Hunter College High School

Hunter College High School
File:Hunter.gif
Location
New York , NY U.S.A.
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Mihi Cura Futuri ("Mine is the care of the future" or "The Care of the Future Depends on Me")
Established	1869
Principal	Dr. John Mucciolo
Grades	7th to 12th
Number of students	approx. 1,200
Color(s)	Lavender and White
Mascot	Hawk
Website	hchs.hunter.cuny.edu

Hunter College High School is one of the top high schools in New York City. Hunter is administered by Hunter College, a division of the City University of New York (CUNY), rather than the NYC Department of Education; there is no tuition fee and it is publicly funded. Hunter sends a very large percentage of students to the Ivy League and other prestigious colleges and universities.

Admissions

Admission is granted in seventh grade. Approximately 50 students enter from Hunter College Elementary School. Approximately 2,000 sixth grade students from the five boroughs of New York City who meet Hunter's standards in reading and mathematics on fifth grade standardized exams (typically minimum scores being 90-95 percentile on both tests) are eligible to take the Hunter College High School Entrance Exam. For example, to enter Hunter during the 2005-2006 school year, sixth grade students must achieve a score of 715 out of 804 on the CTB Reading test and 724 out of 797 on the TEM Math test. Approximately 180 students enter on the basis of the exam. The total enrollment from grades 7 through 12 is approximately 1,200 students. The yearly graduating class is typically made up of 180 students.

History

Established in 1869 as "The Female Normal and High School," a lab school to prepare young women to be teachers, Hunter now offers a competitive college preparatory program. The original school included an elementary and high school. A kindergarten was added in 1887, and in 1888 the school incorporated a college. The high school was separated from what would become Hunter College, in 1903. In 1914, both schools were named after the Female Normal school's first president, Dr. Thomas Hunter. Despite its success in teaching generations of gifted young women, it was almost closed by Hunter College President Jacqueline Wexler in the early 1970s.

Hunter was an all girls school for the first 104 years of its existence. The prototypical Hunter girl was the subject of a song entitled "Sarah Maria Jones," who, the lyrics told, had "Hunter in her bones." The school became co-ed in 1974 as a result of a lawsuit by Hunter College Elementary School parents. The New York Daily News described this development with the headline "Girlie High Gets 1st Freshboys". In January 1982, the school was featured in a New York Magazine article entitled "The Joyful Elite."

The high school has occupied a number of buildings throughout its history, including one at the E. 68^th St. campus of the College (1940–1970). In the 1970s it was housed for several years on two floors of an office building on Lexington Avenue and 44th Street. The current location (since 1977) is at E. 94^th St. between Park and Madison Avenues, occupying the historical 94th street Armory. The brick facade and near-windowless classrooms has led to it being given the popular moniker of The Brick Prison among its "inmates". The school's Madison Avenue facade appeared in the Terry Gilliam film The Fisher King (1991).

The principal, and director of the campus schools, is Dr. John Mucciolo (appointed in 2005).

Academics

All Hunter students pursue an academically enriched six-year program of study. The curriculum is a rigorous college preparatory program that provides a liberal arts education. The majority of subjects are accelerated such that high school study begins in the 8th grade and state educational requirements are completed in the 11th. During the 12th grade, they take electives, attend courses at Hunter College and Columbia University (for transferable credit), and participate in internships.

Students in grades 7 and 8 take courses in Communications and Theater. Students in grades 7-9 must take art and music, each for half a year, and then choose one to take in tenth grade. One of the three available foreign language courses (French, Latin, or Spanish) must be taken each year in grades 7-10. A year each of biology, chemistry, and physics must be completed in addition to the introductory science classes in 7th and 8th grades. (Seventh grade is Environmental Science while Eighth grade is Physical Science A series of Social Studies (history), English, and Math courses are taught from 7th through 11th grades. (The math curriculum is split into a track of "honors" and a track of "extended honors" classes for students of different strengths after 7th grade). Usually two semesters of physical education are taught each year, including swimming in the 8th grade (held at Hunter College). In 9th grade, students are required to take a CPR course for one semester. Starting in their sophomore year, students are allowed to take electives and Advanced Placement courses. In the 11th grade, there is a choice of P.E. selectives (racquetball, weight training, and lifeguard training, among others). The senior year, however, is free of mandated courses except for a year of Physical Education.

Electives and Advanced Placement courses are offered by all six academic departments. Electives include (but are not limited to) Computer Science, Calculus, International Relations, Constitutional Law, AP Economics, AP Psychology, AP European History, Western Philosophy, Archeology, common foreign language APs and higher levels, introductory Italian language, Journalism, Creative Writing, Joyce's Ulysses, Photography, AP Art History, and Physiology.

Every junior and senior is assigned a college guidance counselor. The student-to-counselor ratio at Hunter is lower than the national average and comparable to that of many private high schools (although admittedly the grooming is not as intense as at some of those schools). Today (classes of 2002 through 2005), nearly 99% of Hunter's students go on to college, and 25% accept admission to an Ivy League school .

Hunter students win many honors and awards during their high school careers , including numerous Scholastic Writing Awards. For example, the 2005 Intel Science Talent Search first-place winner was Hunter senior David Bauer ('05), the 1997 winner was Adam Cohen ('97), and two of New York State's four 2005 Presidential scholars were Hunter College High School seniors.

The Wall Street Journal recently identified Hunter College High School as the top public school in the nation and a feeder to Ivy League and other leading colleges. .

Extracurricular Activities

The dozens of clubs and organizations at Hunter cater to a variety of interests, from politics to film and music to knitting. Clubs and organizations at Hunter are student-run and advised by faculty members.

Student Government

The General Organization (G.O.) represents the student body. The executive board is elected by students. These officers organize school activities and communicate with the administration and faculty. The G.O. organizes school-wide events such as Spirit Day, a school-wide outdoor recreation day held in October, and Carnival, held at the end of the year. Term Councils plan grade-wide events such as dances and fundraisers, as well as Semiformal and Prom.

Co-curricular Activities

Students can choose to further pursue their academic interests through school activities such as the Hunter United Nations Society (HUNS), Federal Reserve Challenge (economics), Mock Trial, Debate Team, Math Team, the Hunter Chess Team and the Washington Seminar. The Hunter Chess Team is famous nationwide for winning numerous tournaments and championships. The Washington Seminar on Government in Action was introduced in the 1950s; students selected for this program research public policy issues throughout the year. They arrange meetings with various public figures in Washington, and then meet with them for questioning and discussion during a three-day trip in May.

Musical Extra-curriculars

Students with substantial musical training can choose to enroll in the String Ensembles, Band, and Chorus. They have recently been made into classes that meet during the lunch period. In 2002, they toured in Spain, performing a number of collaborative pieces.

The string ensembles divide into "Strings" and "Chamber Orchestra," the latter being a much more selective group. They have performed a number of both contemporary and traditional pieces. The band is a woodwind-brass-percussion ensemble, and their focus is mainly on contemporary music, though they sometimes branch off into classical pieces such as Mozart's horn concerto in E flat. Chorus is divided into the concert choir and the chamber chorus. Concert choir is a larger group than the chamber choir, and consists of members from the tenth to twelth grades. There is also a selective jazz chorus, which focuses solely on jazz and pop. The Jazz band performs arrangements of jazz music.

One may also audition for Junior Orchestra (grades 7-9, usually) or Senior Orchestra (grades 10 and up, usually), which perform in the two semi-annual ocncerts at Hunter.

Sports

Many teams are called "Hunter Hawks" because of the school mascot being a hawk. Some exceptions, however, is the boys' volleyball team (Hunter Hitmen) and the girls' volleyball team (Headhunters). The girls' swim team is sometimes called "The Duckies." In the 2004-2005 school year, forty percent of Hunter students in the ninth to twelfth grades were members of at least one varsity sport. Hunter has nine girls' sports, ten boys' sports, and one co-ed sport, which compete in the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) in baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, swimming, volleyball, cross-country, indoor track, outdoor track, tennis, bowling, and fencing. In 2006, an ultimate frisbee team was also begun at Hunter. Hunter's sports teams are usually not among the top in the city, yet they are surprisingly competitive given the school's size. In 1988, the boys' volleyball team won the New York City PSAL title. In more recent years, a few teams have made runs at the city championship. In 2005, the boys volleyball team finished 4th in the city, the girls soccer team nearly made it to the finals, and coed fencing finished 3rd in the city. In the winter of 2005, coed fencing captured the city title. This was quickly followed, on November 22, 2005, with the Hunter Girls Varsity Volleyball team's defeat of JFK High School to become New York City Champions. Boy's and girl's swimming have also found recent success in 2005. The boy's swimming team defeated their rival, Bronx Science, destroying Bronx's 15 year winning streak over the Hunter team. The girl's and boy's tennis teams have also done great in the 2006 season. The girl's were ranked 4th in the city, the boy's 7th.

The Athletic Association works to increase school spirit around sports events, including varsity teams and intramural tournaments, and through the sale of Hunter apparel.

Student Publications

Hunter has many student publications, including What's What, the official school newspaper since 1922, and its rival independent paper, The Observer. Weekly circulations include What's G.O.ing on, a joint presentation of the G.O. and What's What. There is a long-standing rivalry between What's What and the Observer. Student-produced magazines include thedeepend (humor), Chapter 11 (humor), Discord (humor and culture), Tapestry (science fiction and fantasy), Radicals (math), The Desk (literary magazine for lower-termers), Argus (literary), Annals (the school's yearbook), and "Biosphere" (science).

Alumnae/Alumni

Notable alums include¹:

• Shirley Abrahamson 1950, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice
• Charles Ardai 1987, writer/entrepreneur
• Martina Arroyo 1953, opera soprano
• Eli Attie, TV and political speechwriter
• Rachel Axler 1995, Daily Show writer
• Kyle Baker 1983, cartoonist
• Angela Bofill, 1972, jazz singer
• Michael A. Burstein, science fiction writer
• Hortense Calisher 1928, novelist
• Sewell Chan 1994, New York Times journalist
• Olivia Cole 1960, actress
• Jon Daniels 1995, Texas Rangers General Manager
• Lucy Dawidowicz 1932, Holocaust historian
• Manohla Dargis 1979, New York Times film critic
• Ruby Dee 1939, actress
• Desmond Devlin 1982, MAD Magazine writer
• Diane Di Prima 1951, poet
• Dujeous 1995 (original members), hip-hop group
• Susan H. Fuhrman 1961, incoming president of Columbia Teacher's College
• Evelyn Handler 1950, President of University of New Hampshire and Brandeis University
• Bernadine Healy 1962, former NIH director and Red Cross president
• Carrie Kei Heim 1991, actress
• Taina Hernandez 1992, broadcaster
• Adam Horowitz 1990, TV writer/producer
• Florence Howe 1946, feminist activist
• Immortal Technique 1996, rapper
• Elena Kagan 1977, Dean of Harvard Law School
• Eric Kaplan 1985, TV writer/producer
• Max Kellerman 1991, broadcaster
• Jennifer 8. Lee 1994, New York Times journalist
• Judy Lewent, CFO of Merck
• Audre Lorde 1951, poet
• Robert Lopez 1993, Avenue Q lyricist
• Mike Maronna 1995, actor
• Thisbe Nissen 1990, novelist
• Camilo Ortiz & Matt Shenker 1990, Famous Professional Poker Players
• Pearl Primus 1936, choreographer/dancer
• Christopher Rojas 2000, musician/producer
• Cynthia Nixon 1984, actress
• Mollie Orshansky 1933, statistician
• Cynthia Ozick 1946, novelist
• Ellen Ash Peters 1947, Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice
• Jennifer Raab 1973, Hunter College President
• Susan Sheehan 1954, journalist
• Amy Sohn 1991, novelist
• Deborah Tannen 1962, sociolinguist
• Judith Jarvis Thomson 1946, Professor of Philosophy, MIT
• Young MC 1985, rapper

¹ _{Some information comes from HCHS Distinguished Graduate Awardees}

School Events

• Carnival is an end-of-year activity. It usually has a theme, features both live and recorded music, and stalls run by various school clubs that showcase games, food, or other items of interest.
• Mascot presentation and the Big Show have been components of Carnival. The junior class chooses its own mascot and writes a song about it. The Big Show was for decades an opportunity for students from each grade to put on a 5-10 minute skit that parodied the school. Students did imitations of popular faculty, and the faculty produced a show making fun of the students and saying goodbye to seniors. Following the move to 94th Street, observance of fire codes made it difficult to have the whole school attend the show. By the 1990s it was only attended by upper termers. At that point juniors and senior classes started focusing their skits on each other. The new character of the material resulted in increased scrutiny of the show, and then a decision by the administration to abandon the activity.
• Spirit Week and Spirit Day were created in the 1990s as a replacement for a spring "Field Day" (once organized by the Athletic Association). Spririt Week consists of "themed" days designated by the G.O., usually consisting of retro-themed days, which culminates in...
• Spirit Day, a school-wide excursion to a recreation spot such as Bear Mountain or Playland, or Central Park. In 1999, a rash of students snuck alcohol and marijuana onto the bus going to Bear Mountain, and a tenth grade student suffered from alcohol poisoning. This incident caused the administration to rethink schoolwide excursions.
• The Seventh grade picnic is an orientation and welcoming event held in Central Park in September. Seventh-graders play various sports and become more familiar with each other under the supervision of 11th grade "Big Siblings."
• Senior Walkout is carried out on the first day of snowfall. During years without snowfall, Senior Walkout is transferred to the first day of the year in which the temperature tops 90° Fahrenheit. Seniors leave class for the day to engage in snowball fights or pursue other activities outside of the school. Oftentimes these snowball fights will take place in the school courtyard. The seniors also choose this day to physically harass underclassmen, sending an eighth grade boy to the hospital with a broken arm in 2000. This was considered a scandal because security guards looked on while the beating took place.
• The annual ACS ski trip is a chaperone-free, student-organized alternative to the school-run ski trip. ACS (an acronym for Asian Cultural Society) is one of the most active clubs at the school.
• International trips include the bi-annual Advanced Placement Art History trip, the Shakespeare Etc. club trip, and trips taken by various school-run musical groups (such as Jazz Band or Chorus).
• Senior Tea is an event in which students of the graduating class are presented with white carnations and served refreshments by their teachers.
• Senior Barbeque is an event in which students of the graduating class serve lunch to the faculty.
• Homecoming is held in December, and is an event in which the previous year's graduates return to the school.
• Prom is a similar event to many proms held all across the United States, consisting of formal dress and a sit-down dinner. Because Hunter is an urban school, a smaller number of students opt to rent limousines, but the choice is still fairly popular. The event is usually followed by an after-party at a student's house.
• "MORP" was an underground prom that was held during the eighties, when the administration banned prom for that year.
• Semi-formal is the "junior prom", held for eleventh graders.
• Lower-termers have their own annual dances, including dances for Valentine's Day and Halloween, as well as ninth and tenth grade dances.
• Some upper termers play "Killer," a game in which students are divided into teams and "hunt" each other with plastic tracer guns. The aim is to remain the last team standing. Students camp out at other students' houses and prepare easy getaways. The school administration bans the playing of Killer due to safety concerns. During the 1980s, one student was nearly shot by a New York City police officer, who mistook the student's toy pistol for a real gun. Another student was hit by a taxi cab and cracked the windshield. A third broke his arm while climbing up to another student's window.

Student Culture

• Student hang-outs include:
  • The G.O. Office.
  • The so-called "freak hallway" provides a temporary home for fans of computer games, sci-fi/fantasy literature, and anime alike. The locker hallway was so referred to in the mid-1990s because many of the students who relaxed there were socially unconventional or awkward.
  • The computer lab, located on the 4th floor, is often over-crowded during peak "free period" hours, as many students fail to complete homework at home and instead choose to do so at school in between classes or in the morning before first period.
  • The library, which features several computers and a printer, is similarly flooded during peak hours.
  • The Lounge has recently been renovated and includes café-style furniture as well as a foosball table and a broken basketball hoop.
  • As late as 2003, it was common practice for Hunter students to eat in their respective grade hallways. After repeated efforts to compel students to clean up after themselves failed, a new rule barring hallway eating was created. Students often still hang out in the hallways during free periods despite the ban on food.
  • The newly renovated courtyard, which offers basketball hoops and handball walls.

2006 Annals Controversy

In May of 2006, the NY Sun wrote an article about the situation entitled Hunter Students Threaten a Lawsuit Over Yearbook. Several concerned alumni responded by rallying the Hunter community around an online letter and petition supporting student freedoms. Ultimately, the Yearbook’s staff never went ahead with the lawsuit and Annals 2006 was published without the questionable material (“Club Lit”). The staff and other seniors distributed the Club Lit as a separate handout that accompanied the yearbook.

See also

• Education in New York City

External links

• Hunter College High School
• Hunter College High School Alumnae/i Association
• Hunter College High School PTA
• "The Joyful Elite," a 1982 article about the school
• A history of the armory building that now houses the school