Classical High School, founded in 1843, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

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 ...

in the Providence School District, in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. It was originally an all-male school but has since become co-ed. Classical's motto is ''Certare, Petere, Reperire, Neque Cedere'', a Latin translation of the famous phrase taken from

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

's poem " Ulysses", "To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and Not to Yield". Classical High School stands roughly at the intersection of the Federal Hill, West End, and Upper South Providence neighborhoods.

Architecture

Classical High School Providence Rhode Island

Classical High School's current building was finished in 1970 and is one of few buildings in the area created in the

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

architectural style. The original school buildings had become outdated by the 1950s and after several fires and years of study, the city launched a competition for a new education complex in 1963. The winning design was by noted local architects Harkness & Geddes in collaboration with

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

, who founded

The Architects Collaborative The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects that operated between 1945 and 1995 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The founding members were Norman C. Fletcher (1917–2007), Jean B. Fletcher (19 ...

(TAC), the famous Boston architectural firm.William McKenzie Woodward and Edward F Sanderson; Providence, a Citywide Survey of Historical Resources; Rhode Island Historic Preservation Commission, 1986 William McKenzie Woodward, a well-known architectural historian and staff member of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, does not agree aesthetically with the building, going so far as to write in his ''Guide to Providence Architecture'', "It's no wonder Modernism has gotten such a bad reputation in Rhode Island because it smells very bad there." In 1986 McKenzie had however admitted in his survey for the Preservation Commission that "The new complex, the first of its kind in Providence built to serve a stable rather than expanding population, was well received as an ample and functional facility." Quoting John Ware Lincoln, then chairman of the Division of Design at

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

as having noted: "The new Classical buildings are fine architecture, by the old standards, but they are also exemplary of the new concept of the architect as an environmental planner, working with social and civic sciences,

demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

transportation engineering Transportation engineering or transport engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation and management of facilities for any mode of transportation to provide for the safe, ...

, building technologies, and, in this case, education philosophy." The previous building, designed by Martin & Hall, was a yellow brick building with a peaked roof (under which was the study hall). It was considerably smaller and was bounded by Pond Street, which was consumed in the creation of the new campus. When the old building was razed the yellow bricks were sold to students and alumni.

Alumni

* Vernon Alden (Class of 1941) – Scholar, philanthropist, and 15th president of

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

* John M. Barry (Class of 1964) – American author and historian * Steve Cascione (Class of 1972) –

Meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

* Andy Coakley (Class of 1900) - Major League Baseball pitcher * Joel Cohen (Class of 1959) – American musician specializing in early music repertoires *

Lauren Corrao Lauren Corrao is an American television executive. She became Executive Vice President of Original Programming and Development at Freeform in 2019. She is a former programming executive for Comedy Central, where she oversaw The Daily Show With Jo ...

(Class of 1979) – television executive * Clark Coolidge (Class of 1956) – Poet and Jazz Musician * Amy Diaz (Class of 2001) – co-host of "Social Women" & Miss Earth United States 2009 * John W. Dower (Class of 1955) –

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winner *

Ronald Dworkin Ronald Myles Dworkin (; December 11, 1931 – February 14, 2013) was an American legal philosopher, jurist, and scholar of United States constitutional law. At the time of his death, he was Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at ...

(Class of 1949) – Legal Philosopher & Professor at NYU * C. M. Eddy, Jr. – Author known for his horror, mystery and

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

short stories * Jorge Elorza (Class of 1994) - Mayor of Providence *

Stanley Fish Stanley Eugene Fish (born April 19, 1938) is an American literary theorist, legal scholar, author and public intellectual. He is the Floersheimer Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of La ...

(Class of 1955) – Literary theorist and legal scholar * Rudolph Fisher (Class of 1915) – pioneering Black

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

and writer of the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

* Gordon D. Fox (Class of 1979) – American politician from Providence, Rhode Island and the Speaker of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

* Allan Fung (Class of 1988) – American politician and the first Asian-American mayor of

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of ...

* Jehlani Galloway (Class of 2018) – former college football

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Robin Green Robin Green (born July 31, 1945) is an American writer and producer. She was a writer and executive producer on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' and was the co-creator and executive producer of the CBS series '' Blue Bloods''. In the 1970s, Gre ...

(Class of 1963) –

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

-winning writer and producer; worked extensively on the HBO hit series

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

and

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents in the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska, that originally aired on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It rec ...

; creator and executive producer for Blue Bloods * Charles L. Hodges (Class of 1865) – U.S. Army major general, attended in 1861 * Gilbert V. Indeglia (Class of 1959) – Justice on the Rhode Island Supreme Court * Frederick Irving (Class of 1939) – United States Ambassador to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

from 1972 to 1976,

Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the United States Department of State. Their missi ...

from 1976 to 1977, and United States Ambassador to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

from 1977 to 1978 * Michael Kang (Class of 1988) – Filmmaker * Frank Licht (Class of 1934) – Former Governor of Rhode Island * Albert Lythgoe (Class of 1886) – Egyptologist, and curator of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art * George Macready (Class of 1917) – Film actor * Paul Mecurio (Class of 1978) – Emmy Award and

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

winning comedy writer, producer, director and performer * Joan Nathan (Class of 1961) – Award-winning author of

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

s & Producer TV documentaries on the subject of

Jewish cuisine Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut''), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions cen ...

* Joe Nocera (Class of 1970) – American business journalist and author, business columnist for The New York Times *

Curly Oden Olaf Gustave Hazard "Curly" Oden (May 10, 1899 – August 3, 1978) was an American football running back and punt returner in the National Football League (NFL) for the Providence Steam Roller and the Boston Braves. Biography A native of Stock ...

(Class of 1917) –

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

* John O. Pastore (Class of 1925) – Former Governor of Rhode Island,

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Jeremy Peña Jeremy Joan Peña (born September 22, 1997) is a Dominican Americans, Dominican-American professional baseball shortstop for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended the University of Maine and played college baseball for t ...

(Class of 2015) - Current starting

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

* S. J. Perelman (Class of 1922) – American Humorist * Anaridis Rodriguez (Class of 2002) - Former Weather Channel personality and current CBS Boston News anchor * Melanie Sanford (Class of 1993) – American chemist, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry at University of Michigan * A. O. Scott – Chief movie critic for ''The New York Times'' * Bruce M. Selya (Class of 1951) – senior

federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/local level. United States A U.S. federal judge is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Arti ...

on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and chief judge of the

United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) is a U.S. federal court whose sole purpose is to review denials of applications for electronic surveillance warrants (called FISA warrants) by the United States Foreign ...

Bruce Sundlun Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as List of governors of Rhode Island, 71st governor of Rhode Island ...

(Class of 1938) – Former Governor of Rhode Island * Angel Taveras (Class of 1988) – First Latino Mayor of Providencehttp://blogs.wpri.com/2010/11/17/taveras-taps-classical-high-chum-damico-for-key-post/ > * Ralph Thomas Walker (Class of 1907) – Architect, President of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

* Richard Walton (Class of 1946) – American writer, teacher, and politician * Hannah Weiner (Class of 1946) – American poet

References

External links

Classical High School's Official WebsiteClassical Athletics Website

Classical Alumni WebsiteClassical's Student-run WebsiteProvidence Schools – Classical High School WebsiteGreatSchools.net info pageQuick Fact SheetNSRE RI High Schools Listing For 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Classical High School High schools in Providence, Rhode Island Public high schools in Rhode Island Magnet schools in Rhode Island 1843 establishments in Rhode Island Educational institutions established in 1843 Magnet schools in the United States Brutalist architecture in Rhode Island Federal Hill, Providence, Rhode Island