W. Tresper Clarke High School

W.T Clarke High School
Address
740 Edgewood Drive
Westbury, New York
Nassau County, New York 11590
United States
Information
School type Public high school
Established 1957
School district East Meadow School District
Superintendent Leon Campo (interim)
Dean John Boyle
Principal Timothy Voles
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 797
Student to teacher ratio 14:1
Color(s) Grey and Maroon
Song Alma Mater
Team name Rams
Newspaper The Vanguard

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 William Tresper Clarke, a former president of the East Meadow School Board, the school opened in 1957.

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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3][4]

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."[5]

Extracurricular activities

Clarke won the New York State High School Baseball Championships in 2002 and 2005, and won the New York Statewide High School Mock Trial Tournament in 2003. They have also won numerous Nassau County and Long Island Championships. The school has a strong history and tradition in the sport of baseball throughout New York State. Clarke won the 1985 New York State Girls Varsity Soccer Championship to finish an undefeated season. Clarke's football team also beat the number two seed in the county in the playoffs to become the Big-4 champs in 2009. They were also 1997 Nassau County Champions and Long Island Finalist. The winner of the 2010 Wyndham Championship, Arjun Atwal also attended Clarke for two years

The Clarke chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society (chapter #1768) as named the National Chapter of the Year in 2006. In 2007, Clarke Tri-M was named first runners-up for National Chapter of The Year. This accomplishment was repeated in 2012.

Notable alumni

Notes

  1. ↑ 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.’")
  2. ↑ 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).
  3. ↑ "Deaf student's dog turned away from school". Retrieved 2007-01-15.
  4. ↑ "School resolute against service dog". Retrieved 2007-01-15.
  5. ↑ "After LI school bars service dog, teen's family sues". Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  6. ↑ "The Last Nazi Hunter". Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  7. ↑ "NASA Biographical Data: Jay Clark Buckey, Jr. M.D Payload Specialist". Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  8. ↑ "Irene Rosenfeld on Forbes Lists #20 Power Women". Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  9. ↑ "Faculty Directory Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts - Barry Blaustein, Associate Professor". Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  10. ↑ "40 years ago I entered this high school...". Twitter.
  11. ↑ "...CLARKE division champs". Twitter.
  12. ↑ "2nd American in Strike Waged Qaeda Media War". Retrieved 2014-03-17.

Coordinates: 40°44′51″N 73°33′53″W / 40.74750°N 73.56472°W / 40.74750; -73.56472

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