Christopher Columbus High School (Bronx)
| Christopher Columbus High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 925 Astor Avenue Bronx, NY 10469 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Oversight | NYCDOE |
| Principal | Lisa Maffei-Fuentes |
| Grades | 9 - 12 |
| Enrollment | 2000 |
| Color(s) | silver and blue |
| phone | (718) 944-3400 |
| Website | http://www.columbushs.org |
Christopher Columbus High School is a public secondary school located in the Pelham Parkway, northeast section of the Bronx, New York. It is within walking distance from the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden.
It currently enrolls over 2000 students in grades 9 through 12. The student body is diverse, with students whose families come from 66 countries. Seventy-four percent of its faculty have Masters degrees. The current principal is Lisa Maffei-Fuentes.
Contents
Partnerships and Special Programs
Columbus High School has been a member of the Foundation for Excellent Schools since 1997.[1] It has a partnership with the University of Vermont, which offers special courses at Columbus. JetBlue Airlines provides free transportation to faculty and students travelling between Vermont and the Bronx.[2]
As of June 2004, Columbus High School was broken down into the Christopher Columbus Educational Campus and shared its premises with four, smaller, specialized schools:
- Pelham Preparatory Academy
- Global Enterprise Academy
- Astor Collegiate High School
- Collegiate Institute for Math and Science (Principal Estelle Hans)(CIMS)[3]
The Bronx High School for the Visual Arts, originally the first small school to move into the campus, moved out at the end of the 2004 school year. It currently resides in the old Mercy College Bronx campus which it shares with one other small school.
Notable alumni
- Anne Bancroft (as Anna Maria Louise Italiano), Oscar-winning actress
- Rudy De Luca
- Christine Jorgensen (as George William Jorgensen, Jr.), one of the first people to have sex reassignment surgery
- Peter Levenda, author
- Paul Levinson, author and media commentator on The O'Reilly Factor and other news venues
- John McGiver, (former teacher at the school) actor on stage, film and television 1950s-70s.
- Sal Mineo, actor, played role in Exodus
- Darlene Rodriguez (as Darlene Pomales), co-anchor, Today in New York, WNBC-TV
- Jeffrey Klein, member of the New York State Senate, Former Deputy Majority Leader, Assemblyman for the 80th District, and Democratic District Leader
- Nancy Savoca, Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winning film-maker
- James Vacca, member of the New York City Council
- Guy Velella, former New York State Senator and Bronx Republican Chairman
- George Marino, Grammy award winning mastering engineer
- Johnny Monell, professional baseball player
Teams
Main sport in the school is the Football Team: Columbus Blue Steel, which won the Bronx Championships on November 3, 2006. In 2006, Blue Steel had two All-City Players, a Linebacker and a Defensive End. The Blue Steel have gone to the PSAL playoffs four times in the last six years. The Columbus Explorers Varsity Tennis Team has acclaimed more importance in the last few years reaching the playoff 3 out of 4 years while The Girls A-Division Varsity team reached the finals in the School year of 05'-06'. Also the track team won second place in 2007 in cross country, and that same year they won the Bronx indoor championship beating Clinton. The boy's lacrosse team in 2010 won the PSAL championship, the first PSAL title Columbus had won.
In men's Bowling, Columbus won the division championship 3 years in a row 95-97 led by team captain Derrick "Casanova" Williams.
The girl's volleyball team was dominant in their division in the late 80s, early 90s under the coaching of Annette Leder.
Other Columbus teams include:
- Girls' Teams: Soccer, Soft Ball, Basketball, Tennis, Track, Cheerleader, Step, Bowling, Gymnastics, Golf, Flag Football
- Boys' Teams: Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, Track, Bowling, Golf, J.V. Football, Varsity Football, Lacrosse
Soccer team also has been successful winning divions 2 straight years 2008,2009 and in the process producing young players such as Martin Dadaj, Armand Dadaj, Alhousein Bah, Mamoudou Diallo, Malal Diallo, Mamadou Barry, Endri Berisha,and Michael Asante.
Threatened closure
In December 2009, the New York City Department of Education announced plans to close Christopher Columbus High School, citing poor performance and low graduation rates.[4] The department's plan called for phasing out the school and not enrolling new students in the ninth grade starting in the fall of 2010. Students, parents, and community activists criticized the Department and fought to keep the school open.[5] The Supreme Court in New York county later rejected the Department of Education's proposal on the grounds that there were procedural errors made.[6]
References
- ↑ FES at Christopher Columbus
- ↑ University of Vermont Connection
- ↑ Collegiate Institute for Math and Science
- ↑ Bronx Times-Reporter at YourNabe.com "School Closing Opposed" December 24, 2009
- ↑ Bronx Times-Reporter at YourNabe.com "Columbus High school community outraged" December 14, 2009
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