Newfield High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newfield High School is a public high school in Selden, New York, which is located in Suffolk County, Long Island in the United States and opened around 1960. Its name is derived from the former names of both Centereach and Selden; New Town and Westfield. Located in the "Heart of Selden," the school was sometimes called "Homicide High" due to the Cheryl Pierson case in 1986. There was a made-for-television movie made reflecting these murderous events, A Deadly Silence (1989)[1], which followed the book of the same name by New York Times reporter Dena Kleiman. [2]
The school colors are Red and White, although in the late 90s, varsity teams began using black as a third color to distinguish between Junior Varsity. The mascot is the "Wolverine".
The Newfield Wolverines Football Team is a Section 11 division 2 competitor. The Wolverines were in the bottom echelon of division two football for many years since the 1980's. Recently with the addition of new coaches and a team with a great passion and want to win, the Wolverines have turned the program around and are coming off three winning seasons in a row. (4-4, 6-2, 4-4) The Wolverines nearly made the playoffs this year but lost in a heartbreaker to West Islip. The Wolverines have a great amount of skill players returning and should be tough competitors for a championship in the coming year.
Some notables from Newfield include: Linda Cohn (ESPN Sportscenter Anchor), Nick Bruckner (former NFL Jets player), Cheryl Pierson (paid to have her father killed due to sexual allegations), Shawn Pica (who killed Mr. Pierson), Bob Burnett (former NFL Football Player & of the 2000 Super Bowl Winning Baltimore Ravens), Daniel Loria (actor & musical recording artist and entertainer), Joe Ascione (jazz musician and recording artist), Chris Mezzolesta (musician, commercial voice actor and member of comedy rock band Power Salad).
Selden Middle School (formerly Selden Junior High School) is located adjacent to Newfield on the north side. They are separated by a fence & athletic fields. There also is a back road through the sports fields that staff can use to shuttle between schools. Some teachers have classes in both schools and "commute". This was closed down to auto traffic and gated off because it was a 1/4 mile straight strip of road and was sometimes used as a "drag strip". The school is located 1 mile north of Middle Country Road (Route 25).
Newfield went through a major renovation in the early 1990s, upgrading some of the school's features that had been neglected for years and started to show in the 1980s. A new senior hallway and courtyard were redesigned after years of neglect. Newfield also updated its sporting fields and lot areas.
Today Newfield is home to a minor music and theater education department. In the past year of 2006, The Music Department had its annual Music In the Parks trip; receiving 31st Place In Band, Orchestra, Chorus, and Jazz Ensembles and 2 Superior ratings. The Music department also participated and hosted the NYSSMA Major Ensemble Festival receiving, bronze, and Gold With Distinction. It is believed that the Middle Country Central School District has one of the best music programs on Long Island.
In addition, The Newfield High School drama department is one of the top 45 in public schools on the Island. Recently completing their Spring Musical Production of Les Miserables, one of the biggest shows to produce, but not a problem for Newfield. And although the music and theatre department are so widely recognized, the school budget cuts greatly effect this department. This often results in students buying supplies with their own money. Nonetheless, the school's music department stands proud.
Newfield is widely recognized for its varsity fencing program, which began in 1964. Noted as the most successful athletic program in the school's history, it is also one of the most storied fencing programs in the nation. Alumni from the program have gone on to coach and fence at the following schools: Princeton University, Brandeis University, St. John's University, The Ohio State University, Air Force, Penn State University, Rutgers University, Cornell University, Temple University and many others. 1974 Olympic Fencing Team member Edward D'onofrio was also an alumni of the program. The program has also sent many athletes to represent Long Island in the "Empire State Games," the largest amateur athletic games in the nation, and many earned Gold, Silver, or Bronze medals. The program was taken over in 2001 by Jerome Cordero, after the retirement of the team's second coach, Van Wolosin, whose tenure was over 30 seasons long. Cordero continued the teams success earning silver, gold, and another silver medal at the Suffolk County Championships respectively in his first three seasons. Unfortunately, in 2004, Cordero left the program, leaving the position to Keith Gilespie, a former lacrosse coach. Some notable Newfield fencing alumni are currently fencing coaches in Nassau County. Those alumni are: Kyle Schirmer (2007 Nassau Boy's Coach of the Year), Andrew Lomeli, Robert Piraino (President, Nassau Fencing Coaches Assoc.) and Robert Soria (2007 Nassau Girl's Coach of the Year).
Newfield was also in the news in Spring of 2004, when, as part of a senior prank, a letter was sent to the homes of all seniors, stating that hotel rooms, lubricants and contraceptives would be provided for the students at the senior prom if they wanted them, for a "fun, yet safe night". The mail had been slipped in with the normal bulk mail in the school's main office. It was a "cut-and-paste job," according to Mitchell Ross, who had been the principal at that time.
In recent years, Newfield High School has considerably revamped its science program to include a research organization that encourages students to participate in programs at nearby Stony Brook University. Newfield has recently had several participants in the nationwide Intel Science Talent Search.
