William A. Shine Great Neck South High School

William A. Shine Great Neck South High School (commonly Great Neck South, GNSHS or South High School) is an American four-year public high school. It is located in the Lake Success village of Great Neck, New York, serving students in grades 9 through 12.

William A. Shine Great Neck South High School
Address
341 Lakeville Road

Great Neck
,
New York
11020

U.S.
Information
TypeComprehensive school
Founded1958[1]
School districtGreat Neck Union Free School District[2]
PrincipalChristopher Gitz[3]
Faculty107.25 FTEs[4]
Enrollment1,222 (2018-19)[4]
Student to teacher ratio11.39[4]
Color(s)Orange and Blue   [5]
Team nameRebels
NewspaperThe Southerner
YearbookVista
WebsiteSchool website

As of the 2016–17 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,193 students and 111.56 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.69:1. There were 180 students (15% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 46 (3.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[4]

Great Neck South is one of three high schools in the Great Neck School District, which includes Great Neck North High School and Great Neck Village High School.[6] Great Neck South offers its 1,222 students academic acceleration, along with special education classes for students with disabilities. The school opened its doors in 1958, and was named Great Neck South High School until it was renamed in 2006.

Campus history and school facilities

In 1949 the School District acquired the 124-acre (0.50 km2) South complex in Lake Success from the former estate of Henry Phipps, Jr., steelmaster and one-time partner of Andrew Carnegie.[1][7][8] His mansion and 9 acres (36,000 m2) were given to the district by the Phipps heirs; the mansion is now the Phipps Administration Building.[1][7][8] The rest of the property was purchased for $279,000.[1][7][8] In 1957, South High School was built on property surrounding the administration building.[9] When the estate was donated, there was a stipulation that part of it be kept in its natural state.[9] That condition was met during construction.[9]

One of the final remaining intact portions of the Long Island Motor Parkway, the first road in the United States built solely for automobiles, runs through the campus of the High School.[10]

In 1958, Great Neck Senior High School was renamed Great Neck North High School to differentiate it from the district's new Great Neck South High School.[1][7][8] Prior to 1979, Great Neck South High School included Grades 10 through 12.[11] But in 1980, Grade 9 was added to the high school.[11] Today the school has 75 classrooms.[12] In 2006, the school was renamed to honor Dr. William A. Shine for his respected status in the Great Neck School District.[13]

In 1980 Great Neck South added the 9th grade. As of 1988 Great Neck South has open campus privileges. Great Neck South has more restrictions on its open campus than Great Neck North. Rona Telsey, a spokesperson for the district, said that while Great Neck North is near a major shopping center, Great Neck South is further away. In addition, she said that a student would need to use a car to go off-campus for lunch. Prior to 1980, all students had open campus. In 1980, the school decided that younger students at Great Neck needed more restrictions than older students. Beginning in 1980, only 11th and 12th graders at Great Neck South had open campus privileges.[14]

Mascot flag history

Great Neck South High School first opened in 1958 and adopted a school mascot. The school elected a “Confederate battle flag and a rifle-toting soldier.”[15] For decades the flag was an integral part of school spirit. Great Neck South’s Quarterback David Gurfein from the class of ‘82 recalled, “The [battle] flag was on our school ring burned into metal. We wore it in our jackets. We would go down to Middle Neck Road waving these confederate flags. We had so much team spirit, so much unity, so much energy.”[15] While the flag has ties to the Confederate South, the school and town alike did not identify it with this history but rather saw it solely as a representation of their school and spirit. A former student remembering his time at South said, “We were sort of in a Great Neck bubble.”[15] Soon enough that bubble erupted when a lynching occurred in Alabama in 1982. Shortly after learning about this incident and gaining a better understanding of the flag’s history, Gurfein attempted to have the flag removed from the school. Gurfein quickly learned that others had previously attempted the same task but the student body as a whole would not agree to the removal. Gurfein realized that he needed to take a different approach and redefined the concept of a “Rebel”. The new rebel fought tyranny and injustice, inspired by the events surrounding the Revolutionary War. With the new rebel, the student body supported this change and the battle flag was removed from Great Neck South.

Academics

Newsweek ranked Great Neck South High School 49th out of 500 in its 2011 list Best High Schools in America (the school has been cited in Newsweek's public school rankings on several other occasions).[16][17] Students are offered honors (H) and accelerated courses as well.[18] Great Neck South’s disabled students attend special education classes.[19] One of the Advanced Placement physics courses tested the audience response technology which was successful and the Great Neck School District has expanded the technology to other schools.[20]

The Sign of William A. Shine Great Neck South High School

The majority of South High students (more than 90%) achieve a B average or better.[18] However, only a small percentage of South High students (19%) were recognized as finalists or received Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.[18] 98% of recent South High School graduates entered college.[18]

Cultural Heritage

One of the most popular events at Great Neck South is Cultural Heritage Night, where students put on a two-hour extravaganza of multicultural art, theater and dance.[21]

Blazing Trails-4-Autism

Great Neck South has hosted the Blazing Trails-4-Autism on their campus.[22] In 2009 the Run/Walk was selected to be a part of the USATF-Long Island Grand Prix of Long Island Road Races.[22]

Enrollment

Demographics

The student body in the 2014–2015 school year consisted of:[23]

  • 0 American Indian or Alaska Native students or 0% of the student body
  • 28 Black or African American students or 2% of the student body
  • 105 Hispanic or Latino students or 9% of the student body
  • 607 Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students or 50% of the student body
  • 472 White students or 39% of the student body
  • 6 Multiracial students or 0% of the student body

The student population at Great Neck South is predominantly Asian American, with a large White minority and smaller Hispanic and Latino Americans and African American minorities. Approximately 128 students (11%) will be classified as Special Ed.[24] Approximately 103 (8.7%) students will be receiving TESL services.[24]

Great Neck South's total population is currently 1,198 (53.5% male, 46.5% female).[24]

  • Grade 9: 290 (2015: 271)[24]
  • Grade 10: 287 (2015: 302)[24]
  • Grade 11: 307 (2015: 299)[24]
  • Grade 12: 314 (2015: 328)[24]

From the 2016 senior class, 318 students graduated,[25] while 4 students did not.[24] However, 4 students graduated during the summer of 2016.[24]

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. District History; URL accessed October 27, 2009.
  2. NYS Admin Listing; URL accessed September 26, 2009.
  3. Principal's name; URL accessed February 27, 2019
  4. "GREAT NECK SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  5. School colors; URL accessed November 6, 2009.
  6. , accessed November 1, 2009
  7. "This is Great Neck", (The League of Women Voters of Great Neck).
  8. "Lucky 7", (Match, Richard).
  9. Henry Phipps, accessed July 26, 2011.
  10. Newman, Andy (August 8, 2014) "Duo Push For Park Path" the Great Neck Record. Retrieved May 21, 2020
  11. Schools Split on 'Open Campus' - The New York Times; URL accessed November 2, 2009.
  12. "75 classrooms"; URL accessed February 18, 2018.
  13. South High To Be Named for Bill Shine; URL accessed July 13, 2006.
  14. Saslow, Linda. "Schools Split on 'Open Campus'." The New York Times. October 23, 1988. Retrieved on October 18, 2011.
  15. "Flag History". Great Neck South High School History. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  16. "America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com". Newsweek.com. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  17. Page 2; URL accessed July 22, 2011.
  18. Great Neck Public Schools Web site, PDF document titled "Great Neck Public Schools: South High School", accessed August 9, 2020
  19. Special Education Programs in Great Neck; URL accessed August 9, 2020.
  20. Students Click, and a Quiz Becomes a Game; URL accessed July 26, 2011.
  21. Surge in Asian Enrollment Alters Schools; URL accessed July 27, 2011.
  22. Run/Walk; URL accessed November 6, 2009.
  23. Great Neck South High School, accessed December 29, 2015
  24. Data Summary for 2015-16, accessed November 15, 2016
  25. Great Neck South High School Class Of 2016, accessed November 15, 2016
  26. 6 Questions For: Fashion Influencer Danielle Bernstein; URL accessed August 7, 2020.
  27. Fischler, Marcelle S "For ‘Hairspray’ Star, ‘My Darn Dream Come True’", The New York Times, July 8, 2007. Accessed July 11, 2007. "In her sophomore year, unable to find her niche, she switched from the John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School to the Village School, the district’s alternative high school, with 50 students. After class, she joined the theater program at the William A. Shine Great Neck South High School..."
  28. "Famous Alumni From The Eighties and Nineties", Great Neck Public Schools; URL accessed August 8, 2020.
  29. "Quinn Early" at ESPN; URL accessed March 29, 2006.
  30. "Famous Great Neck Alumni From the 1960s". Great Neck Public Schools. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  31. http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2010/comedy-series
  32. https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=26978360&privcapId=6100004
  33. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willich01.shtml
  34. "Zachary Wissner-Gross wins Hertz Fellowship", Hertz Foundation, November 30, 2007. Accessed January 5, 2017. "Wissner-Gross graduated in 2003 from Great Neck South High School, Great Neck, N.Y., where he was a National Merit Scholar."

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