Washington Irving Campus

Coordinates: 40°44′07″N 73°59′15″W / 40.7353°N 73.98741°W / 40.7353; -73.98741

Washington Irving Campus
The 1885 bust of Washington Irving on the lower-left, who never lived on or near the site, but a close relative did.
Address
40 Irving Place
New York, New York 10003
Information
School type Public; Charter
Founded 1913
Superintendent Marisol Rosales
Principal Vadewatie Ramsuchit, Susan Dicicco, Shawn Raeke, Sarah Hernandez, Bernardo Ascona; Dan Rojas
Grades K–5, 9–12
Enrollment 1,775 (September 2015)
Language English
Area Various

The Washington Irving Campus is a public school building located at 40 Irving Place between East 16th and 17th Streets in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Formerly the Washington Irving High School (until 2008), it now houses the Gramercy Arts High School, the High School for Language and Diplomacy (established 2009), the International High School at Union Square (established 2010), the Union Square Academy for Health Sciences (established 2012), and the Academy for Software Engineering (established 2012)—under the New York City Department of Education.[1] One floor of the building houses the Success Academy Charter School.

History

The school is named after writer Washington Irving. The building in which the school is located was designed by the architect C.B.J. Snyder and built in 1913. The original building is eight stories high, though the extension on 16th Street designed by Walter C. Martin and built in 1938, is eleven stories high.

The school had been located on Lafayette Street, but because the student population was growing at a rapid rate, a decision was made to move the school to another location,[2] and land was purchased at 40 Irving Place. The school started out as a branch of Wadleigh High School, known at first as Girls' Technical High School, the first school for girls in the city. In 1913 the name changed to Washington Irving. On September 1986, the school became co-ed. Currently there are more than 2,000 students. In the period that Hector Xavier Monsegur (Sabu) attended Irving, 55% of the school's students graduated with their classes.[3]

Closure and Success Academy Charter School

The New York City Department of Education announced in December 2011 that WIHS would be one of two high schools to be closed by summer 2015. The school is to be replaced with Success Academy Charter School. Among the reasons for closing include a graduation rate of 48%.[4]

The Success Academy Charter Schools planned to open an elementary school in the building in 2013.[5] The site was suggested by the City Department of Education but the decision was not final until 2014.[6] Washington Irving High School officially closed in June 2015 after graduating its last class, resulting in Success Academy taking over its site along with the other high schools.

2016 fire incident

On February 25, 2016, a fire broke out in the building after an electrical explosion, resulting in the campus to be closed for an unspecified amount of time. All students and staff were relocated to another building.[7]

December 2017 rape incident

On December 5, 2017, at around 8:20 AM, a student has been arrested and charged for raping another student.[8] The suspect is identified as 18 year-old Jevon Martin while the victim is a 16-year-old girl. The incident took place between the third and fourth floor of a stairwell.[9][10]

Artwork

One enters the lobby through the main doors, which are opposite a grand decorative fireplace. It features a plaster bas-relief overmantel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by sculptor Frances Grimes. Above the lobby's oak-paneled walls are 12 murals by Barry Faulkner depicting the early history of New York.[11] The murals in the auditorium are by Robert Knight Ryland and J. Mortimer Lichtenauer. The murals in the stairwell are by Salvatore Lascari. On the second floor and above, the walls are white, the doors are red, and the floors are black. The exterior is limestone up to the second story, then gray brick trimmed with limestone. In front of the building, at the corner of Irving Place and 17th Street is a bust of Washington Irving by Friedrich Beer, which is featured on the school's ID. The exterior was used in the TV sit-com Head of the Class. The school's auditorium is located in the middle, between the left and the right wings. It is usually accessed only from the lobby, but has seats on the second level. There are many performances held at the auditorium, by students and outside artists.

Student life

Each day students enter the building from East 16th Street, swipe their ID cards, and go through metal detectors while their belongings go through a security X-ray scanner. As per the New York City Schools Chancellor's regulations, MP3 players and some other electronic devices are banned in New York City public schools. In addition, students may no longer enter the building after 10:00 AM.

Notable alumni

See also

  • New York City portal
  • Schools portal

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Bloodworth, Aryn "Washington Irving High School Review" New York. . Retrieved on September 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ Wurman, Richard Saul (2000), Access New York City, New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-277274-0
  3. ↑ Fishman, Steve. "“Hello, I Am Sabu ..." New York. June 11, 2012. p. 2. Retrieved on April 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Anna M. "List of Schools Targeted by City for Closing Is Up to 19" New York Times (December 9, 2011), retrieved 2012-04-10
  5. ↑ Fleisher, Lisa "New Charters Proposed for Manhattan" Wall Street Journal (July 15, 2012), accessed July 25, 2012
  6. ↑ Johnson, Mary. "DOE Selects 'Suggested' Sites for Success Academy Collocations" Archived 2012-07-19 at the Wayback Machine. DNAinfo (July 17, 2012), accessed July 25, 2012
  7. ↑ "DOE Delays Opening Of Manhattan School Building After Electrical Explosion". New York, New York. CBS2. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Cook, Lauren (December 5, 2017). "Student raped inside Manhattan school staircase, NYPD says". AM New York. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  9. ↑ Colletti, Roseanne (December 5, 2017). "16-Year-Old Student Raped on Staircase at Manhattan Public School Building: NYPD". NBC News. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  10. ↑ Musumeci, Natalie; Lapin, Tamar; DeGregory, Priscilla; Moore, Tina (December 5, 2017). "Teen charged with raping classmate in high school stairwell". New York Post. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  11. ↑ Scenes from the Early History of Manhattan, from NYC Department of Education.
  12. ↑ Ingall, Marjorie (7 May 2013). "The Woman Behind the Dolls". Tablet. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Asa Akira – Biography".
  14. ↑ Claudette Colbert on TCM
  15. ↑ Whoopi Goldberg
  16. ↑ Kleinfield, N. R.; Sengupta, Somini (8 March 2012). "Hacker, Informant and Party Boy of the Projects". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ Klemesrud, Judy (September 13, 1970). "Shelley Plimpton: From 'Hair' to Maternity". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  18. ↑ McKinley Jr., James C. "Sylvia Robinson, Pioneering Producer of Hip-Hop, Is Dead at 75" The New York Times (September 30, 2011)
  19. ↑ Bella Spewack at Jewish Women's Archive
  20. ↑ Yahoo
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