# Ossining High School

Ossining High School (OHS) is a comprehensive public high school located in Ossining, New York, United States, along the Hudson River in northern Westchester County, New York. Serving grades 9 through 12, it is the sole high school within the Ossining Union Free School District. The school serves the entirety of the village of Ossining, portions of the Village of Briarcliff Manor, Town of Ossining, and Town of New Castle, as well as a very small southern portion of the Town of Yorktown.
Its building is a historical contributing property within the Downtown Ossining Historic District, which was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

## History

The present Ossining High School building was designed by James Gamble Rogers in a Collegiate Gothic style, with a warm-toned blend of brick and stone. Construction began in 1928 and was finished the following year; the school was built to replace the smaller Washington School (Ossining, New York), which then became an elementary school for the district. The school was built by Rafael Paiva. The school building has been substantially enlarged in the years since.
Between 1968 and 1974, the town of Ossining experienced a string of four race-related disturbances. The final one, on March 13, 1974, began in the school's cafeteria and resulted in several days of school closure, 15 student suspensions, and 19 injuries (including one to a school administrator); a student at the time recalls being locked in a biology classroom for hours, and a curfew for Ossining was implemented for days as a result. This disturbance took place just days after the district's announcement of a plan to redraw elementary school boundaries; at the time, one elementary school was over 60 percent Black, while two others were under 10 percent Black. Many believed this elementary school segregation to be an underlying cause of these racial disturbances. This eventually resulted in the implementation of the "Ossining Plan" for elementary school desegregation in 1981, which assigned each elementary school within the district by grade level instead of neighborhood.

## Service area

The district that operates the high school includes sections of the towns of Ossining and New Castle. Included within the portions of the school district in Ossining Town are Ossining Village and a section of Briarcliff Manor. About 28% of Briarcliff Manor is in the Ossining District, including Chilmark.

## Academics

Ossining High School has 9 periods, each 41 minutes long. A normal school day begins at 8:04 am and ends at 2:45 pm. The school offers optional extra help time from 2:45-3:15 pm. Classes run on an A/B day schedule, so that days alternate, and some electives or labs may occur every other day. The school operates an open campus for students above the ninth grade; these students are allowed to leave school supervision during school hours, and often take advantage of food establishments in surrounding Downtown Ossining.
The school's current full-time principal is Stephen Hancock, and the school's three full-time assistant principals are Tiffany Bergen, Latoya Langley, and Clara Reyes.
Enrollment by ethnicity (2016–2017) :
| Ethnicity | Number | Percent |
| Black or African American | 191 | 13.4 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 774 | 54.2 |
| Asian or Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander | 57 | 4.0 |
| White | 377 | 26.4 |
| Multiracial | 28 | 2.0 |
Enrollment by gender (2016–2017) :
| Gender | Number | Percent |
| Male | 736 | 51.6 |
| Female | 691 | 48.4 |
Post-Graduation Plans of Completers (2017): :
| Plan | Number | Percent |
| To Four-Year College | 166 | 58 |
| To Two-Year College | 87 | 30 |
| To Other Post-Secondary | 2 | 1 |
| To Military | 6 | 2 |
| To Employment | 21 | 7 |
| To Adult Services | 3 | 1 |
| To Other/Unknown | 3 | 1 |

### Enrollment

As of the 2016–2017 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,378 students and 97.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14:1. 135 students (9%) were classified as English Language Learners, 217 (15%) were classified as Students with Disabilities, and 775 (54%) were Economically Disadvantaged. The school graduation rate in 2016 was 76%. Roughly half of the student population is Hispanic or Latino, with large White and Black minorities and a smaller Asian minority.

### Awards

In 2012, OHS was named a School of Distinction finalist by Intel in the High School Science category; of those schools, it also received the top "Star Innovator" award from the company. The award, only one of which was granted annually, came with a prize of $100,000. The award recognizes K-12 schools that "provide a rich, rigorous science or mathematics curriculum by incorporating hands-on investigative experiences that prepare students for future jobs." OHS was recognized on the basis of the success of its long-running Science Research program, as well as the surprising success of the school's robotics program, founded that year. In 2016, the school was named a "School of Opportunity" by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) for its efforts in closing the achievement gap. OHS has also been recognized by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools as a School of Distinction for its programs in music, school counseling, and world languages.

### Classes

As of the 2018–2019 school year, Ossining High School offers 41 college-level classes, mainly in partnership with the University at Albany, SUNY (SUNY) and Westchester Community College (WCC), although a few are also offered in partnership with Iona College (New York), SUNY at Oneonta, and Syracuse University. Labeled the "SUNY Early College Program," they allow OHS students who plan to attend SUNY or WCC schools to complete a significant portion of their college curriculum at OHS. A notable SUNY class offered is "SUNY Racism, Classism, and Sexism," started in 2005 with the intention of drawing more nonwhite students to advanced courses; it has achieved success in doing so, although more rigorous AP classes are still disproportionately White.
The school also offers 14 Advanced Placement classes, which include AP English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Spanish Language and Culture, Studio Art levels 1 and 2, U.S. History, U.S. Government and Politics, World History, Biology, Environmental Science, Calculus AB and BC, Computer Science, and Statistics. For the 2014–2015 school year, 38% of 12th-graders took at least one AP exam at any point during high school, and 57% of AP exams taken were passed (received a score of 3 or higher).
OHS offers foreign language classes in Spanish, French, and Italian, as well as American Sign Language classes.
9% of the OHS student population were English Language Learners in 2017, and the school has received acclaim from the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) for its academic programs to help this population. These students are taught using an Integrated Co-Teaching Model, in which an English as a New Language Teacher and a content area teacher collaborate to teach and aid ELL students participating in full English-language classes. In addition, OHS runs an Emergent Literacy Program for students with interrupted education or low literacy skills. The school has also been noted by NEPC for its co-taught classes for students with disabilities, in which these students are similarly aided by the collaboration of a special education teacher and content area teacher.
The school offers specialized vocational education instruction through the Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (PNW BOCES) in Yorktown Heights, New York; interested eleventh- and twelfth-graders can complete some vocational courses for high school credit within a two-hour class at the BOCES Tech Center.

### Science Research Program

Science teacher Angelo Piccirillo started OHS's science research program in 1998 with three students. Twelve years later it had 90 students, with Piccirillo and a second teacher, Valerie Holmes, working on the science research full-time. The program includes guidance on research topics, mentors, and help with writing papers and presenting them. It accepts approximately 30 freshmen yearly out of more than 100 applicants. The science research program was nationally recognized in 2012, when it had eight semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, more than any other program in the country. Since 2001, this program has produced 94 STS semi-finalist scholars and 8 finalists.

## Extracurricular activities
### Athletics

Ossining High School offers a wide variety of sports throughout the school year, ranging from modified to junior varsity to varsity levels. Physical education (PE) is a requirement for all students to attend each semester. However, sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are on varsity teams are exempt from PE class while the sport is in season.
These sport teams are open to all genders, though some are more dominated by a single sex:
* Baseball (predominantly male)
* Cheerleading (predominantly female)
* Cross country
* Field hockey (predominantly female)
* Football (predominantly male)
* Golf
* Gymnastics (predominantly female)
* Ice hockey (predominantly male)
* Softball (predominantly female)
* Track
* Volleyball (predominantly female)
* Wrestling (predominantly male)
Exclusive girls' and boys' teams exist for the following sports:
* Basketball
* Lacrosse
* Soccer
* Swimming
* Tennis

### Mascot

For 73 years, Ossining teams were the "Ossining Indians". In June 2002, the school changed its mascot after a request from the state education commissioner. The request to change American Indian symbols and mascots was part of the Native American mascot controversy. A new mascot, the Riverhawk, was then chosen. After opposition from the student body, the Riverhawk was dropped. The school's athletic teams were then called the Ossining Pride. Ossining put in efforts to reach an agreement on a new mascot with the student body and community population, and on June 5th, 2024, the school adopted its new mascot, the Lion.

## Notable alumni

* Harry L. Twaddle (Class of 1905) – U.S. Army major general.
* Peter Falk (Class of 1945) – actor, best known for his role as Lt. Columbo in the television series Columbo
* Ken Buck (Class of 1977) - U.S. Representative from Colorado
* Martha Quinn (Class of 1977) – cable television and radio personality
* Dan Coudreaut (Class of 1983) – Executive Chef at McDonald's
* Ken Horton (Class of 2007) – professional basketball player
* Saniya Chong (Class of 2013) – UConn, NYSPHSAA State champion, & (Guard) WNBA professional basketball player
* Jamie Loeb (Class of 2013) – NYSPHSAA State champion/Duke University Tennis player
* Obi Toppin (Class of 2016) – Indiana Pacers forward
* Jacob Toppin (Class of 2018) - New York Knicks forward
* Aubrey Griffin (Class Of 2019)- NYSPHSAA State champion & Uconn Basketball Player
* AJ Griffin (AMD Middle School Class of 2017)- Atlanta Hawks Guard/Forward