William Howard Taft High School is a former New York City high school in the southwest section of the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, whose building now houses small specialized high schools. The school was operated by the New York City Department of Education. The Taft school campus is located on Sheridan Avenue and 172nd Street in the Bronx.

History

Founded in the 1940s, Taft originally served the largely homogeneous population of the surrounding area. In the post-war years of the forties, fifties and sixties. Notable graduates included director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

, producer

Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...

, novelist

Judith Rossner Judith Rossner (March 31, 1935 – August 9, 2005) was an American novelist, best known for her acclaimed best sellers '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1975) and '' August'' (1983). Life and career, 1935–1973 Born in New York City, on March 31, ...

, and singers Eydie Gormé,

Chuck Negron Charles Negron II (born June 8, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as one of the three lead vocalists in the rock band Three Dog Night, which he helped form in 1968. Early life Chuck Negron was born on June 8, 1942, in ...

, Luther Vandross and

Alan Merrill Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the write ...

. Demographic and the advent of specialized magnet schools brought about shifts in enrollment. During the

Abraham Beame Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy. ...

(1974–1977) and

Edward Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...

(1978–1989) administrations, citywide, crime rates were high and unfavorable publicity accelerated the decline of the school. By the early 1970s, Taft H.S. earned a reputation as a "failing school" with many of the problems of other high schools in poor, marginalized neighborhoods in New York City. Entering the 1990s, as a non-selective high school, it was unable to compete with the newer schools housing magnet programs that attracted prime students from throughout the borough. Crime intimidated vibrant young professionals from teaching at the high school. The danger was highlighted in May 1997, when Jonathan Levin, an English teacher at the school and the son of former Time Warner chairman

Gerald M. Levin Gerald M. "Jerry" Levin (born May 6, 1939) is an American mass-media businessman. Levin was involved in brokering the merger between AOL and Time Warner in 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble, a merger which was ultimately disadvantageous ...

, was murdered by a former student in his Manhattan apartment. Of the 629 students attending Taft in the 1990s, the majority were Hispanic and African-American. On any given day, attendance hovered around 86%. The impoverished community, lacking in political clout or a cohesive PTA, was provided 10 truancy officers, rather than improved education strategies. The last graduating class of Taft High School was in June 2008.

Transformation

Within the same building, the previously identified "failing school" has been transformed into a series of small specialized high schools to meet modern career needs. The specialty schools are: * Bronx High School for Medical Science * Bronx High School of Business *

Bronx Collegiate Academy The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

(formerly Bronx Expeditionary Learning High School) *

Claremont International High School Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footbal ...

* DreamYard Preparatory School *

Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications was a public high school located in The Bronx, New York City. It was one of six smaller specialty high schools located on the campus of the former William H. Taft High School, which was clos ...

The Urban Assembly Academy for History and Citizenship for Young Men ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

New Directions Secondary School New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Notable alumni

Eddie Carmel Eddie Carmel (born Oded Ha-Carmeili ; March 16, 1936 – August 14, 1972) was an Israeli-born American entertainer with gigantism and subsequent acromegaly resulting from a pituitary adenoma. He was popularly known as "The Jewish Giant", "The H ...

(born Oded Ha-Carmeili, 1936–1972), Israeli-born entertainer *

Arthur J. Cooperman Arthur J. Cooperman (born December 22, 1933) is an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life He was born on December 22, 1933, in the Bronx, New York City. He attended Public School No. 11 and William Howard Taft High School. He gradu ...

(born 1933), lawyer and politician *

Irwin Dambrot Irwin Dambrot (May 24, 1928 – January 21, 2010) was an American basketball player, best known for his college career at the City College of New York. Early life Dambrot was born in the Bronx and attended William Howard Taft High School in the ...

(1928–2010), basketball player * Eydie Gormé (1928–2013), pop singer *

Richard Gottehrer Richard Gottehrer (born 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. In 1997, he co-founded the Orchard with longtime business partner Scott Cohen, an independent music distribution company. His career began as ...

(born 1940), songwriter, record producer and record label executive * Artie Green, basketball player * Joe Hammond, streetball basketball player *

Louise Hay Louise Lynn Hay (October 8, 1926 – August 30, 2017) was an American motivational author and the founder of Hay House. She authored several New Thought self-help books, including the 1984 book ''You Can Heal Your Life''. Early life and ...

(née Schmir, 1935–1989), French-born mathematician *

Barbara Kalik Barbara Faith (Kalik) Bennett (born November 8, 1936) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from the 7th Legislative District from 1978 to 1992. She was born in The Bronx in 1936 an attende ...

(née Bennett, born 1936), politician *

(1928–1999), film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer *

(born 1939), mass-media businessman * Ed Roman (1930–1988), college basketball player *

(1935–2005), novelist *

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as '' How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as ...

(1937–20), science fiction writer *

Ken Rudin Ken Rudin is an American radio journalist. Early life and education Rudin was born in the Bronx in New York City, where he attended P.S. 64, J.H.S. 82 and William Howard Taft High School. After high school, he moved to Fort Lee, New Jersey. H ...

, radio journalist *

Vic Ziegel Victor "Vic" Ziegel (August 16, 1937 – July 23, 2010) was an American sports writer, columnist, and editor for the ''New York Post'' and the ''New York Daily News''. His writing frequently centered on baseball, boxing, and horse racing. Ziegel ...

(1937–2010), sports writer, columnist, and editor * Luther Vandross (1951–2005), singer, songwriter, and record producer

References

External links

New York City Board of Education page
*
2002–2003 annual school report

School profile and article from Insideschools.org
(also source of new schools in the building)

{{authority control Taft Taft Taft Taft