Cornwall Central High School is the

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 ...

serving the Cornwall Central School District in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

, New York. It draws students from portions of three towns:

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, New Windsor, and Woodbury, as well as the village of

Cornwall-on-Hudson Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City. The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. It ...

. While it is in the New Windsor ZIP Code, it is located off NY 94 just inside the Cornwall town line.

History

Two of Cornwall's elementary schools (Willow Avenue and

) and the current

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

have served as the district's high school in the past. However, by the late 1990s, with Cornwall's booming population, it was clear that a new building was necessary for the upper grades, and the district sought to build a new high school. Attempts to site the school more centrally within the district near US 9W failed when opposition from a local community activist led to the defeat of a bond issue that would have funded the building. In 1999, voters approved $13 million for the current building (the state picked up the remainder). CCHS exterior

Building

The current building by

CannonDesign CannonDesign is a global architecture, engineering and consulting practice that provides services for a range of project types, including hospitals and medical centers, corporate headquarters and commercial office buildings, higher education an ...

, completed in 2003 at a cost of $44.6 million, is the newest high school in Orange County. Its design, frequently compared to an

airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...

, connects two otherwise separate structures built into the 50 acre (20 ha) site's gentle slope with glass-enclosed overhead and ground-level

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

s. There are five separate levels, totaling 208,000 square feet (18,720 m²) with a

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

-like space in between the two. All interiors are painted predominantly white, adorned with student artwork and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

walls, and colorful accents on classroom floors. The classroom corridors in the rear structure intersect the walkways at oblique

angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the '' vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles a ...

s, meant to echo (along with the steel latticework on the elevated walkways) the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s in the region's history, particularly the nearby

Moodna Viaduct The Moodna Viaduct is an iron railroad trestle spanning Moodna Creek and its valley at the north end of Schunemunk Mountain in Cornwall, New York, near the village of Salisbury Mills. Significance The bridge was constructed between 1906 and 19 ...

, a spectacular trestle and local landmark depicted on a student

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

above the entrance to the

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

. The library and cafeteria are located on the uppermost level. Their windows flare outward, suggesting a

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

and taking in the ample views of the

Hudson Highlands The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland Count ...

and Storm King Mountain available from the site. The main art room can be viewed through a glass wall adjacent to the main office, and has a separate

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

level. Also up front is an open commons area where students may eat and relax. Not only does the current design allow for a maximum of 1,500 students, more than it currently holds, it can be easily expanded if the need arises at some point in the future. (Needs to be verified, woods and a large slope are to the only possible expansion areas.) The school is divided by academic department by wing.

Campus

Surrounding the building are several athletic fields,

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s, a football field, and a track. Students have also started an

organic garden The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming: Organic farming – alternative agricultural system that relies on fertilizers of organic origin such as compost, manure, green manure, ...

on the grounds, with the help of a teacher.

Notable alumni

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 mini-series adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in ''When ...

(1968) *

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...

(1970) *

Angie Paccione Angela Veronica "Angie" Paccione (born February 21, 1960) is a former Colorado legislator and was a 2006 Congressional candidate. A college basketball player at Stanford and professional basketball player in the 1980s, Paccione became a high ...

(1978) * Aisling Cuffe (2010)

Sports

2007/2008 Section 9 Titles: * Football *Boys Soccer *Girls Soccer *Girls

Cross Country Running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

*Boys

*Girls

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

*Girls

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 ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

*Boys and girls

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

*Wrestling *Cheerleading

References

External links

School website
*, including many scenes inside and outside the school building *. A student presentation demonstrating how to start an after-school club. {{authority control Public high schools in New York (state) Schools in Orange County, New York School buildings completed in 2003 Cornwall, New York Buildings and structures in New Windsor, New York