Roslyn High School Explained

Roslyn High School
Principal:Scott Andrews
Enrollment:1,043 (201819)[1]
Faculty:82.01
Ratio:12.72
Mascot:Bulldog
Colors:Blue, white
Song:"Roslyn High School Alma Mater", written by Ruth Seward and Bradford Frey
Location:475 Round Hill Road
Roslyn Heights, NY 11577
Country:United States
Newspaper:The Hilltop Beacon
Yearbook:Harbor Hill Light

Roslyn High School is a public high school in Roslyn Heights, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the only high school in the Roslyn Union Free School District, serving all of the district's students in grades 9 through 12.

History

The property that Roslyn High School sits on was donated in the 1920s by Clarence and Katherine Mackay, both famous figures in Roslyn's history. They owned a large estate in the area, known as "Harbor Hill" (of which the donated land was once part), and a plaque was created to commemorate the land donation. It was originally located in the lobby of the original school building, and is now located on the wall near the replacement building's visitor entrance.

Additionally, Katherine Mackay was the first woman to serve on Roslyn's school board.[2]

Original building (1920s1970s)

The original school building opened in 1925, designed by architect William Bunker Tubby in the Colonial Revival Style.[3] [4] It consisted of a columned main entrance, adorned on both sides by symmetrical wings. The main entrance was reached by a staircase leading from the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Roslyn Road. An extension was built off the back of the school in the 1950s during the postwar Baby boom, which stands to this day.[5]

The architect and the district commissioned the Olmsted Brothers to design the landscaping of the school's grounds.[6]

Current building (1970spresent)

Between 1970 and 1971, the original, Tubby-designed 1920s school building was demolished and replaced by the current structure, designed by Caudill Rowlett Scott.[7] [8] However, there are numerous remnants of the old building that remain - most notably the middle segment of the stairway underneath the school (which made up the middle section of the original steps up to the original building's main entrance) and the main gymnasium (which was built with the original school for the same purpose).[9] Lecture Room B was the original school's auditorium, and the room behind it was the original stage. The school maintains a collection of historic photographs in "The Commons", including many of the old school.[10]

2004 Financial scandal

In February 2004, Rebekah Rombom, as editor-in-chief of The Hilltop Beacon, the Roslyn High School newspaper, was preparing the March issue when she was given information that a woman had stolen money from the school district two years earlier, but was allowed to resign quietly without criminal charges.

As Rombom researched the story for her newspaper, she discovered that the woman, who had embezzled at least $250,000, was Pamela Gluckin, the school district's former assistant superintendent for business, but she was told she could not use Gluckin's name in her article. She was also told that she needed to show the article to her principal and the director of community relations before publication; both read it and did not request any changes.[11] The publication of the article in the school's newspaper triggered a full-scale investigation that found officials had embezzled $11.2 million from the district over 8 years. Gluckin and Frank Tassone, the superintendent of the school district at the time, eventually pleaded guilty and went to prison.[12] [13]

Former Roslyn student Mike Makowsky dramatized the scandal in the 2019 HBO film Bad Education, starring Hugh Jackman as Tassone and Allison Janney as Gluckin.[14] The film won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.[15]

2010s

Renovations

In the summer of 2017, the district embarked on a major renovation project at the high school, as part of a district-wide modernization initiative.[16] This renovation included completely gutting and renovating the first floor hallways, demolishing, replacing, and expanding the library, constructing an additional gymnasium, installing air conditioning in the world language and math/2nd floor science hallways, reconfiguring the front circle and constructing an entrance plaza (including an awning and vegetation) and security vestibule, expanding and resurfacing the faculty and student parking lots by relocating the district's bus garage to an area adjacent to one of the elementary schools, and creating a student lounge next to the school store.[17] [18] [19] Further renovations were completed during the summer of 2018.[20] Additionally, the center of the front circle would remain the home for one of the marble horse tamer statues from the Mackay estate, which was restored and re-dedicated on October 10, 2019.[21] [22]

2020s

In the summer of 2021, Roslyn High School began another set of renovations, but this time with an emphasis on the science wing. Throughout the summer, Roslyn removed the older, 1970s-style science classrooms with modern, high tech rooms that encourage more in-depth science experiments and greater ease of teaching. Each classroom was equipped with three screens for teachers to project information onto and had fume hoods to allow for more advanced science raiments. Roslyn also built two new research rooms devoted to allowing students to perform natural science research projects. These multi-million dollar renovations have advanced the capacity for students to engaged in science and science-related activities at Roslyn. [23]

Demographics

As of the 20172018 school year, Roslyn High School had a total enrollment of 1,038 students, and had 87.04 full-time equivalent classroom teachers. The student/teacher ratio was 11.93-to-1.[24]

Below are various charts that further describe the demographics of the student body as of the 201718 school year, using the same public data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES):

style="background:darkblue; color:white; text-align:left;"
GradeNumber of students (2017–18)
9231
10277
11260
12266
Ungraded13
style="background:darkblue; color:white; text-align:left;"
GenderNumber of students (2017–18)
Male553
Female485

Notable alumni

Mackay Horse Tamer statue

As part of the construction of the Mackay estate, Harbor Hill, numerous statues were commissioned – including multiple marble horse tamer statues. After the Mackay estate was demolished, the statue that now resides at the high school was forgotten, only to be stumbled upon years later by a local artist, George Gách. In 1959, the district, at Gách's request, took possession of the Horse Tamer statue to ensure that it be preserved and maintained. The statue was soon restored and installed at Roslyn High School. For many years after the district took ownership, Gách continued to look after and maintain the statue.

In 2012, the statue was temporarily removed from the school for an extensive rehabilitation, as it had been damaged by weathering and vandals. In 2017, the school underwent an extensive modernization, and the front circle was reconfigured. A garden was created in the grassy island of the front circle, with trees, bushes and flowers, and the school’s flagpole. The restored statue was made the garden’s centerpiece, complete with a new stone pedestal.

The re-dedication ceremony for the restored Horse Tamer statue took place in the front circle of Roslyn High School on October 10, 2019. The ceremony included several speeches and was a major community event.

External links

40.7922°N 73.6397°W

Notes and References

  1. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?ID=362505003470 School data for Roslyn High School
  2. https://www.roslynschools.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=14&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=6877&PageID=1 "Ceremony Celebrates Return of Horse Tamer
  3. Book: Gerry, Roger. Roslyn Landmark Society Annual House Tour Guide. Roslyn Landmark Society. 1993. 611. Architects of national reputation have continued to work in Roslyn. William Bunker Tubby, who was related to a prominent local family....
  4. Book: Gerry, Roger. Roslyn Landmark Society Annual House Tour Guide. Roslyn Landmark Society. 1993. 611. He [William Tubby] designed three major buildings in Roslyn, all in the Colonial Revival Style. These are the Roslyn Presbyterian Church, 1928, the Roslyn National Bank and Trust Co., 1931, and the Roslyn High School, 1926. Unfortunately the latter was recently demolished to make way for the new high school..
  5. Web site: A Very Special Delivery . 2020-03-04 . Roslyn UFSD . en.
  6. Web site: Olmsted Associates Records: Job Files, 1863-1971; Files; 7328; Roslyn High School; Roslyn, N.Y., 1924-1925. 2020-09-21. Library of Congress.
  7. Web site: Our Community / Plaque Commemorates Mackay's Donation of Land for Roslyn High School. 2020-07-10. Roslyn UFSD. en.
  8. News: September 27, 1967 . New School Plan Revealed in Roslyn . . 24 . ProQuest.
  9. Web site: Roslyn High School (1925) Projects Roslyn Landmark Society. 2020-10-02. www.roslynlandmarks.org.
  10. Web site: The Roslyn Times 2021 "Guide to Roslyn" features a "Then & Now" series and cover photo from the Roslyn Landmark Society . 2023-09-30. Roslyn Landmark Society.
  11. News: Rombom . Rebekah . On Top of the News at Roslyn High . 19 May 2020 . New York Times . 27 June 2004.
  12. News: Vitello. Paul. 2006-10-11. Former Schools Chief of Roslyn Gets 4 to 12 Years in Fraud. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-05-15. 0362-4331.
  13. Web site: Roslyn school district embezzlement. Newsday. en. 2020-05-15.
  14. News: Kenigsberg. Ben. 2020-04-23. 'Bad Education' Review: Adding Fraud to the Curriculum. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-12-15. 0362-4331.
  15. Web site: Bad Education. 2020-12-15. Television Academy. en.
  16. News: Bond Referendum. Roslyn UFSD. 2020-07-10.
  17. Web site: Capital Projects / Our Capital Program. http. en. 2020-03-04.
  18. Web site: Roslyn High School Site Plan. 2020-07-10. Roslyn UFSD.
  19. Web site: Roslyn High School Illustration. 2020-07-10. Roslyn UFSD.
  20. Web site: Update: September 2018. 2020-07-10. Roslyn UFSD. en.
  21. Web site: Ceremony Celebrates Return of Horse Tamer. 2020-07-10. Roslyn UFSD. en.
  22. Web site: Horse Tamer Rededication Ceremony Program. 2020-07-10. Roslyn UFSD.
  23. Web site: Upgrades to Roslyn schools back under construction. 2023-09-30. The Island Now.
  24. Web site: Search for Public Schools - School Detail for ROSLYN HIGH SCHOOL. nces.ed.gov. EN. 2020-03-03.
  25. News: Joe . Scotchie . Remembering a Great Writing Teacher . The Roslyn News . January 19, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130718100627/http://www.antonnews.com/roslynnews/2007/01/19/news/ . 2013-07-18.
  26. News: David. Colker . Deborah Asnis dies at 59; helped detect West Nile virus in U.S. . . 2015-09-21 . 2015-10-10.
  27. News: Van Gelder. Lawrence. 1982-04-04. THE ANSWER WAS: BE A COMPOSER. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-01-31. 0362-4331.
  28. Web site: Gay. Verne. 2016-08-12. '24: Legacy' showrunner talks new spinoff. Newsday. en. 2020-03-07. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20200902231637/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/24-legacy-showrunner-howard-gordon-talks-new-spinoff-1.12170165. 2020-09-02.
  29. Web site: Richard Haass, Roslyn H.S. graduate and president of Council on Foreign Relations, releases book - Roslyn Times. Zahn. Max. 2017-03-29. The Island Now. en-US. 2020-03-07.
  30. Web site: Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress; Hechler, Kenneth William. bioguideretro.congress.gov.
  31. Web site: Roslyn High School: Class of 1979 Reunion (31th) . Classmates.
  32. Web site: Eddie Lampert Biography, Sears, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. en. 2020-03-06.
  33. Book: The Harbor Hill Light Yearbook, 1953. Roslyn High School. 1953.
  34. Web site: Editorial: Greed is sometimes good on the North Shore. The Island Now.
  35. Web site: The Royal Crown Players - ALUMNI.
  36. Web site: Boston.com / News / Nation / Dean's wife focusing on career, not campaign. 2020-07-10. archive.boston.com. en.
  37. News: Holson. Laura M.. 2000-10-12. Fast Times at Global Crossing; Enjoying the Spotlight While Building An Upstart in Telecommunications. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-08-18. 0362-4331. And in Roslyn High School's 1965 yearbook, he [Winnick] was dubbed 1/4 Hawaii because he and his three closest friends used to spend hours listening to the Beach Boys..
  38. Toobin. Jeffrey. Madoff's Curveball. 2020-08-18. The New Yorker. 22 May 2011. en-us. Jeff Wilpon went to Roslyn High School and inherited his father’s passion and talent for the game....

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Roslyn High School".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.