John Dewey High School

John Dewey High School is a public school in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, founded and based on the educational principles of John Dewey. It opened in the Fall of 1969 and is located at 50 Avenue X at the Gravesend/Bensonhurst-Bath Beach border of Brooklyn. The school is under the banner of the New York City Department of Education.

It was established in 1969 and started out with only freshmen and sophomores. Most of the students graduated after sophomore year and moved on to college. Slowly, the school grew to include juniors and seniors. Today, there are over 3,200 students are enrolled in the school. Though still relatively young compared to many Brooklyn public high schools, it counts as alumni many well known graduates, including filmmaker Spike Lee, Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies, actor Omar Epps, WWE wrestler Jayson Paul (aka JTG), producer and director Larry Charles, and scientist Robert Sapolsky.

Graduation requirements

In order to graduate from John Dewey High School, each student must take a certain amount of specific classes. For example, each student must take 16 cycles of English; 8 literature classes, 4 writing classes, 2 communication classes, and 2 elective classes. For Social Studies, each student must take 16 cycles of classes. Students need 8 Global courses, 4 American History, 2 Economic classes, and 2 Participation in Government classes. Mathematics requires 12 cycles, each student must complete 3 years of math, and must complete Math A. The Science Department requires students to take 12 cycles of Science. John Dewey also offers many foreign languages. When a student chooses his preferred languages, he must take the course either for 1 year (4 cycles) or for 3 years (12 cycles). Art and Music are important in the Dewey curriculum. Each student must take 2 cycles of each. Also, like in every high school, John Dewey offers health education and physical education. Each student must take 14 cycles of phys. ed. and 2 cycles of health; totaling up to 16 cycles (4 years).

John Dewey High School offers many electives. A student may want to take Dance classes, or Business Education classes. It also offers Technology, Home Economics, Health Careers and Occupations.

There is also a COOP program that senior students can be apart of. This program allows the students to be in the corporate world. They work one week and go to school the next.

Academy of Finance

John Dewey High School houses the "first" Academy of Finance, which was started by Sandy Weill in 1982. The Academy of Finance prepares students for post-secondary education and careers through a theme-based, contextualized curriculum approach. Academic learning experiences are combined with hands-on work experience to help students develop the thinking and problem-solving skills so critical to postsecondary education and career success.

The Academy of Finance introduces high school students to the broad career opportunities of the financial services industry, opening the door to new options and equipping students to make sound choices for the future. One of three member programs of the National Academy Foundation, the Academy of Finance operates as a small learning community and is located in more than 275 high schools nationwide.

At John Dewey, each student is allowed to apply for the Academy. During the Sophomore year, a student who is interested in joining the Academy, gives in his or her application and waits for an interview with Academy coordinator. The Academy of Finance is only available to Juniors and Seniors who applies during their Sophomore year.

ARISTA

ARISTA is the scholastic honor society of John Dewey High School. Applicants must have achieved an overall scholastic average of 90 or above as a student at John Dewey High School. The student must also have a record of service performed each cycle in some facility in the school.

ports

From its founding John Dewey has not fielded varsity sports teams. That lack of inter-school sports competition grew out of its educational design, meant to de-emphasize competition, winning and losing, and to encourage achievement for its own sake. The school does however have intramural athletic programs which students can take advantage of to play sports for recreation.

Notable alumni

*Mike Abrams, national satellite radio personality
* David Brody, a Member of The Elvis Duran and Z100 Morning Show on Z100
*Foxy Brown, musical artist
*Larry Charles, television/film writer, director, producer
*Gregory Crewdson, modern artist/photographer
*Eric Francis, investigative reporter and astrologer
*Elliot Goldenthal, composer
*Arthur Lander, biologist
*Spike Lee, director
*Doris Ling-Cohan, New York State Supreme Court Justice
*Michael Mandel, Chief Economist, Business Week Magazine
*Donald Margulies, playwright
*Angie Martinez, radio personality
*John Ortiz, actor
*Geoffrey Owens, actor
*Jayson Paul, professional wrestler
*Stacey Prussman, comedian and actress
*Colin Quinn, comedian and television personality
*Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., New York City Council member
* Neil Shapiro, public relations executive and former TV news journalist
*Karen Siplin, author
*Ray Suarez, journalist and author
*Michelle Ye, actress
*Eric Zaccar, Playwright, Lyricist, Screenwriter
*Jay Garcia, personality

External links

* [http://johndeweyhighschool.org/ John Dewey High School Official Website]
* [http://schools.nyc.gov/OurSchools/Region7/K540/default.htm John Dewey High School NYCDOE Page]
* [http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/StudentEnroll/HSAdmissions/HSDirectory/Book/?boro=K&lcc=K540# High School Directory Book Page]
* [http://www.NAF.org National Academy Foundation]
* [http://www.jdhsphoto.com JDHS Photography]
* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21631917186 I Attended Dewey Between 1970-80 FACEBOOK GROUP]
* [https://listhost.uchicago.edu/pipermail/haiti-news/2006-May/001592.html Haitian flag fury unfurls at High School in Brooklyn] - May 2006 article on the racist incident at the school.
* [http://www.myspace.com/johndeweyhigh The John Dewey MySpace]
* [http://members.tripod.com/dewey_people/index.html John Dewey High School Alumni Homepage:1972-75]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JohnDeweyAlumni/ John Dewey Alumni at Yahoo]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JohnDeweyPolitics/ John Dewey Alumni Political Discussions at Yahoo]