Peekskill High School
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Peekskill High School, established in 1929, is located at 1072 Elm Street in
Peekskill, New York Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, north of New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fr ...
, United States. It is a part of the Peekskill School District, which covers the entire city. It educates most of the district's ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The school's current principal is Dr. Jenna Ferris. Peekskill students prepare for the New York State Regents Exams in science, language, mathematics, history and English. In addition to the Regents curriculum, the high school also offers Advanced Placement courses, which prepare students to take the AP Exams offered by the College Board in early May. A new course at the school as of the 2007–2008 school year is the three-year Authentic Science Research program. Several college courses are also offered. The school replaced the Peekskill High School at 212 Ringgold Street (1929–1972). Prior to 1929, Drum Hill School served as the high school, and is now a senior living community. The current school is located on the former grounds of the original
Peekskill Military Academy Peekskill Military Academy was a military academy for young men and women, founded in 1833 as Peekskill Academy, located in Peekskill, New York, United States. Background The academy was built by a hanging tree where a British spy was executed ...
, which closed in 1968.


Clubs and sports

The school offers many clubs and sports for students to enrich their in-school experiences. Fall sports: * Football * Women's swimming * Men's and women's cross country * Men's and women's soccer * Women's tennis * Women's volleyball Winter sports: * Basketball * Bowling * Winter track * Wrestling * Men's swimming Spring sports: * Baseball * Softball * Golf * Lacrosse * Men's tennis * Track Many students participate in one or more sports, in addition to one or more of the numerous clubs offered year-round. Clubs offered by the school include: * Chess Club * Interact Club * Latino Culture Club * Black Culture Club * Irish Culture Club * Exchange Club * Environmental Club * Ski Club * Student Council * S.A.D.D. Club * Debate Club * T.V. Club * Yearbook * Drama Club The Drama Club performed the full Broadway score of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'' in April 2008. In 2010 the Drama Club performed Sondheim's ''
Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
''. The show was nominated for eight Metropolitan Theater Awards, including Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role, Outstanding Stage Crew, Outstanding Graphic Design, Outstanding Scenic Design, Outstanding Costume Achievement, Outstanding Lobby Display, and Outstanding Instrumentalist. They won for Outstanding Stage Crew and Outstanding Costume Achievement. In 2011, under new direction and technical direction, they performed ''
Seussical ''Seussical'', sometimes ''Seussical the Musical'', is a musical comedy with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, and written by Ahrens and Flaherty. The musical is inspired by many of the children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most ...
''. They were only nominated for two Metropolitan Theater Awards, Outstanding Child Actor and Outstanding Graphic Design. 2012 saw the drama club perform ' 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. There are also various honor societies in the school, such as the
National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...
, Math Honor Society,
Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is an International mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. As of June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and 20 foreign countries. Its main ...
, and Science National Honor Society.


Scandal

In January 2013, a scandal was discovered in the guidance department of Peekskill High School. Four counselors were reassigned as an investigation into the falsifying of transcripts took place. It was reported that 34 students had been given credits they didn't deserve. Most were given credit for a "co-op" work experience program that the district had discontinued years earlier. Superintendent James Willis said in a letter to parents, "The Board of Education and I, along with my administrative team, are absolutely appalled by what we have discovered. This won't be tolerated. Moving forward, I am organizing an internal protocols team to assess the current transcript review processes and to make recommendations to ensure something like this can never happen again." Some students might have to take summer classes or an extra semester in order to graduate on time.


School song

The words of the school song were written in 1932 by Edwin Steckel, music teacher and bandmaster.


Notable faculty and alumni

*
Hilton Armstrong Hilton Julius Armstrong Jr. (born November 11, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. During his college basketball career, he played as ...
,
power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...
/center for the
Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...
* Reggie Austin, actor *
Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player and the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Duke, he was selecte ...
, power forward for the
Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...
*
Pidge Browne Prentice Almont "Pidge" Browne Jr. (March 21, 1929 – June 3, 1997) was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman, he was a longtime minor league star who had a half-season trial in Major League Baseball in in his 13th and final ...
, professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player *
Derek Dennis Derek Dennis (born July 16, 1988) is an American former professional football offensive lineman who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Temple. He was a member of the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, A ...
,
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player *
Jeffrey Deskovic Jeffrey Mark Deskovic (born October 27, 1973) is an American attorney from Peekskill, New York known for freeing the wrongly convicted. In 1990, at the age of 17, he was convicted of raping, beating, and strangling his Peekskill High School classm ...
, served a 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence; exonerated by DNA evidence *
Tre' Johnson Edward Stanton Johnson, III (born August 30, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Browns. He attended Peekskil ...
, former All-Pro offensive lineman for the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
and
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
* Lou Panzanaro, head coach for the school's basketball team *
George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...
, former
Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...
* Tony Schwartz, advertising pioneer, media visionary and audio documentarian * Bill Thomas, former
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
player for the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
,
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...
and
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
* Tyler Trewhella, disability activist


References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1972 School buildings completed in 1972 Public high schools in Westchester County, New York Buildings and structures in Peekskill, New York