Forest Hills High School - History

History

Plans for a new high school were in the works since 1938, when the Cord Meyer Development Company, which was already responsible for the development of most of Forest Hills, announced plans to build nine new apartment houses, and mentioned that plans for a high school were under consideration, in order to accommodate the growing population of families in the area and their demands for a quality, public education.

In 1939, the Board of Education planned to build a new school adjoing the World Fair's Grounds (today's Flushing Meadows-Corona Park), in order to allevate overcrowding at Newtown, Grover Cleveland, and Jamaica High Schools - since the growing community at Forest Hills did not yet have a local high school, were sending its kids to those schools instead. It was expected to cost $3,225,000 ($51,985,157 in 2012 Dollars), and was to be built of a modified Georgian Design - the vice president of the Board at the time, Ellsworth S. Buck, called it to be "the most beautiful educational structure in the city...establishing a high point in the city's building program." It was to have shades of red brick, a gray slate roof, and a limestone trim. An innovation was started by the design of the school, in which the the gymnasiums and auditorium was to be separated from the main unit (building), creating separate gymnasiums for boys and girls, with the extended wings forming a plaza. In order to meet the conditions of the locality, it was designed to be three stories high, with a total of 10 acres allotted to it. Partly due to its lot size, an athletic field was built into the back part of the lot, with a grandstand designed for 3,000 people and a "spacious" field for football and track. Designed by the architect Eric Kebbon, ground was to be broken in six months, and the school was expected to open its doors in September 1940.

The school was formally dedicated on April 29, 1941, (it opened on February 3), 7 months behind schedule, but coming in under budget, at a total cost of $2,550,000 ($40,813,021.28 in 2012 Dollars). It was hailed as an architectural masterpiece, "representative of the forward looking objectives of the New York City administration." The dedication ceremonies were attended by Mayor La Guardia, in which during his speech towards the students of the newly dedicated school, he warned them of not being a quitter - a subtle reference to the dangerous events brewing in the international scene. It was most likely a "serious reflection," on what worldwide events and its impact to "American education generally." Its final version came as a "simplified version of the Georgian Style," with red brick for its exterior, a buff limestone trim, and grey-black slate for the pitched roofs. At the time of its opening, in addition to "regular classrooms," it contained an art shop, a "home-making" room, a model apartment, a cooking room, three art rooms, an art weaving room, a sewing room, a music room, a museum, a library, four typewriting rooms, two "business practice rooms," ten science classrooms, a science lecture room, laboratories, an exhibit hall, and separate, large gymnasiums for girls and boys. The auditorium was spacious, filling almost 1,200 seats (out of 3,400 students at the time). It had a commanding view of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Almost immediately, it developed a reputation for excellence. In 1949, four students from the school qualified to compete in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, (known today as the Intel Science Talent Search), two more than Bronx Science at the time. In 1968, it made history as the first school to produce 3 Westinghouse Scholars in one year, noting the strong science program at the school, which offered courses simulating a research environment "similar to the one adult scientists work."

The school was involved in a fight regarding the construction of a low-income housing project in Forest Hills, as well as proposed rezoning program that would have excluded sections of the community from attending the school. The school was running triple sessions at the time, and it was feared that the influx of new families would exacerbate the already severe overcrowding at the school. The rezoning was proposed to alleviate the overcrowding, by sending some students to the newly opened Hillcrest High School, which was also bitterly opposed by the local community. The rezoning was approved by the courts, despite the bitter battle waged. Some parents tried to enroll their children anyway at Forest Hills, to which they were denied. The school was also notably involved in a fight against forced busing. It was ended in 1988.