Newark Arts High School

Newark Arts High School
Location
Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School
Newark Arts High School
550 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Newark, NJ 07102

United States
Coordinates 40°44′03″N 74°10′49″W / 40.734163°N 74.180387°W / 40.734163; -74.180387Coordinates: 40°44′03″N 74°10′49″W / 40.734163°N 74.180387°W / 40.734163; -74.180387
Information
Type Magnet Public high school
Established 1931
School district Newark Public Schools
Principal Ricardo Pedro
Vice principals Diane DelRusso
Devonne Gorman
Tameka Green-Foote
Antonio Lopes
Faculty 58.0 FTEs[1]
Grades 7, 9 12
Enrollment 709 (as of 2015-16)[1]
Student to teacher ratio 12.2:1[1]
Color(s)      Forest Green
     Gray and
     white[2]
Athletics conference Super Essex Conference
Team name Jaguars[2]
Website School website

Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in seventh through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. The school is located in the University Heights section of Newark. Starting in 2011-12, the 7th graders of William Brown Academy were housed there as its venue is being built.

As of the 2015-16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 709 students and 58.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.2:1. There were 421 students (59.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 52 (7.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 248th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.[3] The school had been ranked 240th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 205th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[4] The magazine ranked the school 154th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[5] The school was ranked 186th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[6]

History

Arts High School opened its doors to students in September 1931 as the first public high school in the United States specializing in the visual and performing arts.[7]

By the mid-1970s, Arts High School faced challenges from budget cuts affecting public schools in general, and those of the older cities in particular. The school also faced competition from other districts, such as the Montclair Public Schools in the suburban portion of Essex County, that was starting a high school magnet arts programs of its own.[8]

In 1983, Newark voters approved by referendum a $62.6 million bond package, which included $8 million to be used for a renovation and expansion project at Arts High School.[9] After an 18-month-long renovation project, the school reopened in January 1996, with the addition of drama and science laboratories, and a preserved Art Deco-style auditorium.[10]

During 2006-07, Arts High School celebrated its 75th Anniversary in year-long events. The celebrations began in October 2006 with a 75th Anniversary Gala and Alumni Day. In December, 2006, sponsored by the Arts High Consortium at the Newark Museum, the first Arts High Hall of Fame was established by President of Arts High Consortium Volora Howell and Willie Cole; notable inductees include Fashion Designer, Steven Burrows; Dancer/Choreographer, Savion Glover; and Singer/Actress Melba Moore. The finale, featuring "Savion Glover and Friends" celebrating National Tap Dance Day was held on Friday, May 25, 2007 in the school's auditorium. Mr. Glover, the choreographer for "Happy Feet", as a special treat, performed with some of Arts' students as they accompanied him on drums. Other activities included an art exhibit, fashion show, and student essay contest-"Arts High School is 75 years old! How have your experiences at Arts High School enriched your life both personally and socially?"[11]

Until 1997, the Arts High School also housed the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, a post-secondary vocational school that focused on arts education.

Athletics

The Arts High School Jaguars[2] compete in the Super Essex Conference, which includes public and private high schools in Essex County, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[12] With 446 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 73 to 487 students in that grade range.[13] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the Colonial Hills Conference.[14]

Sports offered include volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball.[2]

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[15]

  • Ricardo Pedro, Principal
  • Diane DelRusso, Vice Principal - Math/Science
  • Devonne Gorman, Vice Principal - Visual and Performing Arts
  • Tameka Green-Foote, Vice Principal - Climate and Culture
  • Antonio Lopes, Vice Principal - Humanities and Physical Education

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 School data for Arts High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 12, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Arts High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 6, 2015.
  3. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  4. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2012.
  5. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 17, 2011.
  6. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  7. Arts High School 2013 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 7, 2016. "In September 1931, Arts High School, erected at a cost of $1.25 million dollars during the Depression, opened its doors and became the first public high school for visual and performing arts in the United States!"
  8. Cook, Joan. "High Schools for the Arts, Hit Hard by Budget Cuts in the Cities, Beginning to Spring Up in the Suburbs", The New York Times, December 25, 1976. Accessed August 14, 2018. "There is also a $12 million appropriation for the acquisition and rehabilitation of a board headquarters and $8 million for the rehabilitation of and an addition to Arts High School."
  9. via the Associated Press. "The Region; Newark Approves School Bond Issue", The New York Times, December 8, 1983. Accessed August 14, 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A Brief History of Arts High, Newark Arts High School. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  11. The Scope, Volume 15, Issue 2, Spring 2007.
  12. League & Conference Affiliations 2016-2017, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 10, 2017.
  13. General Public School Classifications 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of December 15, 2015. Accessed December 12, 2016.
  14. Home Page, Colonial Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive, as of November 19, 2010. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  15. Administration, Arts High School. Accessed December 23, 2017.
  16. Myers, Marc. "Interview: Paul Bacon (Part 1)", Jazz Wx, July 13, 2010. Accessed August 13, 2011. "JW: Where did you go to school? PB: I was lucky enough to attend Newark Arts High School, New Jersey's equivalent of Manhattan's prestigious High School of Music and Art. At Arts High, you could major in art, music or theater."
  17. McCall, Tris. "Sinatra at 100: Revisiting the voice of Hoboken", Inside Jersey, December 11, 2015. Accessed August 14, 2018. "On Watertown, a lost concept set about a small-town man abandoned by his wife, Sinatra collaborated with, among others, Four Seasons songwriter Bob Gaudio and arranger and pop bassist (and Newark Arts High graduate) Charles Calello."
  18. Carter, Kevin L. "Talk Of Martin, But Not Martin \ Tisha Campbell's Situation With Martin Lawrence Is Off Limits By Order Of The Court.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 15, 1997. Accessed August 18, 2008.
  19. Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1986, p. 271. Accessed August 14, 2018. "Marion Crecco, Rep., Bloomfield Assemblywoman Crecco was born in Brooklyn on Jan. 25, 1930. A graduate of Arts High School, Newark, she also attended Montclair State College."
  20. Dearinger, David B. "Leo Dee (1931-2004)", Traditional Fine Arts Organization. Accessed August 14, 2018. "In Newark, Joe Dee attended Arts High, where he met and studied with his first mentor, Seymour Landsman, who also became a friend.... Following graduation from high school in 1950, Dee enrolled in the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art -- the new name for the Fawcett Art School, where his grandmother had studied -- on a three-year scholarship."
  21. Lustig, Jay. "Dream girl", The Star-Ledger, August 18, 2007. Accessed August 13, 2011. "From Newark's Arts High to a massive hit single, Kat DeLuna has done it her way. When it came time to apply to high schools, the No. 1 choice for Newark's Kat DeLuna was Arts High School. There was no No. 2 on her list.... Arts High did accept her, and she concentrated on vocal studies there. Representing Arts High, she was a finalist for The Star-Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts, in 2003."
  22. "Old School Ties", The Miami Herald, January 10, 1985. Accessed August 18, 2008. "Singer Connie Francis, fresh from her Miami appearance in the Orange Bowl Parade, returned to her old high school in Newark, N.J., this week for the first time in three decades to talk to students and old teachers, saying, Nostalgia always feels good. Francis, 46, said the bathrooms were the only things that had changed at Arts High School, which she attended in 1951 and 1952."
  23. Andrew Jacobs. "In Person; 'Been Around'", The New York Times, December 17, 2000. Accessed August 14, 2018. "'I've been hanging', he said, as a small crowd gathered, some of them long-lost acquaintances from the days when Mr. Glover hung downtown after class had let out at Newark Arts High School."
  24. Savion Glover, The HistoryMakers. Accessed August 14, 2018. "In 1991, Glover graduated from Newark’s Arts High School."
  25. Politi, Steve. "Politi: 'Friday Night Lights' is over, but Newark's Michael B. Jordan is just getting started", The Star-Ledger, July 15, 2011. Accessed August 13, 2011. "Jordan was 18 when I met him for a feature story (see below). He already had a role in one of my other all-time favorite shows, The Wire, as the heartbreaking Wallace. He was a senior at Arts, the star guard on a team filled with musicians and stage actors, a kid with a famous name already making a name for himself."
  26. Herzog, Laura. "Creed star Michael B. Jordan gets key to hometown of Newark", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 18, 2015. Accessed August 14, 2018. "Raised in Newark, Jordan studied drama at the public magnet Newark Arts High School, where his mother is still a teacher, city officials said."
  27. Corbett, Nic. "'70s singer Melba Moore returns to Newark Arts High School for first time since graduating decades earlier", The Star-Ledger, September 23, 2011. Accessed August 14, 2018.
  28. "Tropical Music Sensation, Arts High School Graduate And Newark Native Frankie Negron Joins New Jersey's Campaign to Register to Vote State's Latino Community: Negron is State's First Tropical Music Celebrity to Join 'Be Powerful, Be Heard' Voting Initiative", New Jersey Attorney General press release dated September 2, 2005. Accessed August 13, 2011. "Arts High School graduate and Newark native Frank Negron filled the halls of his alma mater with sounds of Tropical music today as part of the New Jersey, 'Be Powerful, Be Heard' voter outreach and education initiative."
  29. "Artist Enjoys Teaching And 'Gives His All'", Bernardsville News, November 24, 1977. Accessed January 8, 2018. "Teachers meant a great deal to Nicholas Reale of Hillside, from his beginnings in grammar school, to Arts High in Newark and on to Pratt Institute, where he learned a strong sense of design."
  30. Silver, Jocelyn. "Talking Pose with Mother Mj Rodriguez", Paper (magazine), July 19, 2018. Accessed August 14, 2018. "When I was 14 years old, I was in high school [at New Jersey's Newark Arts High School] at the time, and we would hold mini fashion shows."
  31. 1 2 Jazz in the Garden: Woody Shaw Legacy Ensemble, Newark Museum. Accessed November 10, 2016. "Regarded as one of the great band leaders and innovators of his generation, Woody Shaw Jr. (1944-1989) was an infant when his parents moved to Newark, NJ. Considered one of 'Newarks own', the legendary trumpeter attended the famed Arts High in Newark, which was attended by many great jazz artists, such as Wayne Shorter, Sarah Vaughan, and organist Larry Young."
  32. Pompilio, Natalie. "Celebrating one of Newark's own, a living jazz legend, at NJPAC", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, April 20, 2017. Accessed August 14, 2018. "Shorter, a graduate of Newark Arts High School, began his professional career more than six decades ago and shows no sign of slowing down."
  33. Atmonavage, Joseph. "Everyone knew this Newark native was special. Now he's officially a genius", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 23, 2017. Accessed 14, 2018. "When talking about the newly minted MacArthur Foundation 'genius grant' winner and Newark native Tyshawn Sorey, Mark Gross likes to recount his first meeting with Sorey.... After graduating from Newark Arts High School, he went to William Paterson in Wayne, then received his doctoral of music from Columbia University, all while making and composing transcendent music with a plethora of instruments."
  34. Laufer, David Calvin. Dialogues with Creative Legends and Aha Moments in a Designer's Career, p. 228. New Riders (publisher), 2012. ISBN 9780133137996. Accessed August 14, 2018. "Don Trousdell (1937–), born in Newark, New Jersey, attended Arts High School, majoring in graphic design."
  35. Hyman, Vicki. "New Sarah Vaughan stamp to be dedicated at free Newark concert", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, March 14, 2016. Accessed August 14, 2018. "Vaughan, who sang in the Mt. Zion Baptist Church Choir and attended Arts High School, joins the ranks of Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash, all part of the Postal Service's Music Icons stamp series."
  36. JDWilliams, I Know I'm Somebody! The Musical. Accessed August 13, 2011. "JD Williams was born in Newark, New Jersey where he attended Arts High School. He is a renowned actor with starring roles in the HBO television programs Oz and The Wire under his belt."
  37. "Charles D. Wrege Obituary", Academy of Management. Accessed August 14, 2018. "Charles D. Wrege, the Academy of Management's Historian and Archivist, passed away on Tuesday, August 19, 2014, at his home in Spring Lake, NJ. Chuck - to his friends and colleagues - was born on March 11, 1924, in Newark, NJ, where he attended Arts High."
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