New Dorp High School


New Dorp High School, commonly referred to as New Dorp or NDHS is a public school located on the East Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island in the New Dorp neighborhood. The school is administered by the New York City Department of Education. The school is located at 465 New Dorp Lane next to Miller Field, an army airport turned park, which extends to the Lower New York Bay. New Dorp High School is located in Region 7, which encompasses all of Staten Island and portions of southwest Brooklyn.

History

New Dorp High School was originally located a few streets away in a smaller building which is now Staten Island Technical High School. Due to the growing population in the area, the school was moved to its current, larger building in 1982.
In 2015, filming for the movie Nerve, starring Emma Roberts, took place in parts of the school and football field.

Education

All students are enrolled in a certain House, or program within the high school. Students chose which "House" they would prefer while applying to high schools. Each "House" or "SLC" focuses on a certain subject area. These programs include:
Students are required to achieve a passing grade on 5 New York State Regents exams. Advanced Placement courses are offered in Biology, Calculus AB, English Literature, Global History, and US History. There are also plans to introduce AP courses in Computer Science and Statistics. College extension programs are available; these are classes that college credit is offered, but it is given from a specific college rather than through an AP test. College extension classes include Anatomy & Physiology, Pre-Calc, Spanish, and Italian. New Dorp High School has partnerships with local colleges including CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, St. John's University, and Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
In 2012, The Atlantic magazine highlighted the effectiveness of the school's emphasis on essay-writing skills: "an overwhelming focus on teaching the basics of analytic writing, every day, in virtually every class. What followed was an extraordinary blossoming of student potential, across nearly every subject—one that has made New Dorp a model for educational reform."

Sculpture at the entrance

At the main entrance of New Dorp High School stands a large aluminum sculpture by Bill Barrett. Titled "Hari IV", it was constructed in 1982 and measures 32 feet in height, 28 feet in width, and 16 feet in diameter. The sculpture represents a student with a book, but it is often misunderstood as looking like an elephant. It is a common congregating area for students, as well as a prominent feature of the school campus. Michael Brenson of The New York Times in 1988 described it as "one of the most successful public sculptures in the city".

Notable alumni