The High School of Graphic Communication Arts (H.S.G.C.A.) is a

vocational high school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

located in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

section of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in New York City. Founded in 1925 as the New York School of Printing, the school is divided into five academies that offer basic instruction in several fields including

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

, and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

History

The building that now houses the school was built in 1959 by the architectural firm of Kelly & Gruzen (now known as Gruzen Samton Architects) and is one of the best known structures designed utilizing a vigorous display of the international architectural style movement in the city. It was also the first high school in the city to have escalators. The school is home to a mural, located at its main entrance, that was designed by Hans Hofmann, one of the leading artists of the

Abstract Expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

movement. The building is located on West 49th Street between

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

and 10th Avenues. The school was the original home of

Metropolitan Playhouse The Metropolitan Playhouse is a resident producing theater in New York City's East Village. Founded in 1992, the theater is devoted to presenting plays that explore American culture and history, including seldom-produced, "lost" American plays an ...

, resident until 1995, and has since leased some of its space to the Manhattan Playhouse to serve as a community theater that showcases many local off-Broadway productions. In October 2010, it was announced that the school was on the

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 ...

's shortlist of schools targeted for closing. It was one of two schools in Manhattan on the list, and the only high school in the borough scheduled to be closed due to poor academic performance. On 26 April 2012, the city's Board of Education voted to close the school after the then-current class graduated in June 2012. On May 11, 2012, the city's education department announced that the school would be reopened in the fall 2012 as the Creative Digital Minds High School. However, on June 29, 2012, a ruling by a legal arbitrator announced that all 24 schools slated to close under the city's "Turn Around" program (which included Graphics) would remain open. The ruling halted a central element of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plans for closing and reopening the affected schools, saying its method for overhauling the staff at those institutions violated existing labor contracts. The Success Academy Charter Schools group planned to open an elementary school in the same building as the high school in 2013. The location was suggested by the city's education department. In addition, Success Academy Charter School – Manhattan Middle School was planned to open for school year 2015–2016 to educate the middle school grades of several other Success Academies.

Notable alumni

* Carolyn Butts – journalist, literary agent, film producer, and founding publisher of ''African Voices'' literary magazine *

Dan Dorfman Dan Dorfman (October 24, 1931 – June 16, 2012) was an American financial journalist, at one time a columnist for the ''New York Sun'' newspaper. Dorfman was a prominent CNBC commentator in the 1990s and a columnist for ''Money'' magazine. He ...

– financial journalist *

David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer. He is a founder and president of the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website '' FrontPage Magazine''; and director of Disco ...

–

consumer advocate Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

* Wilbert Mora – New York City Police Officer who was shot on January 21, 2022, while responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem. He later succumbed to his injuries on January 25, 2022.''‘Three times a hero’: NYPD Officer Wilbert Mora dies after Harlem ambush''
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References

External links

*
School Improvement Scenario website
{{authority control Public high schools in Manhattan Educational institutions established in 1925 School buildings completed in 1959 Modernist architecture in New York City International style architecture in New York City Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan 1925 establishments in New York City