Hunter College High School

Hunter College High School is one of the top high schools in New York City. Hunter is administered by Hunter College, a division of 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 top-flight colleges and universities.

Admissions

Admission is granted at the seventh grade level only. Each year, approximately 2,500 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 2006-2007 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. Another 50 enter the 7th grade class from Hunter College Elementary School. 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. Hunter along with the Original Townsend Harris High School in (City College) were lab schools, established to assist in preparing admission to their respective schools. [1] 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).

Alumnae/Alumni

Notable alums include former NIH director and Red Cross president Bernadine Healy, poets Diane Di Prima and Audre Lorde, novelist Cynthia Ozick, Avenue Q lyricist Robert Lopez, Merck CFO Judy Lewent, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, Hunter College President Jennifer Raab, sociolinguist Deborah Tannen, ethics professor Judith Jarvis Thompson, actresses Ruby Dee, Cynthia Nixon, and Olivia Cole, New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis, writer/entrepreneur Charles Ardai, and Texas Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels.

Other graduates from the last two decades include rappers Dujeous,Immortal Technique, and Young MC, broadcaster Max Kellerman, TV writer/producers Adam Horowitz and Eric Kaplan, TV and political speechwriter Eli Attie, cartoonist Kyle Baker, comedian Steve Hofstetter, MAD writer Desmond Devlin, novelists Thisbe Nissen and Amy Sohn, multi-platinum music producer/writer Christopher Rojas.

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. 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 junior year, students are allowed to take electives and Advanced Placement courses. In the 11th grade, there is a choice of selectives(racquetball, weight training, and lifeguard training). The senior year, however, is free of mandated courses except for a couple semesters of gym.

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, 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 [2].

Hunter students win many honors and awards during their high school careers [3], 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 feeder to leading colleges. [4].

Extracurricular Activities

The dozens of clubs and organizations at Hunter cater to a variety of interests, from politics to film and music to knitting. All clubs and organizations at Hunter are wholly 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.

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 from November to May. They write to administration officials, members of congress, reporters, and arrange appointments in May. The students hear from and question those figures during a four-day stay in the capital.

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 and occur 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-precussion ensemble, and their focus is mainly on contemporary music, though they sometimes branch off into classical pieces such as the 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. All of these musical groups focus around grades 10-12.

Every upper-termer oriented group also has a parallel group in the lower grades. The lower termers have "Junior Orchestra" which is comprised of 7-9th graders who play string, wind, brass, and precussive instruments. Upon advancement to the tenth grade, they move into either the string ensemble or band, and the same goes for the Junior Jazz Band members, who can choose to audition for the Jazz Band. The Junior chorus perform a wide range of musical styles, and their members also advance into the Concert Choir.

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) and Argus (literary), and Annals, the school's yearbook.

Annals features student-drawn art and commentary and allows graduating seniors to provide their own "half page" of material for the yearbook. Recently, Annals has come under criticism and closer faculty supervision, for being too vulgar and derogatory. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, drug, alcohol and sex references were included in the book. The publication was also offensive towards groups of individuals within the school. Annals was criticized as being an elitist publication, written primarily to serve the purposes of those involved directly in its production and excluding the rest of the student body. Some students have been vocal against this unprecedented "yearbook censoring", but this has not led to a relaxation of supervision.

Theatrical Productions Hunter also has a strong dramatic arts and musical tradition, with annual productions such as Musical Repertory, Brick Prison Playhouse, Hunter Theater Ensemble, Winter and Spring Concert, and numerous cultural shows.

Annual club-run shows and fundraisers include the SAYA (South Asian Youth Alliance), AACS (African-American Cultural Society), HOLA (Hunter's Organization of Latin Americans, JCAC (Jewish cultural awareness Club) and ACS shows, which feature dancing, skits and performances connected to the clubs' respective cultures.

Musical Repertory ("Rep" for short) is a theater group in which pre-established musicals are produced and performed.

Brick Prison Playhouse is a theater group in which student-written and student-submitted plays are performed. Several short plays are selected; performances are interspersed with "Jammies," approximately five-minute performances intended to provide comic relief.

Hunter Theater Ensemble (HTE) performs plays written by non-Hunter playwrights.

Shakespeare Etc. performs much smaller yet enduringly popular productions of (usually abridged) Shakespeare plays.

Sports

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. Hunter's sports teams are usually not among the top in the city, yet they are surprisingly competitive for the school's size. In 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. On November 22, 2005, the Hunter Girls Varsity Volleyball team defeated JFK High School to become New York City Champions. The Athletic Association works to increase school spirit around sports events, including varsity teams and intramural tournaments, and through the sale of Hunter apparel.

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 Rye Playland, or Central Park.
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 was translated to the first day of the year in which the temperature topped 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 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. Being an urban school, a smaller number of students opt to rent limousines, but the choice is still fairly popular. The event is usually followed up 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.
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", or "Freak Hall". providing a temporary home for fans of computer games and anime alike.
- 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 cafe style furniture as well as a ping-pong table and a piano.
- 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.

External links