William L. Dickinson High School

William L. Dickinson High School
Location
2 Palisade Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07306-1202
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	1906
School district	Jersey City Public Schools
Faculty	197.0 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades	9 - 12
Enrollment	2,991 (as of 2005-2006)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	15.2[1]
Athletics conference	Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association
Information	201-714-4400
Website	http://www.jcboe.org/schools/dhs.aspx
Jersey City High School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Registered Historic Place #1514
Coordinates:	40°43′48″N 74°03′13″W / 40.73°N 74.05361°W / 40.73; -74.05361Coordinates: 40°43′48″N 74°03′13″W / 40.73°N 74.05361°W / 40.73; -74.05361
Area:	11 acres (4.5 ha)
Built:	1906
Architect:	John T. Rowland
Architectural style:	Beaux Arts
Governing body:	Jersey City Board of Education
NRHP Reference#:	82003275[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	June 1, 1982
Designated NJRHP:	December 23, 1981

Overlooking lower Jersey City

William L. Dickinson High School is a four-year public high school located in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of the Jersey City Public Schools. Dickinson occupies a prominent location on Bergen Hill overlooking lower Jersey City and the New York Harbor.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,991 students and 197.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 15.2. The largest school in Hudson County, its student population is 48% Hispanic, 23% Asian, 16% African American, and 11% Caucasian.^[1]

The school was the 295th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2008 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools. The school was ranked 291st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.^[3]

History

Originally named 'Jersey City High School', the property was purchased in 1904 and the new building opened on September 6, 1906, in an attempt to relieve overcrowding in the city's public schools.^[4] It was the first public secondary school in the city.^[5] When the school opened, it housed a 2,000 seat auditorium that saw extensive public use, and hosted such events as a lecture by Helen Keller and political rallies for United States Presidents Taft, Wilson, and Roosevelt.^[5] The original school was expanded with the construction of a second building in 1912 to further industrial skills education. This building contained a foundry, print shop, and vocational classrooms.^[5] In 1913, the school was renamed William L. Dickinson High School for the superintendent who had advocated for creation of the school during his term from 1872 to 1883.^[4] The school was expanded again in 1933 with the addition of an annex containing a swimming pool, cafeteria, and gymnasium.^[5]

A testament to the school's age, the rear of the building is the site of a late 1800s-era cannon mount built to protect the Hudson River shoreline from early invaders. Given the location of the cannon and the associated technology of the time, its doubted that the cannon would ever have been effective as a defensive emplacement. While the cannon has since been removed, the original mounting remains and is now the site of a black-granite monument to the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In 1946, teachers went on strike.^[6]

William L. Dickinson High School, used to be a war ground and there was a hidden tunnel,which still exist today. Last year 4 teahers went down there to see if the rumors were true about there being ghosts. One of the teachers had brought a oujia board to summon the army men that had die. That day 3 of the teachers had dissappeared and one of them lost an arm. The video footage of this event is with the Jersey Police Department. The teachers were told to keep quiet about this event, for they don't want any students to go down there and risk their lives.

Awards and recognition

In 2002–03, students Juliet R. Girard and Roshan D. Prabhu won the team competition of the Siemens Westinghouse Competition for "Identification and High Resolution Mapping of Flowering Time Genes in Rice." The duo shared a $100,000 scholarship with their victory.^[7]

In 2007, Abdullah Anwar, a student was recognized as a semi-finalist in the 2007 New Jersey Business Idea Competition conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University.^[8]

Athletics

The William L. Dickinson High School rams compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association (HCIAA), which includes 22 private and parochial high schools in Hudson County. The league operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).^[9]

The Dickinson High School boys basketball team won the 2000 Public Sectionals - North I, Group IV, edging Memorial High School 43-41 in the tournament final.^[10]

In 2008 the boys cross country team (the "Wolf Pack") placed 4th in the North Jersey Section 2, Group IV state championships. In 2009 the boys soccer team went on to the state tournament after defeating Kerney highschool (5-2).Continuing to Elizabeth highschool winning (3-0),Westfield highscool (2-1),Columbia highschool (3-2).Up to the state finals losing against Ridge highschool (2-0)http://www.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=5624335 .In the first time of William L.Dickinson highschool history the boys varsity soccer team made it to state finals under the coaching of Rene "Toro" Portillo and Tom Whorley,resulting in a record of 17-8-0 ,and runner up of Boys Soccer - North II, Group IV , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 25, 2009.</ref> The Dickinson Rams football team was given a head coach named Rich Glover who used to play as an defensive lineman for the New York Giants. However due to poor records, after the 2009 season, the William L. Dickinson High School Football team was removed as an extra curricular activity.

The 2009 Boys Volleyball Team won the Jersey City Public Schools Championship, and went on to the North New Jersey State tournament as the 20th seed, but however lost to Bloomfield High School in the first round.

Notable alumni

• Al Blozis (1919–1945), player for the New York Giants killed during World War II.^[11]
• The Duprees, 60s group formed by students (president Sidra) from the school.^[12]
• Dom Flora (born 1935), played college basketball for Washington and Lee University from 1954 to 1958 and graduated as NCAA Division I's fifth–highest scorer.^[13][14]
• Ed Franco (1915–1992), played football on the 1936 Fordham University team as one of the "Seven Blocks of Granite".^[15]
• James J. Galdieri (1900–1948), served in the New Jersey General Assembly.^[16]
• Mary Teresa Norton (1875–1959), served 13 consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1925 to 1951.^[17]
• Mary Philbrook (1872–1958), first female attorney in New Jersey.^[18]
• Eliu Rivera, represents District 4 on the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders.^[19]
• Eddie August Schneider (1911–1940), set the transcontinental air speed record for pilots under the age of twenty-one in 1930.^[20]
• Alexander Simpson (1872–1953), served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature.^[21]
• Joe Sulaitis (born 1921), running back for the New York Giants of the NFL from 1943 to 1953.^[22]
• Michelle Rodriguez Actress^{[citation needed]}

Dress Code

The school requires its students to wear school uniforms.^[23] The uniform requires the students to wear a black Dickinson High School polo, black or khaki pants, and sneakers or shoes

See also

• Five Corners, Jersey City
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hudson County, New Jersey

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} William L. Dickinson High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed August 14, 2008.
2. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Listings". http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=36. Retrieved 2010-02-25. 
3. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
4. ^ ^{a b} Dickinson High School, accessed January 6, 2007.
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Goodnough, Abby (October 6, 1996). "Once Upon a Time, When High Schools Were Palaces". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/once-upon-a-time-when-high-schools-were-palaces.html. Retrieved October 14, 2009. 
6. ^ "400 of Dickinson High School, Jersey City, Join Others in Protest on Hours". New York Times. December 18, 1946. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C16F9345E1B7B93CAA81789D95F428485F9. Retrieved 2007-10-31. "The ranks of striking high school pupils here were enlarged today when 400 pupils of the William L. Dickinson High School left their classes in sympathy with the 1,000 ..." 
7. ^ Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science, and Technology, accessed November 22, 2006.
8. ^ 2007 New Jersey Business Idea Competition, Fairleigh Dickinson University, accessed May 6, 2007.
9. ^ Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 15, 2007. Archived September 27, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ 2000 Public Sectionals - North I, Group IV, NJSIAA, accessed May 6, 2007.
11. ^ Thomas, Robert McG., Jr. "Two Giants Were Heroes Far From Playing Field", The New York Times, January 26, 1991. Accessed September 25, 2009. "Blozis, who was born in Garfield, N.J., and was a star athlete at Dickinson High School in Jersey City before going to Georgetown on a track scholarship, was regarded as the strongest player in professional football and had the physique to prove it."
12. ^ Nelson, Jennifer L. "You, Me, & The Duprees", New Jersey Monthly, January 2008. Accessed June 23, 2008.
13. ^ "Jersey City's Bob Hurley Elected to Hoop Hall of Fame". Bob Hurley Hall of Fame Issue (Printable Editon). Volume 23, No. 2. Jedsey Journal. April 2010. http://jedseyjournal.com/. Retrieved 2 June 2010. 
14. ^ "Dominick A. (Dom) Flora '58". Washington and Lee University. http://www.wlu.edu/x2301.xml. Retrieved 2 June 2010. 
15. ^ Ed "Devil Doll" Franco, College Football Hall of Fame. Accessed July 22, 2007. "Ed Franco came from Dickinson High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Fordham."
16. ^ Staff. "JAMES J. GALDIERI; Ex-Assemblyman From Hudson County Dies in Home at 47", The New York Times, April 28, 1944. Accessed May 20, 2009.
17. ^ Mary Teresa Norton, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 15, 2007.
18. ^ Mary Philbrook, 1872-1958, accessed May 6, 2007. "Mary Philbrook was born in Washington, D. C. in 1872 but her family moved to Jersey City by the time she was six. She attended Public School #11 (now Martin Luther King, Jr. School) and then Jersey City High School (now Dickinson High School)."
19. ^ Rivera.htm Freeholder Eliu Rivera - District 4, Hudson County, New Jersey. Accessed September 25, 2009.
20. ^ "Biography of Eddie August Schneider (1911-1904) written to accompany his papers deposited at the George H. Williams, World War I Aviation Library at the University of Texas at Dallas". Gretchen Hahnen (1902-1986). 1948. http://base.google.com/base/a/1215166/6794086788165097332. Retrieved 2007-08-21. "Eddie Schneider was born October 20, 1911 on Second Avenue, and 17th Street in New York City. Later his family moved to Red Bank, New Jersey where he attended grade school. From there his family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey and he graduated from Dickinson High School. ..." 
21. ^ "A. Simpson, Figure in Hall-Mills Case". The New York Times, July 21, 1953. Accessed September 25, 2009.
22. ^ Joe Sulaitis, database Football. Accessed October 1, 2007.
23. ^ "Our Uniform Policy - Dickinson High School." Jersey City Public Schools. Retrieved on March 9, 2009.

External links

• William L. Dickinson High School
• Jersey City Public Schools
• Jersey City Public Schools's 2009–10 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for William L. Dickinson High School, National Center for Education Statistics
• DHS January,1955 48th Reunion Web Site
• Hudson County listings at the National Register of Historic Places