84–85. 
2. 1 2 THOMAS R. PROCTOR HIGH SCHOOL in Utica, NY - Test Results, Rating, Ranking, Detailed Profile, and Report Card
3. ↑ Digital Sports – Thomas R Proctor High School - New York - Sports, Youth Sports Leagues and Activities - Athletics
4. ↑ Kiesel "blessed and honored" to be drafted in WNBA - Sports - Uticaod - Utica, NY
5. ↑ Caruso, Donna. Personal interview. 2 Mar. 2015.
6. ↑ DeGrisitina, Jaida. Personal interview. 2 Mar. 2015.
7. ↑ Salerno, Joseph Jr. Personal interview. 2 Mar. 2015.

External links

• Thomas R. Proctor High School website