Richmond Hill High School (Queens)

Richmond Hill High School is a four-year public high school in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York City, part of the New York City Department of Education.

Richmond Hill High School
Location
89-30 114th Street
Richmond Hill, Queens, New York City, NY 11418
Information
SuperintendentJuan Mendez[1]
PrincipalNeil Ganesh[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,576 (2018–2019)[3]
Color(s) 
MascotLion
NewspaperDomino, Dome
YearbookArchway
Websitewww.richmondhillhs.org

History

Richmond Hill High School was founded in 1899, one year after Queens became part of New York City, in the then-bucolic setting of Richmond Hill. As such, it is the oldest high school south of Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York City. The high school shared its facility with a local elementary school on the then Johnson Avenue. In 1899, the first students were admitted to the Johnson Avenue site, and in 1919 the current site was opened on 114th street. It has been voted the 100 U.S. Best High School in 2005. Today, the school is identified by the New York State Department of Education as one of the most persistently low achieving schools within the Department of Education.

The school, built to accommodate 1,800 students, had reached an enrollment of 3,600 for the 2007–2008 school year, severely straining the school's ability to serve its students. The school's population has declined to 2,300 students.[4]

Richmond Hill High School was among over two dozen schools due to be closed from June 2012 due to persistently low academic performance.[5] According to the schools last progress report, only 58% of all students were able to graduate on time, leaving many students to drop out.[6] Responding to low academic performance, the Department of Education hired a company called "High Schools that Work" at a cost of $700,000 to help "turn around" the schools performance with little or no results. In addition to hiring a company to manage "turnaround", the Department of Education planned to develop a new school at the site called the 21st Century School of Richmond Hill to improve the school. The new school would have a literacy and technology focus designed to interest students in internet based academic work.

Recognition
  • Rudolph Giuliani, Mayor of New York, proclaimed September 24, 1997, as "Richmond Hill High School Day".

Notable alumni

References
Notes
  1. "Richmond Hill High School Information". New York City Department of Education. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  2. "Faculty and Staff Directory". Richmond Hill High School. New York City Department of Education. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  3. "Richmond Hill High School Guide". New York City Department of Education. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  4. Freedman, Samuel G. "A Queens High School With 3,600 Students, and Room for Just 1,800", The New York Times, January 16, 2008.
  5. Philips, Anna M. (April 26, 2012). "With Panel Vote, Once-Venerable City Schools Will Close". The New York Times.
  6. "Progress Reports for Richmond Hill". New York City Department of Education.
  7. Seymour Halpern, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 14, 2007.
  8. Warekar, Tanay (June 29, 2018). "NYC Pride: 25 historic LGBTQ sites to visit; Check out these must-see LGBTQ landmarks in New York City during Pride Month". Curbed NY. Retrieved August 22, 2018. "One of the pioneers of the gay rights movement in the United States, Frank Kameny grew up in this house in Richmond, Queens, and attended the Richmond Hill High School, where he graduated from in 1941."
  9. Lauper, Cyndi (September 18, 2012). A Memoir. Atria Books. p. 21 (Kindle). ISBN 978-1439147894.
  10. Blair 2005, p. 117.
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