Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School (commonly
Stuy) is a
public high school in
New York City that specializes in
math and
science. It is one of the
specialized high schools run by the
New York City Department of Education. The school opened in 1904 on
Manhattan's East Side, and has since moved to a new building in
Battery Park City. The school is noted for its
famous alumni, (including four
Nobel laureates) its strong academic programs, and the large percentage of its graduates who attend prestigious universities.
Classes were in session at Stuyvesant when a terrorist attack destroyed the nearby
World Trade Center towers, and the school building served as a command post for several weeks afterwards. The school was temporarily relocated and shared facilities with
Brooklyn Technical High School until it could return to its own building. The special issue of the
The Stuyvesant Spectator on the tragedy was reprinted in
The New York Times.
Stuyvesant High School routinely engages well-known cultural, academic, and political figures to speak at its annual
commencement ceremonies. Former U.S. President
Bill Clinton addressed the Class of 2002; former General Electric Chairman and CEO
Jack Welch addressed the Class of 2003; United Nations Secretary General
Kofi Annan addressed the Class of 2004; and late night talk show host
Conan O'Brien addressed the Class of 2006.
The school only admitted boys for 65 years. Since 1969, Stuyvesant has been a
coeducational school, and in the construction of its Battery Park City building in 1992, the facilities for girls were upgraded to be on par with those for boys.
Admission to Stuyvesant is by
competitive examination and is open to all residents of New York City with no
tuition fee. There has been a friendly long-standing rivalry between Stuyvesant and the
Bronx High School of Science over students' awards from the
Intel Science Talent Search, with both schools claiming dominance at various times.
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Postcard art featuring the 15th Street Stuyvesant building |
Stuyvesant High School is named after
Peter Stuyvesant, the last
Dutch governor of
New Netherland before the ownership of the colony was transferred to
England in 1664.
The school was established in 1904 as a
manual training school for boys, hosting 155 students and 12 teachers. In 1907, it moved from its original location at 225 East
23rd Street to 345 East 15th Street, where it remained for the following 85 years. Its reputation for excellence in math and science continued to grow, and enrollment was restricted based on previous scholastic achievement starting in 1919.
The school went on a double session plan in 1919 to accommodate the rising number of students. The practice allowed double use of classroom space, with some students attending in the morning and others in the afternoon and early evening. All students still studied a full set of courses. Double sessions would run until 1956.
In the 1930s, entrance examinations were implemented, making admission to the school even more competitive. During the 1950s, the building underwent a $2 million renovation to update its classrooms, shops, libraries and cafeterias.
In 1957, a team of 50 students began construction of a
cyclotron, a project sponsored by the physics department. By 1962, a low-power test of the device succeeded. Matt Deming '62 remembered that a later attempt at full-power operation "tanked the electrical system for the building and surrounding area".
According to Abraham Baumel, Stuyvesant principal from 1983 to 1994, "... I can tell you with certainty that the cyclotron never worked at Stuyvesant any more than it did for
Ernest Lawrence, and he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his invention of the cyclotron. The Russians never succeeded in getting one to work, either".
|
Teacher Alfred Bender with the cyclotron |
In 1969, 14 girls enrolled at Stuyvesant, marking the school's first co-educational year. Now, approximately 43% of students are female.
In 1972, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts were chosen by the New York State Legislature as specialized high schools of New York City. The act called for a uniform exam to be administered for admission to Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science and Stuyvesant High School. The exam, named the
Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT), tested students in math and science. Admission to LaGuardia High School was by audition rather than examination, in keeping with its artistic mission.
In 1992, a new, waterfront building was constructed to house the high school (see
school facilities).
Stuyvesant is a quarter-mile (approx. 400 metres) from
the former site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed on
September 11, 2001. The school was evacuated during the ordeal and the students were temporarily relocated to Brooklyn Tech starting
September 21 while the Stuyvesant building was used as one of several bases of operations by rescue and recovery workers. This caused serious congestion at Brooklyn Tech and required the students to go to school in two shifts. Normal classes resumed three weeks later on
October 9.
 |
The 9/11 issue of The Spectator. |
Because of Stuyvesant's close proximity to
Ground Zero, some were initially concerned about the possibility of
asbestos exposure to Stuyvesant. Indeed, the Stuyvesant High School Parents' Association has contested that the
US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) initial suggestion that the area was safe is not accurate.
However, the EPA indicated at that time that Stuyvesant was safe from asbestos, and had conducted a thorough cleaning of the Stuyvesant building. Some problems have been reported, including respiratory problems of former teacher Mark Bodenheimer, who accepted a transfer to The Bronx High School of Science after having difficulty continuing his work at Stuyvesant. Other isolated cases similar to Bodenheimer's have been reported. Nonetheless, there is no definite evidence that such cases relate to Stuyvesant at all, and current exposure to asbestos at Stuyvesant is improbable, due to it having dissipated in the atmosphere.
Alumni who were killed during the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center include Daniel D. Bergstein '80
, Alan Wayne Friedlander '67
, Marina R. Gertsberg '93
, Aaron J. Horwitz '94
, David S. Lee '82
, Arnold A. Lim '90
, Gregory D. Richards '88
,
Maurita Tam '97
and Michael Warchola '68
.
Richard Ben-Veniste '60 was on the
9/11 Commission.
On
October 2 2001, the school paper,
The Spectator, included a special full-color 9/11 insert containing student photos, reflections and stories. The insert was reprinted in the
November 20 2001 issue of
The New York Times.
 |
With Their Eyes |
In the months after 9/11, Annie Thoms, an English teacher at Stuyvesant, a 1993 alumna, and the theater adviser at the time, suggested that the students take accounts of staff and students' reactions during and after 9/11 and turn them into a series of monologues. Thoms then published these monologues as
With Their Eyes: September 11th â€" The View from a High School at Ground Zero (ISBN 0060517182). Alexander Epstein of
The Stuyvesant Standard , an independent newspaper serving the school's community, contributed the section
Out of the Blue to the book
At Ground Zero: Young Reporters Who Were There Tell Their Stories (ISBN 1560254270).
In the early 2000s, Gary He '02 started the now-defunct stuynet.com, a website where students could rate their teachers, although he later shut down the evaluation section after mathematics teacher Bruce Winokur threatened a libel suit. Words left on the website read "Teacher Evaluations is currently down but will soon be back better than ever. The vox populi must be heard".
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Stuyvesant centennial logo |
When Stuyvesant's official web site crashed on
September 11 2001, and during the days right after, Gary He's website was the only online source of information and moral support for the distraught Stuyvesant community. Stuynet.com now lives on under its new alias, stuycom.net.
During the 2003-2004 school year, Stuyvesant celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding with a full year of activities. Events included a parade from the 15
th Street building to the Chambers Street one; a meeting of the
National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology; an all-class reunion; and visits and speeches from notable alumni.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke at the graduation of Stuyvesant's class of 2004.
Stuyvesant has a total enrollment of about 3,200 and is open to residents of New York City entering either
ninth or
tenth grade. Enrollment is based solely on performance on the
Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT).
The list of schools using the SHSAT has since grown to include all of New York's specialized high schools except LaGuardia High School, where entry is by audition rather than examination. Since its relocation to its
Battery Park City campus, the test score necessary for admission to Stuyvesant has been higher than that needed for admission to the other schools using the test.
Admission is currently based on an individual's score on the examination and his or her pre-submitted ranking of Stuyvesant among the other specialized schools. Each year, about 22,000 of New York City's 90,000
eighth-graders sit for the test, with only approximately 800 highest scoring applicants are admitted to their first choice school. Ninth and rising tenth graders are also eligible to take the test for enrollment, though far fewer students are admitted this way.
 |
View of the Stuyvesant building from the corner of West and Chambers Streets. The Tribeca Bridge is in the foreground. |
Those who score in the second-highest score bracket are offered admission to their second-choice school, while those who score in the third-highest bracket are offered admission to their third choice school. According to Article 12 of New York education law, "Admissions to the Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, and Brooklyn Technical High School shall be solely and exclusively by taking a competitive, objective, and scholastic achievement examination, which shall be open to each and every child in the city of New York".
The current admission policy is available from the NYC Department of Education.
According to the Department of Education, Stuyvesant accepts students solely based on their performance on the SHSAT, although former Mayor
John Lindsay and community activist group
ACORN have argued that the exam may be biased against
African and
Hispanic Americans.
Stuyvesant has contributed to the education of several
Nobel laureates, winners of the
Fields Medal and the
Wolf Prize, and a host of other accomplished alumni. It consistently leads the nation in the number of
National Merit Scholarships awarded and regularly trades off the leading position in the number of Intel Science Talent Search Semi-Finalists and Finalists with Bronx Science.
Stuyvesant, along with other similar schools, has regularly been excluded from Newsweek's annual list of the Top 100 Public High Schools. The May 8, 2006, issue states the reason as being, "because so many of their students score well above average on the SAT and ACT."
.
Stuyvesant sends nearly all its students off to four year universities, and around 15 percent go on to the
Ivy League. Stuyvesant graduates have an average
SAT score of about 1400 (685 verbal, 723 math).
Recently, there were two students who achieved perfect scores on their SAT I and SAT II tests, an unusual accomplishment. Stuyvesant also was the high school with the highest number of
Advanced Placement exams taken, and also the highest number of students reaching the mastery level.
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Interior of the library, showing the new computers that were installed in late 2005. |
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The seventh-to-ninth floor escalators. |
By the 1980s, the East 15th Street building was no longer a quality educational facility by modern standards, and the number of students had also increased to several thousand and could not be accommodated by the five-story building. The New York City Board of Education secured an agreement with the Battery Park City Authority for a new building, and construction began in 1989. The new ten-floor building, located near lower Manhattan's
financial district, was constructed at a cost of about $148 million, and included 65 classrooms with about 450 computers on 13 networks, 7 pairs of
escalators, various indoor sporting facilities including two and a pool built to
Public Schools Athletic League standards, a theater with acoustics and lighting to accommodate music and drama productions, two lecture halls with movable partitions, a skylit
cafeteria overlooking the
Hudson River, 12 science laboratories (including a
molecular biology lab and an
analytical chemistry lab) and special shops for instruction in
ceramics,
photography,
wood,
plastics,
metal work,
robotics and energy studies. One room in the Stuyvesant building, called the "Museum Room", was built as a replica of a room in the 15
th Street Stuyvesant building, with desks, chairs, a table and blackboard brought from there, as well as paint and flooring in its style. The room was dedicated to teacher Dr. A. Edward Stefanacci, who died in 1993. The school's library has a capacity of 40,000 volumes and overlooks Battery Park City.
The New York City Department of Education reports that public per student spending at Stuyvesant is slightly lower than the city average.
However, Stuyvesant also receives some private contributions.
Shortly after the new building was completed, the $10 million TriBeCa Bridge was built to allow students to enter the building without having to cross the busy West Street.
The new building is one of the 5 additional sites of P721M, a school for older (aged 15-21) students with multiple
disabilities and
mental retardation. Wheelchair-bound students can sometimes be seen throughout the building. Some teachers remark on the unusual
juxtaposition of the
gifted with the disabled.
Glass boxes set into various places in the building's wall hold mementos from the year of each graduating class. Items displayed include water from most large rivers, mud from the
Dead Sea, a
Revolutionary War button, pieces of the 15
th Street Stuyvesant building and of monuments around the world, and various chemical compounds. In 1997, the eastern end of the mathematics floor (in which the math department office is located) was dedicated to Dr. Richard Rothenberg, the math department chairman before his death from a sudden heart attack in 1997. The Rothenberg memorial, commissioned in his honor, is a wall made up of 49 of these boxes, each featuring a concept in mathematics.
Stuyvesant students undergo a
college preparatory curriculum including four years of
English,
history, and a laboratory-based
science, three years of
math (though most students opt to take four years) and foreign language, a semester each of introductory
art,
music,
health,
computer science, and two lab-based technology courses (although there are several exemptions by which students may be excused from technology education in their senior years).
Stuyvesant offers students a broad selection of elective courses. Some of the more unusual offerings include robotics,
physics of music,
astronomy, and the mathematics of
financial markets.
Most students take
calculus, and the school offers math courses through
differential equations and
linear algebra. A year of
technical drawing used to be required; students learned how to draft by hand in its first semester and how to draft using a computer (CAD) in the second. Now, students take a one-semester class called Technology Graphic Communications (equivalent to the former year of drafting), and a semester of introductory computer science in order to introduce the mainly science-oriented students to computer programming early in their careers.
 |
Entrance from the TriBeCa Bridge |
A variety of Advanced Placement courses (31 are available at Stuyvesant
) offer students the chance to earn college credits. A few students earn enough college credit to start college as sophomores. In 2004, Stuyvesant began complying with Department of Education regulations mandating that
Advanced Placement courses be weighted by a factor of 1.1 in
grade point averages. However, this caused widespread outcry among students, faculty, and teachers, and in 2005, Stuyvesant was granted special permission to revert the weight of AP courses back to 1.
Computer science enthusiasts can take two additional computer programming courses after the completion of advanced placement computer science: systems level programming and
computer graphics. There is also a 2 year
computer networking sequence which can earn students
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification.
Stuyvesant's foreign language offerings rival those of many colleges, including the basics like
French and
Spanish as well as
German,
Latin,
Hebrew,
Japanese, and
Italian. In 2000,
Mandarin Chinese and
Korean for native speakers were introduced in response to Stuyvesant's burgeoning
Asian American population. Courses are also offered in
Arabic and
Greek, but these courses, along with Korean, may only be taken as electives.
Stuyvesant's
Biology and Geo-science department offers courses in molecular biology (a course sequence comprised of a molecular science class in the Fall and a molecular genetics class in the Spring),
human physiology,
medical ethics, medical and veterinary diagnosis, human disease,
anthropology and
sociobiology,
vertebrate zoology,
laboratory techniques, medical human
genetics,
botany, the molecular basis of cancer, nutrition science, and
psychology. The Chemistry and Physics department offers
organic chemistry,
physical chemistry, astronomy,
engineering mechanics, and
electronics.
Although primarily known for its strength in math and science, Stuyvesant is also home to a robust music program and offers students ten music groups, ranging from a symphony
orchestra and
jazz ensemble to a chamber
choir. Comprehensive programs in the
humanities offer students courses in British and classical literature,
philosophy,
existentialism,
debate,
acting,
journalism, and a host of
creative writing and
poetry classes. The history core requires a year of
ancient,
European and
American history, as well as a semester of
economics and
government. Humanities electives include American
foreign policy,
civil and
criminal law,
Jewish history, "
prejudice and
persecution", "
race,
ethnicity and
gender issues", small business
management, and
Wall Street.
Stuyvesant has recently entered into an agreement with
City College of New York, in which the college funds advanced after-school courses that are taken for college credit but taught by Stuyvesant teachers. Some of these courses include physical chemistry, linear algebra, advanced Euclidean geometry, and women's history.
Grade point averages at Stuyvesant are calculated to two decimal places; some argue that the distinction is overly fine and encourages excessive grade competition, while others use the theory of
significant digits to argue that they are irrelevant. Nevertheless, the practice continues. The practice is not entirely unprecedented; in calculations for honors and other designations, the
University of Chicago calculates grade point averages to four decimal places.
Sports
Stuyvesant fields 26
varsity teams, including a
swimming team, as well as
golf,
bowling,
volleyball,
soccer,
basketball,
gymnastics,
wrestling,
fencing,
baseball/
softball,
handball,
tennis,
track/
cross country,
cricket and
football teams. In addition, Stuyvesant club teams include boys' varsity and junior varsity, and girls' varsity
Ultimate teams. The Stuyvesant Track and Field team were
Public Schools Athletic League Cross Country City Champions in 2004 and 2005. The Stuyvesant Swimming Team, the Pirates, have been PSAL City Champions consecutively since 2000 and Opens champions since 1995. The Stuyvesant Bowling Team has been the PSAL Manhattan Borough Champion consecutively since 1990. The girls soccer team, the Mimbas, brought home the City Championship title in 2001, 2004, and 2005, despite a severe lack of practice space and lack of a home field.
Unlike most American high schools, every sports team at Stuyvesant has its own name, like the Peaches (softball), the Ballers (boys soccer), the Penguins (girls swimming), the Phoenix (girls basketball), and the Mimbas (girls soccer). These names tend to change with time and lend each Stuyvesant team a unique flavor.
In 2000, Stuyvesant added a varsity ice hockey team, the first public school in New York City to do so. The team was run by students without administrative assistance for several years. There is also an annual alumni game, where notable Stuyvesant alumni hockey players such as Tim Robbins and Len Berman often appear. The team has been in first place in its 8-team
Chelsea Piers league every year, though it often plays teams from outside the league. Stuyvesant is also a powerhouse in fencing with a string of city championships from 1986 through 1989. Stuyvesant does not, however, have a football field, baseball field, or tennis court, though the new building does have a pool.
Clubs
Stuyvesant offers clubs, publications, teams and other opportunities under a system similar to that of many colleges. It hosts over 200 clubs ranging from "PottyRings", a club dedicated to
Harry Potter and the
Lord of the Rings, to Pink LEMONed, a Japanese rock culture club, to Help the Helpless, dedicated to community service, and the Robotics Team, which competes in the international
FIRST Robotics Competition.
The
speech and debate team is nationally recognized and arguably one of Stuyvesant's most successful teams, with a 25+ year history of winning national championship tournaments on both individual and team levels. Other debating clubs include
Junior State of America (a political debate club) and
Model United Nations. The Stuyvesant Theater Community puts on three student-run productions a year (a fall
musical, a winter
drama, and a spring
comedy) as well as a one-act festival and several smaller studio productions.
Publications
 |
Math Survey, Stuyvesant's resident mathematics publication |
Stuyvesant hosts 25 publications, including many departmental
magazines.
The Spectator
The Spectator is Stuyvesant's official school
newspaper. It contains 11 sections: news, features,
op-ed, arts & entertainment, sports, photography, art, layout, copy, business, and web. The departments are each headed by at least two editors, all of whom encompass the editorial board of the paper. The editorial board meets daily in the Spectator
journalism class and is headed by the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor. At the start of their term, the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor select four editors to be members of the Managing Board, a group that advises the Editor in Chief and Managing Editor on matters relating to the paper. There are over 250 total staff members who help to produce the bi-weekly publication. The Spectator is independent from the school, but it remains the prime news source for students, teachers, and adminstrators.
The Spectator, founded in 1915, is one of Stuyvesant's oldest publications.
It has a long-standing connection with its older namesake,
Columbia University's Columbia Daily Spectator, and it has been recognized by the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's Columbia Scholastic Press Association on several occasions, most recently in 2002.
The Stuyvesant Standard
Founded in 2001,
The Stuyvesant Standard is a bi-weekly, independent newspaper published by Stuyvesant students for the community in and around the school. It covers news at school, city, state, national and international levels and contains "interest sections" such as Business, Science, Literary and Puzzle (Leisure), alongside the standard departments of Opinions, Sports, and Arts & Entertainment. Always a laboratory for innovative columns, its current columns include: "Meet This Teacher," "The Critical Lens," a space on students' opinions, "Sports Beat" and "Tomorrow's Technology Today." The Standard is distributed within Stuyvesant and throughout the surrounding community.
Despite its youth, The Standard is now one of the largest organizations at Stuyvesant. Its alumni remain close to the current staff and are very active in the paper.
Other publications
Caliper, Stuyvesant's biannual literary magazine. Caliper is one of the oldest high school literary publications in the nation, and along with monthly open mic sessions, helps the Stuyvesant literary community flourish in an environment focusing on math and science.
Indicator, the Stuyvesant year book.
Math Survey, the annual Math Department publication. Many of Stuyvesant's notable mathematicians were first published in Math Survey. The
1948 edition is available online.
Political Fire: An unofficial newspaper started in 2006 which deals solely with political issues.
The Broken Escalator: A now-defunct humor publication, which has not been printed since 2005.
Academic Teams
Stuyvesant's academic teams include its nationally recognized Speech and Debate team,
Quiz Bowl,
chess, science olympiad, and math, which regularly compete successfully at major regional, national, and — at least in the case of the math team — international tournaments. A FIRST Robotics team, called Stuypulse,
was founded in 2000 and has since won the New York City Regional ('03), and the New York Chairman's Award ('05). Stuyvesant also has a
Model United Nations team, a JSA (
Junior State of America) chapter, and a Model Congress team which competes at regional colleges.
SING!
The annual theater competition known as
SING! pits seniors, juniors, and "soph-frosh" (freshmen and sophomores working together) against each other in a race to put on the best performance. Started in 1947 at
Midwood High School in
Brooklyn, SING! is a tradition at many New York City high schools. At Stuyvesant, SING! started as a small event in 1972, and has grown to a huge school-wide event — in 2005, nearly 1,000 students participated. The entire production is written, produced, and funded by students. Their involvement ranges from cast, chorus, Irish Jig, Step, Bollywood Dance, Latin Dance, and tech crews. SING! begins in late November and culminates in final performances on three nights in March/April. The show sells out all three nights, raising over $30,000 for Stuyvesant's Clubs and Pubs via the Student Union Budget.
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Students entering through the Tribeca bridge |
For most of the 20
th century, the student body at Stuyvesant was heavily
Jewish, however
Asian students began a significant influx in the 1970s. As of 2005, the student body was approximately 51 percent Asian and 38 percent
Caucasian, with
Blacks and
Hispanics each constituting roughly four percent of the population apiece.
Russian and Indian students are well-represented, and Jews continue to comprise a large portion of the student body. Stuyvesant possesses a disproportionate amount of historical minorities in comparison to national and local population distributions.
(See also
Demographics of New York City)
Although Stuyvesant students must reside in New York City, there is a long-standing belief that some students reside in New Jersey or Long Island, in contravention of New York City law.
Controversy
Accusations of bias in admission tests
|
ACORN argued that the SHSAT was biased against minorities. |
The school's off-center demographic profile and relative paucity of Black and Hispanic students have often been a source of consternation for some city administrators. John Lindsay, mayor of New York City from 1966 to 1973, argued that the test was culturally biased against Black and Hispanic students and sought to implement an
affirmative action program. At the protest of parents, however, the plan was scrapped and led to the passage of Article 12, stating that admissions would continue to be by examination only. Despite this, however, a small number of students judged to be economically disadvantaged and who come within a few points of the cut-off score may be given an extra chance to pass the test.
In 1996 community activist group ACORN published two reports called "Secret Apartheid" and "Secret Apartheid II", calling the SHSAT "permanently suspect" and a "product of an institutional racism", and claiming that Black and Hispanic students did not have access to proper test preparation materials.
Along with Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew, they began an initiative for more diversity in NY's gifted and specialized schools, in particular demanding that since only a few districts send the majority of Stuyvesant's and Bronx Sciences's students, that the SHSAT be suspended altogether "until the Board of Education can show that the students of each middle school in the system have had access to curricula and instruction that would prepare them for this test regardless of their color or economic status". Jesse Shapiro, Stuyvesant valedictorian, and Micah C. Lasher, then a sophomore, published several editorials in response, and the outcome was averted.
Self-segregation allegations
In the early 2000s, Ling Wu Kong '01 published several articles in
The Spectator, the school's paper
, bemoaning an apparent lack of interaction between the different ethnic groups at Stuyvesant,
While many students do socialize within their own ethnic groups, each having their own area to socialize in, friendships that cross racial boundaries are common. There is no more and no less of "racially divided" culture than in other high schools and students are accepting and have friends of all cultures. Indeed, Stuyvesant's numerous clubs include a myriad of cultural understanding organizations, and cultural festivals are held to promote a better understanding of other cultures. The International Food Festival, hosted by the foreign language department takes place every spring.
Stuyvesant has produced a steady stream of professional mathematicians, including more leading figures in the field than are associated with most major universities. A number of leading physicists and chemists are also Stuyvesant alumni, as well as several well known entertainers and authors, including
Charlie's Angels star
Lucy Liu and
The Shawshank Redemption star
Tim Robbins.
Stuyvesant alumni include four Nobel laureates:
*
Joshua Lederberg (1941) - 1958
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
Robert Fogel (1944) - 1993
Nobel Memorial Prize in economics*
Roald Hoffmann (1954) - 1981
Nobel Prize in Chemistry*
Richard Axel (1963) - 2004
Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineAuthor
Frank McCourt taught English at Stuyvesant before the publication of his novels
Angela's Ashes,
'Tis, and
Teacher Man.
Teacher Man's third section, titled
Coming Alive in Room 205, is all about McCourt's time at Stuyvesant, and mentions a number of students and faculty.
See also :Category:Stuyvesant High School alumniThe Stuyvesant High School building in Battery Park City was one of the main settings of the film
Hackers, although it was not mentioned by name. As in the film, Stuyvesant has no pool on the roof, despite a long history of seniors selling "rooftop pool passes" to new freshmen. It does, however, have a pool on the ground floor and a roof deck for its technology classes. In an episode of
Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a female Stuyvesant student is murdered. The investigation leads Detectives
Goren and
Eames to the school, where they interview her classmates. The 2004
Tribeca Film Festival featured an ad campaign with a stylized depiction of the school entitled "Fast Times at Stuyvesant High." Also, the entrance to the high school is visible in the
Beastie Boys' music video for the song
Ch-Check It Out. It is seen in the beginning of the video, where the three rappers are walking down the TriBeCa Bridge.
One of the members of the Beastie Boys in the
Fight For Your Right (To Party) music video is wearing a boy's red Stuyvesant High School Physical Education Leader T-shirt. This has occasionally sparked a rumor that one or all of the Boys attended Stuyvesant. They did not, however
Kate Schellenbach, the band's original drummer, did.
Stuyvesant has been chronicled in popular literature based in New York City. The
Jonathan Lethem novels
Motherless Brooklyn and
Fortress of Solitude are prominent examples of this trend.
Actress Amanda Bynes, as "Holly", attends Stuyvesant in the primetime television show
What I Like About You.
A
documentary, entitled
The Ticket, is currently being filmed about the Student Union elections at Stuyvesant.
Alec Klein '85, a reporter for the
Washington Post, is currently researching a book "which strives to explain what sets Stuyvesant apart from other high schools".
[The Alumni Spectator, Spring 2006]The famous mascot
Cinnamoroll for the Japanese stationary company
Sanrio has become the unofficial mascot for the Stuyvesant High School English Department. A banner was made of the character and was a gift to the English Department in 2006. The Cinnamoroll character came to the scene when a student, an avid puppeteer, decided to carry the puppet version of the character around the school. Since then Cinnamoroll has appeared in the school newspaper
The Spectator, the yearbook
The Indicator, at the Senior Prom, and many times at Open Mic in which the last Open Mic of the school year 2005-2006 it made an appearance on the Open Mic flyer. The Stuyvesant Cinnamoroll is known to have a high pitched voice, odd seizure-like behavior when he is excited, and a widely ranged costume wardrobe which extends from one of Mr. Wickham (
Pride and Prejudice) to Escamillio (the opera
Carmen) to
Dr. House (televison series
House).
*
Education in New York City*
National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST)*
Stuyvesant HS official website**
Course Catalog*
ARISTA, Stuyvesant High School's Chapter of the National Honor Society*
Stuyvesant student union*
Stuyvesant Robotics Team*
Speech and debate team website*
Stuyvesant HS online store *
Stuyvesant HS Parents' Association*
The Campaign for Stuyvesant/Alumni(ae) & Friends Endowment Fund, Inc.**
"Campaign for Stuyvesant" Video*The Stuyvesant Standard
official site and
supplementary site - an independent student-published newspaper serving the Stuyvesant community
*
Football site*
Stuycom.Net - unofficial school website
*
Conan O'Brien's 2006 Graduation SpeechAlumni sites
*
Stuyvesant HS Alumni Association*
Math Team alumni website*
Policy Debate Team alumni website*
South Florida Alumni Association of Stuyvesant High School*
Stuyvesant H.S. Black Alumni*Class of:
1956 |
1962 |
1979 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
1992 |
1993 |
1996 |
2000 |
2007Articles
*
"Façade of Excellence", by Sol Stern
,
Education Next on the teachers' contract
