Brooklyn Technical High School: Encyclopedia - Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn Technical High School is one of three original high schools making up the specialized high school circuit in New York City; the other two orignials being the Bronx High School of Science and Stuyvesant High School. Three new schools have recently been added to that list; the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College, the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, and the Queens High School for the Sciences at York College. Brooklyn Technical High School is reknown for its Math, Science, and Engineering programs. "Brooklyn Tech," as the school is commonly known, has the largest enrollment of the six schools and is the sixth largest school in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report. It is a member of the NCSSSMST. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education, and admission is by competitive examination and there is no tuition fee. The school is noted for its famous alumni, its academics, and the large number of graduates attending prestigious universities.

Brooklyn Technical High School - History

Brooklyn Technical High School - The original plan

In 1918, Dr. Albert L. Colston, as chair of the Math Department at Manual Training HS, recommended the establishment of a technical high school for Brooklyn boys. His plan envisioned a school with a heavy concentration of courses in math, science, and drafting with parallel paths leading either to college or to a technical career in industry. By 1922, Dr. Colston’s concept was approved by the Board of Education and Brooklyn Technical High School opened in a converted warehouse at 49 Flatbush Avenue Extension with 2,400 students.

Brooklyn Technical High School - The building

Brooklyn Tech would occupy one more residence before settling into its current building. In 1930, as the Great Depression began, the ground breaking for the current building occurred. The school, at 12 stories high and at a cost of $6 million, opened in 1933. The school's physical offerings included two gyms, one indoor track, a pool, tens of shops and drawing rooms, a foundry, a recording studio, a broadcasting antenna, a recital hall, a library with fireplaces, a courtyard and a 3000-seat auditorium. Brooklyn Tech's founder and first principal, Dr. Colston, had an apartment built for himself in the tower of the building, and was the only person to ever live inside Brooklyn Tech.

Brooklyn Tech's radio antenna is 456 feet tall, and when added to the hight of the building itself (145 feet), makes it the tallest structure in Brooklyn at 597 feet high (Exceeding the height of the 512 foot tall Williamsburg Savings Bank).

In 1934, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), which later became the Works Projects Administration (WPA), commissioned artist Maxwell B. Starr to paint a mural in the foyer depicting the evolution of man and science throughout history.

Brooklyn Technical High School - The early academics

One of the unique features of Brooklyn Tech is its system of specialization. When Dr. Colston envisioned Tech, it was to be an elite vocational high school. Its graduates would be able to get the top jobs of their day upon graudation. Thus, the curriculum consisted of two years of general studies with a technical and mechanical emphasis followed by two years of specialization.

The curriculum would remain mainly unchanged until the end of Dr. Colston's term as principal in 1942, after 20 years at the helm. After his retirement, Tech was led briefly by Acting Principal Ralph Breiling, who was succeeded by Principal Harold Taylor in 1944. Tech's modernization would come under Principal William Pabst, who became principal in 1946 after serving as chair of the Electrical Department. Under his stewardship, he created new majors and refined older ones as students were able to major in Aeronautics, Architecture, Chemistry, Electrical and Electronics, Industrial Design, Mechanical Technology, Structural Technology, and Technical College Prep.

Brooklyn Technical High School - Tech becomes specialized and beyond

Principal Pabst retired in 1964 and in August of 1965, a ten-year-old boy named Carl Johnson drowned in the swimming pool at Brooklyn Tech while swimming with his day-camp group. The next year, more than 30 graduating Seniors in the school (including many student leaders) complained that the Tech curriculum was old and outdated. Their primary complaint was that the curriculum was geared towards the small minority of students that were not planning on attending college. In 1967 the schools of New York City got to view television in the classrooms for the first time, thanks to the station WNYE, located in the transmitter center on top of Brooklyn Tech.

1968 was a turbulent year at Tech, when Principal Auerback fought against 200 students who had went against the dress code and worn jeans to school. They were lectured on discipline by Dean Jack Feuerstein, and sent to the auditorium where they spent the day studying. In early February, 300 students at Tech protested outside in support of the Vietnam War, with students holding signs that said "Support The Boys in Vietnam" and "Bomb Hanoi".

In May of 1969, 60 students were suspended in what was called the biggest mass suspension ever in New York City's Public School system. The suspensions came about when three students were first suspended for hanging a picture of Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panther leader, in the Cafeteria. To protest the suspension of these three students, 60 others refused to go to their classes in protest, and they too, were suspended by Principal Isidor Auerback.

In 1972, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant High School, and La Guardia High School of Arts become incorporated by the New York State Legislature as specialized high schools of New York City. The act called for an uniformed exam to be administered for admission to Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, and Stuyvesant. The exam would become known as the Specialized Science High Schools Admission Test (SSHSAT) and tested students in math and science.

With its statewide recognition, the school had to become co-educational starting a new era for Tech. Dr. Colston's vision of a school for Brooklyn boys is now a school for New York City students of both genders.

In 1973, Tech celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a dinner-dance at the Waldorf Astoria. Also included in the anniversary festivities was the erection of a monument, complete with a time capsule buried beneath it, in the North courtyard. The monument has eight panels and each panel has a unique design that represented each of the eight majors that Tech had at that point.

Techonological advances again changed Tech's character in 1976, as Graphics Communications became the latest major in order to prepare students in a changing world.

In 1983, Matt Mandery is appointed principal. His appointment to principal made him the first Tech alumni to guide the school, and in 1984 under his leadership and guidance Tech received the Excellence in Education award from the United States Department of Education. As the Alumni Association is formally created, coalitions are formed with the NYC Department of Transportation and the local business-university community.

Following Dr. Mandery, John Tobin is appointed Principal in 1987 and over the next five years Tech sees the Bio-Med major added to its curriculum, but at the same time the Material Science Department is abolished and the 7th floor foundry is closed. The man who leads the school at present is Dr. Lee D. McCaskill, who was appointed Principal in 1992.

Since the year 2001 to Present, Brooklyn Tech has been undergoing many modenizations and renovations. The most noticeable one is the renovation of the school's library entrance located on the 5th Floor center section, which is named the "William L. Mack Library". The renovation gives the library a "new look" from the outside, and at the same time preserving its old-fashioned structures, wooden tables, paintings, and book shelves on the inside. The Library, just recently had 2 Computer Labs added where students and teachers can: send/receive email, browse the web, do research, and print documents. In addition to the computer labs, all the books in the library are digitally cataloged. Students and Staff can check the library's current holdings via the 4 OPAQ terminals, and at any station connected to the internet. This new system, similar to that of which the Public Libraries use, was initially set up by Chia Hung, Chu who is a tech alumni from the Class of 2003. Asides from the library, many of the aging and old computer equipment in the classrooms and computer labs have been replaced with brand new [Dell®] Pentium 4 machines, made possible through various grants offered by Caretech, the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Association, and other Tech Alumnus and Organizations. Classes were held during the 2005 NYC Transit Strike [1].

Brooklyn Technical High School - Notable alumni

The following alumni have been inducted into Brooklyn Tech's Hall of Fame.

• Albert L. Colstron
• Harry Chapin
• Col. Karol J. Bobko
• Dr. Frank A. Cipriani
• Adam J. Cirillo
• Joseph J. Jacobs
• Donald L. Klein
• Joseph J. Kohn
• Sgt. Meyer Levin
• Harvey Lichtenstein
• William L. Mack
• Saverio Morea
• Arno A. Penzias
• Leonard Riggio
• Dr. Steven P. Shearing
• Charles B. Wang
• Josh S. Weston
• Lou Ferrigno

Brooklyn Technical High School - Feeder patterns and admissions

All New York City students entering high school have the option of applying to one of the City's 200+ public high schools, although there is a zone school for each neighborhood in the City.

The New York City Specialized Science High Schools Admissions Test (SSHSAT or SHSAT) is offered to all eighth and ninth graders in New York City who wish to take it. The results of the test determine whether a student can get into one of New York City's six specialized science high schools (although only Tech, Bronx Science, and Stuyvesant are state chartered).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Brooklyn Technical High School", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki