Stuyvesant High School

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Stuyvesant High School
Motto	Pro Scientia Atque Sapientia (Latin: For knowledge and wisdom)
Established	1904
Type	Public (magnet) secondary
Principal	Stanley Teitel
Faculty	200
Students	approx. 3,200
Grades	9–12
Location	345 Chambers Street New York, New York, USA
Colors	Red and blue
Mascot	Pegleg Pete
Yearbook	The Indicator
Newspaper	The Spectator
Website	www.stuy.edu

Stuyvesant High School, affectionately known as Stuy, is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. The school is noted for its strong academic programs, having produced many notable alumni including four Nobel laureates. A large percentage of its graduates go on to attend prestigious universities.^[1]

Together with Brooklyn Technical High School and Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant is one of the three original Specialized High Schools of New York City. Operated by the New York City Department of Education, the trio are open to New York City residents and charge no tuition fee. Admission is by competitive examination only. A long-standing friendly rivalry between Stuyvesant and Bronx Science exists over the Intel Science Talent Search, with either school claiming dominance over the other at various times.

Established as a manual trade school for boys, Stuyvesant became coeducational in 1969. Upon the construction of its Battery Park City building, the facilities for girls became on par with those for boys.

Contents 1 History 2 Stuyvesant and 9/11 3 Enrollment 4 School facilities 5 Academics 6 Extracurricular activities 6.1 Sports 6.2 The Student Union 6.3 Clubs 6.4 Publications 6.4.1 The Spectator 6.4.2 The Stuyvesant Standard 6.4.3 The Voice 6.4.4 Other publications 6.5 Academic teams 6.6 SING! 7 Student body 7.1 Accusations of bias in admission tests 8 Notable people 9 In popular culture 10 See also 11 References 12 External links 12.1 Alumni and class sites 12.2 Articles 12.3 Book

[edit] History

Stuyvesant High School is named after Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Netherland before the colony was transferred to England in 1664.^[2]

The school was established in 1904 as a manual training school for boys, hosting 155 students and 12 teachers. In 1907, it moved from its original location at 225 East 23rd Street to a building designed by C.B.J. Snyder at 345 East 15th Street, where it remained for 85 years. Its reputation for excellence in math and science continued to grow, and enrollment was restricted based on scholastic achievement starting in 1919.^[3]

The school went on a double session plan in 1919 to accommodate the rising number of students. Some students attended in the morning and others in the afternoon and early evening. All students studied a full set of courses. Double sessions ran until 1956.^[3][4]

In the 1930s, entrance examinations were implemented, making admission to the school even more competitive. During the 1950s, the building underwent a $2 million renovation to update its classrooms, shops, libraries and cafeterias.^[5]

In 1957, a team of 50 students began construction of a cyclotron, a project sponsored by the physics department. By 1962, a low-power test of the device succeeded. Matt Deming '62 remembered that a later attempt at full-power operation "tanked the electrical system for the building and surrounding area".^[6][7]

In 1969, 14 girls were admitted to Stuyvesant and 12 enrolled at the start of September, marking the school's first co-educational year. Now, approximately 43% of students are female.^[8]

In 1972, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts were chosen by the New York State Legislature as specialized high schools of New York City. The act called for a uniform exam to be administered for admission to Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science and Stuyvesant High School. The exam, named the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT), tested students in math and verbal abilities. Admission to LaGuardia High School was by audition rather than examination, in keeping with its artistic mission.^[9]

In 1992, a new, waterfront building was constructed to house the high school (see school facilities).

During the 2003–2004 school year, Stuyvesant celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding with a full year of activities. Events included a procession from the 15^th Street building to the Chambers Street one; a meeting of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology; an all-class reunion; and visits and speeches from notable alumni. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke at the graduation of Stuyvesant's class of 2004.

[edit] Stuyvesant and 9/11

Stuyvesant is a quarter-mile (approx. 400 m) or a 5-minute walk from the former site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed on September 11, 2001. The school was evacuated during the attack. Although the smoke cloud coming from the World Trade Center engulfed the building at one point, there was no structural damage to the building, and nobody who was in the building was physically injured.^{[citation needed]} When classes resumed on September 21, students were moved to Brooklyn Technical High School while the Stuyvesant building served as a base of operations for rescue and recovery workers. This caused serious congestion at Brooklyn Tech, and required the students to attend in two shifts. Normal classes resumed three weeks later on October 9.

Because Stuyvesant was close to Ground Zero, there were concerns of asbestos exposure. The US EPA indicated at that time that Stuyvesant was safe from asbestos, and conducted a thorough cleaning of the Stuyvesant building, but the Stuyvesant High School Parents' Association has contested that the assessment is inaccurate.^[10] Some problems, including former teacher Mark Bodenheimer's respiratory problems, have been reported -- he accepted a transfer to The Bronx High School of Science after having difficulty continuing his work at Stuyvesant. Other isolated cases include Stuyvesant's 2002 Class President Amit Friedlander, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, who received local press coverage in September 2006 after he was diagnosed with cancer.^[11] Nonetheless, there is no definite evidence that such cases relate to Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant students did spend a full year in the building before the theater and air systems were cleaned, however, and a group of Stuyvesant alumni is currently lobbying for health insurance as a result.^[11]

Alumni who were killed in the World Trade Center attack include Daniel D. Bergstein '80,^[12] Alan Wayne Friedlander '67,^[13] Marina R. Gertsberg '93,^[14] Aaron J. Horwitz '94,^[15] David S. Lee '82,^[16] Arnold A. Lim '90,^[17] Gregory D. Richards '88,^[18] Maurita Tam '97^[19] and Michael Warchola '68.^[20] Richard Ben-Veniste '60 was on the 9/11 Commission.

On October 2, 2001, the school paper, The Spectator, under Editor in Chief Jeff Orlowski and Faculty Advisor Holly Ojalvo, created a special 24-page full-color 9/11 insert containing student photos, reflections and stories. On November 20, 2001, the magazine was distributed for free in 830,000 copies of The New York Times to the entire New York Greater Metropolitan Area.

In the months after 9/11, Annie Thoms, an English teacher at Stuyvesant, a 1993 alumna, and the theater adviser at the time, suggested that the students take accounts of staff and students' reactions during and after 9/11 and turn them into a series of monologues. Thoms then published these monologues as With Their Eyes: September 11th – The View from a High School at Ground Zero (ISBN 0-06-051718-2). Alexander Epstein of The Stuyvesant Standard,^[21] an independent newspaper serving the school's community, contributed the section Out of the Blue to the book At Ground Zero: Young Reporters Who Were There Tell Their Stories (ISBN 1-56025-427-0).

[edit] Enrollment

Stuyvesant has a total enrollment of about 3,100 and is open to residents of New York City entering either ninth or tenth grade. Enrollment is based solely on performance on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT).^[22] The list of schools using the SHSAT has since grown to include all of New York's specialized high schools except LaGuardia High School, where entry is by audition rather than examination. The test score necessary for admission to Stuyvesant has consistently been higher than that needed for admission to the other schools using the test.^[23] Admission is currently based on an individual's score on the examination and his or her pre-submitted ranking of Stuyvesant among the other specialized schools. Each year, about 28,000 of New York City's 90,000 eighth-graders sit for the test. Only about 850 applicants are offered admission to Stuyvesant. Ninth and rising tenth graders are also eligible to take the test for enrollment, though far fewer students are admitted this way.

According to Article 12 of New York education law, "Admissions to the Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, and Brooklyn Technical High School shall be solely and exclusively by taking a competitive, objective, and scholastic achievement examination, which shall be open to each and every child in the city of New York".^[24] The current admission policy is available from the NYC Department of Education.^[23] According to the Department of Education, Stuyvesant accepts students solely based on their performance on the SHSAT, although former Mayor John Lindsay and community activist group ACORN have argued that the exam may be biased against African and Hispanic Americans.^[25]

Stuyvesant has contributed to the education of several Nobel laureates, winners of the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize, and a host of other accomplished alumni. It consistently leads the nation in the number of National Merit Scholarships awarded and regularly trades off the leading position in the number of Intel Science Talent Search Semi-Finalists and Finalists with Bronx Science.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]}

Stuyvesant, along with other similar schools, has regularly been excluded from Newsweek's annual list of the Top 100 Public High Schools. The May 8, 2006, issue states the reason as being, "because so many of their students score well above average on the SAT and ACT."^[33][34]

Stuyvesant sends nearly all its students off to four year universities, and around 15 percent go on to the Ivy League. Stuyvesant graduates have an average SAT score of about 1410 (690 verbal, 724 math).^[8] Stuyvesant also was the high school with the highest number of Advanced Placement exams taken, and also the highest number of students reaching the mastery level.^[35]

[edit] School facilities

By the 1980s, the East 15th Street building was no longer a quality educational facility by modern standards. The five-story building was also overwhelmed by the several thousand students. So The New York City Board of Education secured an agreement with the Battery Park City Authority for a new building, and construction began in 1989. The new ten-floor building, located near lower Manhattan's financial district, cost about $148 million and included 65 classrooms, about 450 computers on 13 networks, 7 pairs of escalators, various indoor sporting facilities including two gymnasiums and a pool built to Public Schools Athletic League standards, a theater with acoustics and lighting to accommodate music and drama productions, two lecture halls with movable partitions, a skylit cafeteria overlooking the Hudson River, 12 science laboratories (including a molecular biology lab and an analytical chemistry lab) and special shops for instruction in ceramics, photography, wood, plastics, metal work, robotics and energy studies. One room, called the "Museum Room", was built as a replica of a room in the 15^th Street Stuyvesant building as a request by students, with desks, chairs, a table and blackboard brought from there, as well as paint and flooring in its style. The room was dedicated to teacher Dr. A. Edward Stefanacci, who died in 1993. The school's library has a capacity of 40,000 volumes and overlooks Battery Park City.^[36]

The New York City Department of Education reports that public per student spending at Stuyvesant is slightly lower than the city average.^[8] Stuyvesant also receives private contributions.^[37] Shortly after the new building was completed, the $10 million TriBeCa Bridge was built to allow students to enter the building without having to cross the busy West Street.

The new building is one of the 5 additional sites of P721M, a school for older (aged 15–21) students with multiple disabilities and mental retardation. Wheelchair-bound students are seen throughout the building.

Glass boxes, holding mementos from the year of each graduating class, are set in various places on the walls in the hallways. Items displayed include water from most large rivers, mud from the Dead Sea, a Revolutionary War button, pieces of the 15^th Street Stuyvesant building and of monuments around the world, and various chemical compounds. In 1997, the eastern end of the mathematics floor, where the math department office is located, was dedicated to Dr. Richard Rothenberg, the math department chairman who had died from a sudden heart attack earlier that year. The Rothenberg memorial, commissioned in his honor, is a wall made up of 49 glass boxes, each featuring a mathematical concept.

[edit] Academics

Stuyvesant students undertake a college preparatory curriculum that includes four years of English, history, and laboratory-based sciences (chemistry and physics are required), three years of mathematics (most students opt for four) and foreign language, a semester each of introductory art, music, health, and computer science, and two lab-based technology courses. Several exemptions from technology education exist for seniors.^[38][39]

Stuyvesant offers students a broad selection of elective courses. Some of the more unusual offerings include robotics, physics of music, astronomy, introduction to plasma physics, and the mathematics of financial markets.^[40] Most students take calculus, and the school offers math courses through differential equations and linear algebra. A year of technical drawing used to be required; students learned how to draft by hand in its first semester and how to draft using a computer (CAD) in the second. Now, students take a one-semester class called Technology Graphic Communications (equivalent to the former year of drafting), and a semester of introductory computer science in order to introduce the mainly science-oriented students to computer programming early in their careers.

Students can choose from 31 Advanced Placement courses^[41] to earn college credits; a few are thus able to start college as sophomores. In 2004, Stuyvesant began complying with Department of Education regulations mandating that Advanced Placement courses be weighted by a factor of 1.1 in grade point averages. However, this caused widespread outcry among students, faculty, and teachers, and in 2005, Stuyvesant was granted special permission to revert the weight of AP courses back to 1.^{[citation needed]}

Computer science enthusiasts can take two additional computer programming courses after the completion of advanced placement computer science: systems level programming and computer graphics. There is also a 2 year computer networking sequence which can earn students Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification.

Stuyvesant's foreign language offerings rival those of many colleges, including the basics like French and Spanish as well as German, Latin, Hebrew, Japanese, and Italian. In 2000, Mandarin Chinese and Korean for native speakers were introduced in recognition of Stuyvesant's now majority Asian American population. Courses are also offered in Arabic and Greek, but these courses, along with Korean, may only be taken as electives.

Stuyvesant's Biology and Geo-science department offers courses in molecular biology (a course sequence comprised of a molecular science class in the Fall and a molecular genetics class in the Spring), human physiology, medical ethics, medical and veterinary diagnosis, human disease, anthropology and sociobiology, vertebrate zoology, laboratory techniques, medical human genetics, botany, the molecular basis of cancer, nutrition science, and psychology. The Chemistry and Physics department offers organic chemistry, physical chemistry, astronomy, engineering mechanics, and electronics.^[40]

Although Stuyvesant is primarily known for its strength in areas such as math and science, the school has also developed a very strong humanities curriculum, as the English and social studies departments rank amongst the best in the school. Comprehensive programs in the humanities offer students courses in British and classical literature, philosophy, existentialism, debate, acting, journalism, and a host of creative writing and poetry classes. The history core requires a year of ancient, European and American history, as well as a semester of economics and government. Humanities electives include American foreign policy, civil and criminal law, Jewish history, "prejudice and persecution", "race, ethnicity and gender issues", small business management, and Wall Street.

Stuyvesant is also home to a robust music program and offers students ten music groups, ranging from a symphony orchestra and jazz ensemble to a chamber choir.

Stuyvesant has recently entered into an agreement with City College of New York, in which the college funds advanced after-school courses that are taken for college credit but taught by Stuyvesant teachers. Some of these courses include physical chemistry, linear algebra, advanced Euclidean geometry, and women's history.^[42][43]

[edit] Extracurricular activities

[edit] Sports

Stuyvesant fields 26 varsity teams, including a swimming team, as well as golf, bowling, volleyball, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, baseball/softball, handball, tennis, track/cross country, cricket and football teams. In addition, Stuyvesant club teams include boys' varsity and junior varsity, and girls' varsity Ultimate teams. The boys' Ultimate team, Sticky Fingers, won the City Championship title in 2005 and 2006. The Stuyvesant Cross Country team was Public Schools Athletic League City Champions in 2004 and 2005. The Stuyvesant Boys Swimming Team, the Pirates, have been PSAL City Champions consecutively since 2000 and Opens champions since 1995. The Stuyvesant Bowling Team has been the PSAL Manhattan Borough Champion consecutively since 1990. The girls soccer team, the Mimbas, brought home the City Championship title in 2001, 2004, and 2005, despite a severe lack of practice space and lack of a home field.^{[citation needed]} In 2005 the Stuyvesant Fencing team won the PSAL City Championship.

Unlike most American high schools, every sports team at Stuyvesant has its own name, such as the Peglegs (football and bowling), Penguins (girls swimming), Vixens (girls varsity volleyball), and Spartans (wrestling).^[44] These names tend to change with time and lend each Stuyvesant team a unique flavor.

In 2001, Stuyvesant added a varsity ice hockey team, the first public school in New York City to do so. The team was run by students without administrative assistance for several years. There is also an annual alumni game, where notable Stuyvesant alumni hockey players such as Tim Robbins and Len Berman often appear. The team has been in first place in its 8-team Chelsea Piers league every year, though it often plays teams from outside the league. Stuyvesant is also a powerhouse in fencing with a string of city championships from 1986 through 1989 and again as recently as 2005. Stuyvesant does not, however, have a football field, baseball field, or tennis court, though the new building does have a pool.^[45]

[edit] The Student Union

The Stuyvesant Student Union is a group of elected and appointed students who serve the student body in two important areas:

1. Improving student life by promoting and managing extracurricular activities (clubs and publications), and by organizing out-of-school activity such as city excursions or fund-raisers;
2. Providing a voice to the student body in all discussion of school policy with the administration.

The latter has been increasingly important since the attacks of 9/11, with the administration and the Department of Education enacting sometimes controversial regulations in the name of school safety (e.g., the phasing out of SING! rehearsals).

The Student Union was also involved in the recent and ongoing controversy of the use of ID scanners at Stuyvesant, in which students were required to scan in to a computer to enter and leave the building. As a result of student protest and the actions of the Student Union, students are now only required to utilize the ID system while entering the building at the start of their school day.^[46]

[edit] Clubs

Stuyvesant offers clubs, publications, teams and other opportunities under a system similar to that of many colleges. It hosts over 200 clubs ranging from The Thinkers (philosophy) club, to the Photography Club, and the Robotics Team, which competes in the international FIRST Robotics Competition.^[47] The speech and debate team is nationally recognized and arguably one of Stuyvesant's most successful teams, with a 25+ year history of winning national championship tournaments on both individual and team levels. Other debating clubs include Junior State of America (a political debate club) and Model United Nations. Stuyvesant hosts its own annual Model United Nations Conference (StuyMUNC) every spring. The Stuyvesant Theater Community puts on three student-run productions a year (a fall musical, a winter drama, and a spring comedy) as well as a one-act festival and several smaller studio productions.^[48] Key Club International also has a branch at Stuyvesant, with over 100 members making it one of the largest clubs in the school.

[edit] Publications

Stuyvesant hosts 25 publications, including many departmental magazines.^[47]

[edit] The Spectator

The Spectator is Stuyvesant's official school newspaper. It contains 11 sections: news, features, op-ed, arts & entertainment, sports, photography, art, layout, copy, business, and web. The departments are each headed by at least two editors, all of whom encompass the editorial board of the paper. The editorial board meets daily in the Spectator journalism class and is headed by the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor. At the start of their term, the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor select four editors to be members of the Managing Board, a group that advises the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor on matters relating to the paper. There are over 250 total staff members who help to produce the bi-weekly publication. At the beginning of the fall and spring terms, there are recruitments, but interested students may join at any time. The Spectator is independent from the school, but it remains the prime news source for students, teachers, and administrators.

The Spectator, founded in 1915, is one of Stuyvesant's oldest publications.^[49] It has a long-standing connection with its older namesake, Columbia University's Columbia Daily Spectator, and it has been recognized by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's Columbia Scholastic Press Association on several occasions, most recently in 2002.^[50]

[edit] The Stuyvesant Standard

Founded in 2001, The Stuyvesant Standard is a bi-weekly newspaper published by Stuyvesant students for the community in and around the school. It covers school news as well as current events, and contains "interest sections" such as Business and Science alongside the standard departments of Opinions, Sports, and Arts & Entertainment. The Standard is distributed within Stuyvesant and throughout the surrounding community.

[edit] The Voice

The Voice was founded in the 1973-74 academic year under the supervision of the administration.^[49] It had the appearance of a magazine and gained a large readership. The Voice attracted a considerable amount of controversy and a First Amendment lawsuit, after which the administration forced it to go off-campus and to turn commercial in 1975-76.^[49]

In the beginning of the 75-76 academic year, The Voice decided to publish the results of a confidential random survey measuring the "sexual attitudes, preferences, knowledge and experience" of the students.^[51] The administration refused to permit The Voice to distribute the questionnaire, and the Board of Education refused to intervene, believing that "irreparable psychological damage" would be occasioned on some of the students receiving it.^[51]

The editor-in-chief of The Voice, Jeff Trachtman,^[52] brought a First Amendment challenge to this decision in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in front of Judge Constance Baker Motley.^[51] Judge Motley, relying on the relatively recent Supreme Court precedent Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District ("undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression"),^[53] ordered the Board of Education to come up with an arrangement permitting the distribution of the survery to the juniors and seniors.

However, Judge Motley's ruling was overturned on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.^[54] Judge J. Edward Lumbard, joined by Judge Murray Gurfein and over an impassioned dissent by Judge Walter R. Mansfield, held that the distribution of the questionnaires was properly disallowed by the administration as there was "a substantial basis for defendants' belief that distribution of the questionnaire would result in significant emotional harm to a number of students throughout the Stuyvesant population."^[54] The Supreme Court denied certiorari review.^[55]

[edit] Other publications

• Caliper, Stuyvesant's biannual literary magazine. Caliper is one of the oldest high school literary publications in the nation, and along with monthly open mic sessions, helps the Stuyvesant literary community flourish in an environment focusing on math and science.
• Indicator, the Stuyvesant yearbook.
• Math Survey, the annual Math Department publication. Many of Stuyvesant's notable mathematicians were first published in Math Survey. The 1948 edition is available online.
• Inspiration Magazine, an art and literary publication sponsored by the Music and Arts Department.
• Political Fire, an unofficial newspaper started in 2006 which deals solely with political issues.
• The Broken Escalator, a humor publication, styled after The Onion, featuring joke articles about Stuyvesant.
• The Biomed Times, the annual journal of recent biological developments.
• a comic is you, a comic publication started in 2006.

[edit] Academic teams

Stuyvesant's academic teams include its nationally recognized Speech and Debate team, Quiz Bowl, chess, science olympiad, and math, which regularly compete successfully at major regional, national, and — at least in the case of the math team — international tournaments. A FIRST Robotics team, called Stuypulse,^[56] was founded in 2000 and has since won the New York City Regional ('03), and the New York Chairman's Award ('05). Stuyvesant also has a Model United Nations team, a JSA (Junior State of America) chapter, and a Model Congress team which competes at regional colleges. The Model United Nations team hosts STUYMUNC, an annual conference which takes place at Stuyvesant.

[edit] SING!

The annual theater competition known as SING! pits seniors, juniors, and "soph-frosh" (freshmen and sophomores working together) against each other in a race to put on the best performance. Started in 1947 at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, SING! is a tradition at many New York City high schools. At Stuyvesant, SING! started as a small event in 1973 and has grown to a huge school-wide event — in 2005, nearly 1,000 students participated. The entire production is written, produced, and funded by students. Their involvement ranges from being members of the production's casts, choruses, or tech crews to Irish dance, Step, Bollywood, or Latin dance groups. SING! begins in late November and culminates in final performances on three nights in March/April. The show consistently sells out all three nights, raising over $30,000 for Stuyvesant's Clubs and Pubs via the Student Union Budget.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Student body

For most of the 20^th century, the student body at Stuyvesant was heavily Jewish. A significant influx of Asian students began in the 1970s. For the 2005–2006 Academic Year, the student body was approximately 60 percent Asian American and 36 percent Caucasian, with Blacks and Hispanics each constituting roughly three percent of the population.^[57] Stuyvesant possesses a disproportionate amount of historical minorities in comparison to national and local population distributions.^[58][8] (See also Demographics of New York City.) Stuyvesant admits students from New York City, but some do travel from Long Island and New Jersey. Many others have long commutes from all five boroughs.

[edit] Accusations of bias in admission tests

The school's off-center demographic profile and relative paucity of black and Hispanic students have often been a source of consternation for some city administrators. Mayor John Lindsay (1966–1973) argued that the test was culturally biased against Black and Hispanic students and sought to implement an affirmative action program. However, protests by parents forced the plan to be scrapped and led to the passage of Article 12, preserving admissions by examination only. A small number of students judged to be economically disadvantaged and who come within a few points of the cut-off score are given an extra chance to pass the test.^[58]

In 1996 community activist group ACORN published two reports, "Secret Apartheid" and "Secret Apartheid II", calling the SHSAT "permanently suspect" and a "product of an institutional racism", and claiming that Black and Hispanic students did not have access to proper test preparation materials.^[25] Along with Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew, they began an initiative for more diversity in the city's gifted and specialized schools, in particular demanding that since only a few districts send the majority of Stuyvesant's and Bronx Science's students, that the SHSAT be suspended altogether "until the Board of Education can show that the students of each middle school in the system have had access to curricula and instruction that would prepare them for this test regardless of their color or economic status". Jesse Shapiro, Stuyvesant valedictorian, and Micah C. Lasher, then a sophomore, published several editorials in response, and change was averted.^[7][59]

[edit] Notable people

Main article: List of Stuyvesant High School people

See also: Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni

Stuyvesant has many mathematicians among its alumni, including more leading figures in the field than are associated with most major universities. A number of leading physicists and chemists are also Stuyvesant alumni, as well as several well known entertainers and authors, including Charlie's Angels star Lucy Liu; The Shawshank Redemption star Tim Robbins; Walter Becker, core member of the musical group Steely Dan; and actor James Cagney.

Stuyvesant alumni include four Nobel laureates, a total placing it second only to Bronx Science among secondary schools:^[60]

• Joshua Lederberg (Class of 1941) - 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Robert Fogel (Class of 1944) - 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics
• Roald Hoffmann (Class of 1954) - 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Richard Axel (Class of 1963) - 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Author Frank McCourt taught English at Stuyvesant before the publication of his novels Angela's Ashes, 'Tis, and Teacher Man. Teacher Man's third section, titled Coming Alive in Room 205, is all about McCourt's time at Stuyvesant, and mentions a number of students and faculty. The novel was part of the English curriculum for students at Stuyvesant High School during the 2006 school year.

[edit] In popular culture

• The Stuyvesant High School building in Battery Park City was one of the main settings of the film Hackers, although it was not mentioned by name. As in the film, the new building has no pool on the roof, despite a long history of seniors selling "rooftop pool passes" to new freshmen in the old building. It does, however, have a pool on the ground floor and a roof deck for its technology classes. Upperclass students were used as extras throughout the film.

• In an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a female Stuyvesant student is murdered. The investigation leads Detectives Goren and Eames to the school, where they interview her classmates.

• The 2004 TriBeCa Film Festival featured an ad campaign with a stylized depiction of the school entitled Fast Times at Stuyvesant High.

• The entrance to the high school is visible in the beginning of the music video for the Beastie Boys song Ch-Check It Out, as the three rappers walk on the TriBeCa Bridge.

• In Spin City, Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty, played by Michael J. Fox, is a Stuy alumnus.

• Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys wears a boy's red Stuyvesant High School Physical Education leader T-shirt in the video for Fight For Your Right (To Party). This has sparked a rumor that one or all of the Boys attended Stuyvesant.^[61] In fact, only the band's original drummer, Kate Schellenbach, did. Horovitz's much younger stepbrother Oliver also attended Stuyvesant.

• Stuyvesant has been chronicled in popular literature based in New York City. The Jonathan Lethem novels Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude are prominent examples of this trend.

• Certain characters on the primetime television show Felicity spoke of their alma mater Stuyvesant HS.

• On the primetime television show What I Like About You, "Holly", played by Amanda Bynes, attended Stuyvesant before starting and quitting college. "Tina" is also a Stuy alumna.

• A documentary, entitled The Ticket, is currently being filmed about the Student Union elections at Stuyvesant.^[62]

• Alec Klein '85, a reporter for the Washington Post, is currently researching a book "which strives to explain what sets Stuyvesant apart from other high schools".^[63]

• In 2006, a controversial article about the different sexual orientations in Stuyvesant and how they represent a national trend appeared in New York magazine.^[64]

• The 2006 autobiographical young adult novel, The Notebook Girls, highlights the lives of four Stuyvesant students in the form of a journal.

• In the Marvel Comics X-Men series, the Ultimate Northstar character attended Stuyvesant.

• Barbie attended two high schools, one of which, Manhattan International High School in New York City, is based on the real-life Stuyvesant.

[edit] See also

• Education in New York City
• Health effects of September 11, 2001 attacks
• National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stuyvesant HS official website
  • Course catalog
• Stuyvesant High School's official newspaper - The Spectator
• ARISTA, the Stuyvesant High School chapter of the National Honor Society
• Stuyvesant student union
• Stuyvesant Robotics team
• Stuyvesant Speech and debate team
• Stuyvesant Model United Nations team
• Stuyvesant HS online store
• The Campaign for Stuyvesant Stuyvesant HS endowment group
• Stuyvesant HS Parents' Association
• The Stuyvesant Standard official and supplementary sites - an independent student-published newspaper serving the Stuyvesant community
• Stuyvesant football
• stuycom An unofficial school website
• Conan O'Brien's 2006 graduation speech Part One Part Two

[edit] Alumni and class sites

• Stuyvesant HS Alumni Association
• Math Team alumni
• Policy Debate Team alumni
• South Florida Alumni Association of Stuyvesant High School
• Stuyvesant H.S. Black Alumni
• Class of: 1956 | 1962 | 1976 | 1979 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1992 | 1993 | 1996 | 2000 | 2007 | 2008 | 2010

[edit] Articles

• "Façade of Excellence", by Sol Stern,^[58] Education Next on the teachers' contract
• Glickman, Emily. Abacus Guide to Stuyvesant High School. Archived from the original on 2005-03-11.
• Gonzalez, Juan (2002). Fallout: The Hidden Environmental Consequences of 9/11. In These Times.
• US EPA. Monitoring Data: Stuyvesant High School.
• US EPA. Monitoring Data: Stuyvesant High (North Side).
• Alex Morris (2006). The Cuddle Puddle of Stuyvesant High School. New York Magazine.

[edit] Book

• Stuyvesant High School: The First 100 Years, 1904–2004

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 40.718315° -74.014249°
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  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA

	v • d • e New York City Department of Education Region 9
6-12 schools	NYC Lab School
High schools	Academy of Environmental Science Secondary HS | Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical HS | Americal Sign Language and English HS HS of Art and Design | Bard Early College | Baruch College Campus HS | Bayard Rustin Educational Complex | Central Park East Secondary HS Coalition School for Social Change | Eleanor Roosevelt | Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies | Health Opportunities HS HS for Environmental Studies | HS for Health Professions and Human Services | HS for Leadership and Public Service HS of Economics and Finance | HS of Fashion Industries | HS of Graphic Communication Arts | Harvey Milk Hostos-Lincoln Academy of Science | Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis | Landmark | Legacy School for Integrated Studies Life Sciences Secondary | Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics | Manhattan Village Academy | Marta Valle | Millennium Murry Bergtraum HS For Business Careers | Norman Thomas | NYC Museum School | Pace University HS | Professional Performing Arts HS Richard R. Green HS of Teaching | Samuel Gompers Career and Technical HS | School for the Physical City | School of the Future Stuyvesant | Unity Center for Urban Technologies | University Neighborhood HS | Urban Peace Academy | Washington Irving
Middle schools	104