New Utrecht High School
New Utrecht High School is a public high school located in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education under District 20, and serves students of grades 9 to 12. It is one of the largest high schools in New York City in terms of enrollment. History. New Utrecht High School was established in 1915 as an offshoot of the nearby coeducational Bay Ridge High School. This resulted in New Utrecht High School becoming an all-boys school, while Bay Ridge High School became an  all-girls school. The first location of the school was a wooden building on 86th Street and 18th Avenue, and it had a population of 350 students. Irving Hazen was the founding principal, and he adopted the white and green colors of his alma mater, Dartmouth College, as the colors of the school. In November 1924, the school moved to its present location on 80th Street and 16th Avenue, with 2,300 students. In February of the following year, girls were admitted, resulting in the school becoming coeducational. Over the next few years the school continued to grow, until it consisted  of a main building and four annexes, and with a student population of nearly 11,000. It was the largest student body in the world at the time. New Utrecht High School was the scene of several racial conflicts between blacks and whites within the community in the 1970s to 1990s. In 1974, 300 black students stormed the school after a fight between a black student and a white student ended up with the former being injured, which spurred up rumors that it was a racial attack. In 1990, a black student was shot by a group of white students stemming  from an incident in the locker room. In the 2000s, New Utrecht High School underwent a major overhaul. It added a new, two-story cafeteria building, which replaced the old cafeteria located in the main building. The old cafeteria was subsequently turned into classroom space. A new entrance was also created, accompanied by a corridor which conjoined the cafeteria building with the main building. Today, New Utrecht High School functions as a zoned school primarily serving students living in the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, New York. Activities. Student Government. New Utrecht High School has an active  student government, which is elected every October. For close to a century the student government positions were mayor, deputy mayor, secretary, treasurer, and student representatives from each grade. The mayoral theme was a longstanding tradition that stemmed from the fact that the neighborhood of New Utrecht was named by Dutch settlers after the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In 2015, the student government decided to change the name of the two major positions of mayor and deputy mayor to student body president and student body vice president. The New Utrecht High School Student Government is responsible for allocating funds  to clubs, as well as organizing a School Spirit Week, a Thanksgiving Dinner, a Toy Drive, and other annual school-wide events. There is also a Senior Council composed of a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. The Senior Council is responsible for organizing Senior events, such as the Senior Class Brunch and Senior Trip, creating the Senior Class sweatshirts, voicing concerns of the Senior Class to the administration, and keeping the Senior Class informed. School Leadership Team. The School Leadership Team (SLT) consists of representatives from the school administration, parents, teachers and students. The students are usually two active  students, one junior and one senior, who voice the concerns of the student body. The SLT meets monthly to discuss and work on issues related to implementation of the school's mission and vision. A PTA meeting follows immediately after. Productions at New Utrecht High School. There are four productions held annually at New Utrecht High School: the Talent Show, the Chinese New Year Show, the Fashion Show, and the International Show. The Talent Show is open to anyone who has talent, whether it be singing, dancing, magic, comedy or any other form of entertainment. The sound crew, lighting crew , stage crew, construction crew and booklet crew are composed entirely of students. The show is usually held in December. The Chinese New Year Show is put on near the Chinese New Year. It has singing, dancing, acting and other forms of entertainment, revolving around Chinese culture. The Chinese Club at New Utrecht High School has a partnership with a non-profit organization called the Chinese-American Planning Council. The Fashion Show production at New Utrecht High School is student run and consists of students in the New Utrecht Fashion Society creating their own clothes and having their friends model them . The show is usually held in March or April. The International Show is held in April or May and, like the others, is completely student run. It is similar to the Talent Show but focuses on other countries around the world. Clubs. New Utrecht High School offers clubs for students, including: Advanced Placement. New Utrecht High School offers Advanced Placement courses, including: Academies. There are several academies (programs that offer employment-oriented training in specialized fields) at New Utrecht High School, which include: Some academies are associated with NAF, a non-profit organization originally known as the National Academy Foundation . Alumni. Notable alumni of New Utrecht High School include: In popular culture. New Utrecht High School is the venue for key scenes in the 1947 movie "It Happened in Brooklyn", starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Jimmy Durante, and Peter Lawford. The front and rear views of the school building were used in the opening and closing scenes of the TV sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter", which starred alumnus Gabe Kaplan.