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Richmond Hill High School is a four-year
public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
in Richmond Hill,
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, part of 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 ...
.


History

Richmond Hill High School was founded in 1899, one year after Queens became part of New York City, in the then-
bucolic A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
setting of Richmond Hill. As such, it is the oldest high school south of
Jamaica Avenue Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's E ...
in Queens, New York City. Its first principal was Isaac Newton Failor (1851 to 1925), author of the longtime school book "Inventional Geometry" in 1904. He built an observatory on top of the building open to the students. The high school shared its facility with a local
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
on the then Johnson Avenue. In 1899, the first students were admitted to the Johnson Avenue site, and in 1919 the current site was opened on 114th street. It has been voted the 100 U.S. Best High School in 2005. Today, the school is identified by the New York State Department of Education as one of the most persistently low achieving schools within the Department of Education. The school, built to accommodate 1,800 students, had reached an enrollment of 3,600 for the 2007–2008 school year, severely straining the school's ability to serve its students. The school's population has declined to 2,300 students. Richmond Hill High School was among over two dozen schools due to be closed from June 2012 due to persistently low academic performance. According to the schools last progress report, only 58% of all students were able to graduate on time, leaving many students to drop out. Responding to low academic performance, the Department of Education hired a company called "High Schools that Work" at a cost of $700,000 to help "turn around" the schools performance with little or no results. In addition to hiring a company to manage "turnaround", the Department of Education planned to develop a new school at the site called the 21st Century School of Richmond Hill to improve the school. The new school would have a literacy and technology focus designed to interest students in internet based academic work.


Recognition

*
Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
, Mayor of New York, proclaimed September 24, 1997, as "Richmond Hill High School Day".


Notable alumni

*
Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...
(1905-1999), American real estate developer and businessman *
Pauli Murray Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, gender equality advocate, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 she became one of the first women ...
(1910–1985) class of 1927, pioneer in Civil & Women's Rights. Inspired Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Thurgood Marshall *
Anthony Joseph Cardinal Bevilacqua Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (June 17, 1923 – January 31, 2012) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania from 1988 to 2003. Bevilacqua previously served as ...
(1923–2012), the Bishop of Pittsburgh from 1983 to 1987 and
Archbishop of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...
from 1987 to 2003, and was raised to the
cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...
in 1991. * Pop Smoke (July 20, 1999 – February 19, 2020), Rapper *
Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase "I don't get no resp ...
(1921–2004), comedian, graduated in 1939. *
Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bunch''. Early life and car ...
(1905–1968), actor and politician *
Seymour Halpern Seymour Halpern (November 19, 1913 – January 10, 1997) was an American politician from New York. Life He was born in New York City. He graduated from Richmond Hill High School and attended Seth Low College of Columbia University from 1932 to 1 ...
(1913–1997), represented New York in Congress from 1959 to 1973. *
Frank Kameny Franklin Edward Kameny (May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011) was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement. In 1957, Kameny was dismissed from his po ...
(1925–2011, class of 1941), LGBT rights activist. *
Herb Karpel Herbert (Lefty) Karpel (December 27, 1917 – January 24, 1995) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Karpel played for the New York Yankees in . In 2 career games, he had a 0–0 record, with a 10.80 ERA. He batted and threw left-handed. Karpel w ...
, Major League Baseball player *
Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
(born 1953), singer and composer *
Michael R. Long Michael R. Long () was an American politician from the state of New York. He served as chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State from December 1988 to January 2019. Previously, Long represented the Borough of Brooklyn at-large on the ...
(born 1940), the chairman of the
Conservative Party of New York State The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...
*
Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...
(1917–2007), baseball player and commentator *
Marius Russo Marius Ugo Russo (July 19, 1914 – March 26, 2005) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1939–43, 1946). Russo batted right-handed and threw left-handed. Profile Marius Russo was born July 19, 19 ...
(1914–2005), baseball player


References

;Notes


External links

* {{authority control Public high schools in Queens, New York Richmond Hill, Queens 1899 establishments in New York City