Martin Van Buren High School (MVBHS) is a public high school in

Queens Village Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose to the east, and Oakland Gardens to the north. ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education.

Academics

The high school is accredited by the New York State Board of Regents.Martin Van Buren High School: School Profile
. ''New York Department of Education''. Retrieved December 21, 2019. Of the school's graduates, 90% enroll in college. Students may take a pre-med sequence of classes, a pre-engineering sequence of classes, or a law and

forensics Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...

sequence of classes. The school offers Advanced Placement classes in biology, calculus, English language,

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

, Spanish,

U.S. history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

, and world history. Students can take college-level courses on campus in government, economics, and algebra, and they can take classes at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Queensborough Community College, and York College. The New York State Department of Education had given Priority School status to Van Buren High School because of low graduation rates and low scores on state testing.Matua, Angela (December 4, 2017).
Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village removed from list of struggling schools
. ''QNS.com''. Retrieved January 27, 2018. On December 1, 2017, Van Buren High School was removed from Priority School status because its four-year graduation rates had increased.

Demographics

There are 1,157 students enrolled at Martin Van Buren High School. Of the students, 49% are black, 27% are Asian, 18% are Latino, 9% are white, 9% are American Indian, and 2% are Pacific Islander. Students come from more than twenty countries.

History

In 1952, the New York City Board of Education approved the construction of a new high school at 229th Street and Hillside Avenue.$59,765,000 Schools Proposed for 1953
. ''The New York Times''. June 2, 1952. p. 18. Queens Village's population had greatly increased, and the school was needed to reduce overcrowding at Jamaica High School, Bayside High School, and Andrew Jackson High School. The Board of Education originally approved a budget of $3,000,000 for construction, but a few months later it increased the budget to $5,500,000. The budget was increased again to $6,000,000 (),New Queens School Approved by the Board
. ''The New York Times''. November 13, 1953. p. 29. making it the costliest school in New York City at the time.Costliest School in City Authorized
. ''The New York Times''. December 24, 1953. p. 12. The school was designed by

Eliot B. Willauer Eliot Butler Willauer, AIA, (April 4, 1912 – February 6, 1972) was an American architect active in mid-twentieth-century New York City. With William G. Tachau, he was a principal in the architectural firm of Tachau & Vought, the successor firm ...

of the notable architectural firm Eggers & Higgins, architects on the

Thomas Jefferson Memorial The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the Am ...

, as part of the Board of Education's half-billion dollar post-World War II expansion program.American Architect Directory: 1956
. '' American Institute of Architects''. Archived fro
the original
on March 16, 2012. The school was designed as a three-story building with 40 classrooms and a 1,120-seat auditorium, with a total school capacity of 3,000 students.Mayor Sees Hope for New Schools
. ''The New York Times''. October 28, 1955. p. 52. The school would sit on 12 acres of land, 5.5 acres of which were for outdoor athletics.School Ground Breaking
. ''The New York Times''. January 3, 1954. p. 46. The official groundbreaking ceremony was held on January 6, 1954.Wagner to Speed School Program
. ''The New York Times''. January 7, 1954. p. 33. Caristo Construction Corporation built the building. The working name for the school had been East Queens High School, but before it opened the school was officially named Martin Van Buren High School, after the Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States and the first U.S. president born in New York state. It opened to students on September 12, 1955.

Notable alumni

This is a partial list of notable alumni of Martin Van Buren High School. * Jon Bauman (Class of 1964) – Sha Na NaMorales, Tina (December 24, 1989).
School of the Week: Martin Van Buren High School
. ''Newsday''. p. 5. * Steve Blank (Class of 1971) - entrepreneur and entrepreneurship guru *

Abby Joseph Cohen Abby Joseph Cohen (born February 29, 1952) is an American economist and financial analyst on Wall Street. , she continues to serve as an advisory director at Goldman Sachs, after retiring from leadership of its Global Markets Institute. Prior to ...

(Class of 1969) – economist and financial analyst * Donny Deutsch (Class of 1975) – advertising executive and television personality * Ilene Graff (Class of 1966) – American actress and singer * Madeline Kahn (Class of 1960) – movie actress and singer *

Arthur Kane Arthur Harold Kane Jr. (February 3, 1949 – July 13, 2004) was a musician best known as the bass guitarist for the pioneering glam rock band the New York Dolls. Kane was a founding member of the Dolls in 1971 and remained an integral part of the ...

– member of the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

* Stephen Katz (Class of 1963) – Academy Award-winning sound engineer * Al Kooper – songwriter, record producer and musician *

Martin Kove Martin Kove () (born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Kreese, the main antagonist of ''The Karate Kid'' (1984). He reprised the role in ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), ''The Karate Kid Part III'' (1989), and the ...

(Class of 1964) - actor * Ray Kurzweil (Class of 1965) – inventor and futurist * Martin Lang (born 1949) – Olympic fencer *

Robert Mapplethorpe Robert Michael Mapplethorpe (; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-p ...

(Class of 1963) – photographer * Rob Parker (Class of 1982) – sports columnist and TV personality *

Tom Pecora Tom Pecora (born January 21, 1958) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at Quinnipiac. Pecora was originally hired as associate head coach at Quinnipiac on March 28, 2017, under new head coach Baker Dunleavy. P ...

– men's basketball head coach of Fordham University *

Julian Phillips Julian Phillips may refer to: * Julian Phillips (TV presenter) * Julian Phillips (basketball) See also * Julian Philips Julian Philips is a British composer. Philips' works have been performed at major music festivals, including The Proms, ...

(Class of 1973) – television personality *

Alvin Roth Alvin Eliot Roth (born December 18, 1951) is an American academic. He is the Craig and Susan McCaw professor of economics at Stanford University and the Gund professor of economics and business administration emeritus at Harvard University.

– Nobel prize winner in economics 2012 * Mario Savio (Class of 1960) – American political rights activist * Lynne Stewart (Class of 1957) – imprisoned civil rights lawyer * Frank Wilczek (Class of 1967) – awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics. *

DJ Zeke A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

(Class of 2003) – professional DJ *

Thomas G. Zimmerman A wired glove (also called a dataglove or cyberglove) is an input device for human–computer interaction worn like a glove. Various sensor technologies are used to capture physical data such as bending of fingers. Often a motion tracker, such ...

(Class of 1975) – Inventor of VR PowerGlove

References

External links

* {{authority control Public high schools in Queens, New York Educational institutions established in 1955 1955 establishments in New York City High School