Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. Open from 1962 through 2014, it closed following a period of steeply falling enrollment and with an estimated $4 million in outstanding debt. Now called the Bishop Ford Educational Complex, the building is used by

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

to house a pre-kindergarten school and two middle schools.

History

Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was established in 1962 by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn The Diocese of Brooklyn is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New York. It is headquartered in Brooklyn and its territory encompasses the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. ...

. It was named after Bishop

Francis Xavier Ford Francis Xavier Ford, MM was an American bishop of the Catholic Church and a Maryknoll missionary in China. Because of his torture by the Communist Chinese and death in prison in 1952, he is considered a martyr, and the cause for his canonization ...

, a Brooklyn native and

Maryknoll Maryknoll is a name shared by a number of related Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America or the Maryknoll Society), the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Mary ...

missionary who was martyred in China in 1952. It was decorated in a Chinese-themed style, with a large red pagoda on its roof, signs with letters in a font meant to suggest

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

, and a red-and-gold tiled lobby with light fixtures shaped like pagodas. The school was built on the site of the former 9th Avenue bus and trolley depot, used until 1956 for trolleys, and for buses until 1959 following a fire, with bus routes moved to the 5th Avenue (today's Jackie Gleason Depot) & Ulmer Park Depots. Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was a Division I high school and had an active PTA and many clubs, activities, and sports. Some of the clubs included the International Society; Martial Arts Club; Science Club; Art Club; Student Activities Committee; Student Council; Newspaper and Yearbook. Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School's sports included basketball, baseball, football, bowling, soccer, cheerleading, volleyball, softball, and track as junior varsity and varsity teams. Following a period of falling enrollment that saw the student body decrease 75%, from 1,347 students in 2006 to 499 in 2014, the school abruptly closed at the end of the 2013-14 school year. It was one of a number of Catholic schools to close around that time, faced with increased competition from public and charter schools. The school building is now used by the New York City Public School system for pre-k and middle schools. The religious symbols, such as a large cross that once stood above the entrance of the school, have been removed from the school building.

Notable alumni

* Glenn Braica (1982):

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach, head coach of the St. Francis College basketball team since 2010 *

John Giuca The murder of Mark S. Fisher occurred in the early morning hours of October 12, 2003. The college student was brutally beaten, shot five times, and left on Argyle Road in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. He was 19 years old. On October 19th, 2005 ...

(born 1983), felon * John Gray (1976): screenwriter and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

, creator of TV series '' Ghost Whisperer'' *

John Halama John Thadeuz Halama (born February 22, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. During his major league career, Halama played with the Houston Astros (), Seattle Mariners (–), Oakland Athletics (), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (), Boston Red Sox ...

(1990):

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

(1998–2006) *

Armond Hill Armond G. Hill (born March 31, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is Director of Basketball Administration for Indiana University men's basketball. He spent eight seasons in the NBA between 1976 and 1984, pl ...

(1971): professional basketball player in the NBA (1976–1984) and first-round pick in the 1976 NBA draft * Charles Jones (1993): professional basketball player in the NBA and abroad (1998–2009) *

Jason Mattera Jason Joseph Mattera (born September 8, 1983) is an American writer, conservative activist, radio host, and Emmy-nominated journalist. Originally from New York City, Mattera started in conservative political activism as a student at Roger Willia ...

(2001): conservative political commentator and author, editor of ''

Human Events ''Human Events'' is an American conservative political news and analysis website. Founded in 1944 as a print newspaper, ''Human Events'' became a digital-only publication in 2013. ''Human Events'' takes its name from the first sentence of the U ...

'' magazine *

Brian Nash Brian Philip Nash (born 20 May 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and actor. He is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Early life He attended secondary ...

(1988):

coach who was an assistant coach at Bishop Ford from 1992 to 1993 * Marco Oppedisano (1989): Guitarist and electroacoustic music composer *

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...

(1971): American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

; co-founder of Interscope Records.

Filming Location

The building was used as a filming location for several commercials and music videos. Rock band

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

's music video "

All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star) "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was released on July 23, 2001 as the second single from the band's twelfth studio album, '' Reveal'' (2001). The single did not chart on the US ''Billbo ...

" was shot at Bishop Ford in 2001, directed by Michael Moore. Rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's debut music video " Best I Ever Had" was shot at Bishop Ford in June 2009. Record producer Mike WiLL Made It's debut music video "#23" was shot at Bishop Ford in August 2013. The music video features Mike WiLL Made It, singer

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

, and rappers

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

and

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established i ...

. The school building appears in several early shots in the 1975 film ''

Dog Day Afternoon ''Dog Day Afternoon'' is a 1975 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. The screenplay is wr ...

'', which was filmed nearby.

Bishop Ford Educational Complex

The building now houses three public schools: *K-280, a pre-K school drawing students from across School District 15 *Brooklyn Urban Garden School (BUGS), a middle school focused on environmental sustainability and education *MS 442, a middle school with a successful program for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Notes and references

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1962 Educational institutions disestablished in 2014 Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn 1962 establishments in New York City 2014 disestablishments in New York (state) Roman Catholic high schools in Brooklyn