W. Tresper Clarke High School

W. Tresper Clarke High School is a high school in Westbury (technically in Salisbury) New York, United States. It is operated by the East Meadow Union Free School District, also known as the East Meadow School District. The school serves students living in Salisbury, or South Westbury; East Meadow; and Levittown, New York. Named after W. Tresper Clarke, a former president of the East Meadow School Board, the school opened in 1957.

Walter Tresper Clarke High School
Address
740 Edgewood Drive

Westbury, New York

11590

United States
Information
School typePublic high school
Established1957
School districtEast Meadow School District
SuperintendentKenneth A. Card, Jr.[1]
PrincipalTimothy Voels
Faculty51.8 FTEs[2]
Grades9-12
Enrollment775 (as of 2016-17)[2]
Student to teacher ratio14.5:1[2]
Color(s)Grey and Maroon
SongAlma Mater
Team nameRams
NewspaperThe Vanguard

As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 751 students and 51.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.5:1. There were 104 students (13.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 24 (3.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]

History

W. Tresper Clarke High School opened in 1957. The class of 1959 was the first graduating class, while the class of 1961 was the first graduating class to have spent all four years of high school at Clarke.

The media spotlight was on the school in 1967 when Pete Seeger came to W. Tresper Clarke High School on March 8, 1967 to sing to an enthusiastic crowd of 1,100 inside the building, and 300 flag-waving protesters outside. The concert was a year late, but it was a victory against censorship. "Mr. Seeger is a highly controversial figure, and as such, injecting him into our community in East Meadow we thought would stir passions, create discord, [and] disharmony ...," the school board said in December 1965, when it canceled a scheduled Seeger appearance. The main question of controversy, the board said, was that on an earlier trip to the Soviet Union, Seeger had sung songs opposing the Vietnam War.[3]

Getting Seeger into the high school auditorium took court battles that went all the way to the State Court of Appeals. The state's highest court said that canceling an earlier invitation because of Seeger's controversial views violated both the state and federal Constitutions.[4]

The Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief to the Court of Appeals, playing a key role in the legal battle.

The high school was again brought into the media spotlight in January 2007 when the school's principal barred a deaf student, John Cave, from bringing a service dog to school. The principal stated that his decision was motivated by concerns over student welfare, such as allergies.[5][6]

The student's parents responded in early February 2007 by filing a $150-million discrimination lawsuit against the East Meadow School District, claiming that school officials subjected the student to "bias, bigotry and prejudice."[7]

Notable alumni
  • Eli Rosenbaum (Class of 1972), U.S. Justice Department official, Nazi-hunter [8]
  • Jay C. Buckey (Class of 1973), physician and astronaut[9]
  • Irene Rosenfeld (Class of 1971), Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International, Inc. (formerly Kraft Foods)[10]
  • Abbe Lowell (Class of 1970), Chief Minority Counsel in U.S. House of Representatives during impeachment of President Bill Clinton
  • Daniel Frisa (Class of 1973), single-term (1994-1996) U.S. Congressman (Republican), opponent of gun-control legislation, lost seat to Carolyn McCarthy when he ran for re-election in 1996
  • Barry W. Blaustein (Class of 1972), television and movie comedy writer[11]
  • Chuck D (c. 1978), rapper, author, producer, and leader of the rap group Public Enemy[12][13]
  • Kenny Chiu (Class of 2002), (1999-present) AHK President

References
  1. "Superintendent of Schools". East Meadow Schools. East Meadow School District. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  2. School data for W Tresper Clarke High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 12, 2016.
  3. East Meadow Community Concerts Assn v. Board of Education of Union Free School Dist No 3, 49 Misc.2d 643, 268 N.Y.S.2d 221 (1966)(citing "a clipping from the New York Times dated Monday November 25, 1965 containing the picture of the artist Pete Seeger and a news article dated in Moscow October 24, 1965 announcing that an American folk singer, Pete Seeger, sang a Viet Nam protest ballad that day before an auditorium filled with Moscow University students, and had issued the statement ‘I wanted to show students here the kind of songs we're singing on college campuses in the United States. It would be wrong to leave this one out.’")
  4. Michael Hiltzik, "How Pete Seeger (1919-2014) made my high school famous", Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2014; East Meadow Community Concerts Assn v. Board of Education of Union Free School Dist No 3, 19 NY2d 605, 224 NE2d 888 (1967).
  5. "Deaf student's dog turned away from school". Retrieved 2007-01-15.
  6. "School resolute against service dog". Retrieved 2007-01-15.
  7. "After LI school bars service dog, teen's family sues". Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  8. "The Last Nazi Hunter". Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  9. "NASA Biographical Data: Jay Clark Buckey, Jr. M.D Payload Specialist". Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  10. "Irene Rosenfeld on Forbes Lists #20 Power Women". Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  11. "Faculty Directory Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts - Barry Blaustein, Associate Professor". Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  12. Chuck D [@MrChuckD] (19 November 2014). "40 years ago I entered this high school on LongIsland.I was taught to challenge society at WT Clarke with #Audacity." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. Chuck D [@MrChuckD] (31 March 2013). "My Song of the Day Jackson Browne who I happened to meet up with 1996 at a Songwriters ceremony Peep THESE DAYS" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. "2nd American in Strike Waged Qaeda Media War". Retrieved 2014-03-17.

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