Bennett High School was an American high school located in the University Heights section of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. It was named after Lewis J. Bennett, who donated the land for the school and for All High Stadium. Bennett High School formerly was a

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary school, and this also determines the middle school and high school they attend unless they mo ...

with three

college prep A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

programs: the Academy of International Law (similar to

pre-law In the United States and Canada, pre-law (or prelaw) refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association (ABA) requires law schools to admit only students with an accredi ...

), Business and Computers (similar to

information systems An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structu ...

), and Education and the Arts.

History

Bennett High School was built in 1923 (cornerstone laid on November 15, 1923), opened on September 8, 1925 and was dedicated on November 24, 1925. It has four stories with . It is named after Lewis J. Bennett, who donated the land for the school and for All High Stadium. Portions of the 1984 movie ''The Natural'' were filmed in All High Stadium, although it was filmed as Wrigley Field. The school was renovated in the summer of 2005 and the summer of 2006. During this time, some students were housed at Bennett while others were housed at nearby School 63 on Minnesota Avenue. In 2014, the alumni association and the Buffalo Board of Education worked cooperatively to bring a dramatic change to the curriculum at Bennett. In 2017, the last class of students in the original Bennett programs graduated. At the same time a new program was put into place, the Lewis J. Bennett High School of Innovative Technology. Its first graduating class was in 2020.

Notable alumni

Curtis Aiken Curtis Aiken Sr. is an American former college basketball player who is a radio analyst for Pitt Panthers men's basketball team. He was a two-time captain at Pitt who scored 1,200 points for the team and held the school single-season field goa ...

, radio analyst and former basketball player * Michael Bennett (1943 – 1987), who wrote the Broadway musical ''A Chorus Line'' dropped his last name, DiFiglia, when he went to Broadway. *

Lawrence Block Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Ma ...

(b. 1938), writer *

Sorrell Booke Sorrell Booke (January 4, 1930 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He acted in more than 100 plays and 150 television shows, and is best known for his role as corrupt politician Jefferson ...

(1930 – 1994), who played Boss Hogg in the ''

Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of 147 episodes. It was consistently among ...

'' TV show was a 1948 Bennett grad. * John Elliot (1914 – 1972), songwriter *

Leslie Feinberg Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993.

(1949 – 2014), author and activist * Don Gilbert (b. 1943), CFL player * Sanford Greenberg (b. 1940), American investor, philanthropist *

Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas. Career Before moving to Hollywood, he acted in ''Hamlet'' on stage in N ...

(1911 – 1974), actor * Karla F.C. Holloway (b. 1949), James B. Duke Professor of English, Professor of Law, Duke University. Dean, Humanities & Social Sciences. Was Karla Clapp at Bennett, led debate team to statewide championship. * Catherine Ryan Hyde (b. 1955), novelist, author of

Pay It Forward Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying the kindness to others rather than paying it back to the original benefactor. It is also called serial reciprocity. The concept is old, but the particular ph ...

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

(1948 – 2004), funk superstar, played in the Bennett High School Band. *

Beverly Johnson Beverly Ann Johnson (born October 13, 1952) is an American model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Johnson rose to fame when she became the first Black model to appear on the cover of American '' Vogue'' in August 1974, after Donyale Luna w ...

(b. 1952), fashion model, was a graduate of Bennett High School. She was the first Black cover model for

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

. * Dr. John H. Kennell (1922 – 2013), doctor of pediatrics and researcher *

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. He played center (basketball), center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). L ...

(1948 – 2022), Basketball Hall of Famer, graduated from Bennett in 1966 * David Lucas (b. 1937), music producer and jingle writer, attended Bennett in the 1950s but then transferred to a school in Florida. *

Isaiah McDuffie Stevenson Isaiah McDuffie (born July 21, 1999) is an American professional football linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles. College career In July 2015 ...

(b. 1999), NFL player * Dick Offenhamer (1913 – 1998), former

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

football coach * Robert E. Rich, Sr. (1913 – 2006), founder of Rich Products Corporation, was the starting center for the Bennett High School football team which lost the 193
Harvard Cup
to South Park 13–2. * Antoine Thompson (b. 1970), former New York State Senator *

Westside Gunn Alvin Lamar Worthy (born July 27, 1982), known professionally as Westside Gunn, is an American Rapping, rapper and fashion designer. He co-founded the Independent record label, hip-hop record label Griselda Records in 2012 with his paternal half- ...

(b. 1982), Rapper CampusNorthBuffalo

References

External links

Buffalo Public Schools
homepage {{authority control 1920 establishments in New York (state) 2017 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct schools in New York (state) High schools in Buffalo, New York Magnet schools in New York (state) Magnet schools in Buffalo, New York Educational institutions established in 1920 Educational institutions disestablished in 2017