Franklin K. Lane High School (FKLHS) was a public high school in New York City, New York, United States. It began as a combined junior-senior high school in 1923 and moved into its current building in 1937.[1][2] In 2012, it was shut down by the City of New York "for poor performance".[3][4]
New schools opened on the campus[5] and they are administered by the New York City Department of Education as H.S. 420. Today the school is the campus site for six different high schools: The Academy of Innovative Technology, The Brooklyn Lab School, Cypress Hill Prep Academy, The Urban Assembly School for Collaborative Healthcare, Multicultural High School and Uncommon Leadership Charter High School.
Location
The campus is located on the Brooklyn/Queens border at the bottom of a steep hill at the corner of Dexter Court and Jamaica Avenue. The line separating the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, which runs along Eldert Lane from Atlantic Avenue, passes through the school and the cemetery adjacent to it.
At the time Franklin K. Lane High School was built, it was one of the largest high school buildings in the world. The perimeter of the building measures approximately one-quarter mile; walking four times around it equals one mile.
The boys' large gymnasium is named for 1938 alumnus William "Red" Holzman. The library is named for Sam Levenson, another alumnus, Class of 1930. The Guidance Suite of offices is named for Franklin A. Thomas, a 1952 alumnus; former President of the Ford Foundation.
During the 1960s/1970s, Franklin K. Lane High School fell on hard times. Parents and teachers brought a legal action in regard to the racial imbalance and poor performance at Lane. In 1974 Judge John Dooling of the Federal Court's Southern District of New York ruled that education at the school was inferior and ruled that the school racial imbalance was to be addressed by redistricting and redesigning the school program. The "new" Franklin K. Lane opened in September 1976 with a 40% white, 30% Hispanic, and 30% African-American student body. The school thrived for a period and became known in some circles as "the miracle on Jamaica Avenue".
In 1978, Franklin K. Lane High School was one of ten schools across the nation cited by the United States Congress in the Safe School Study. The school was included in many case studies produced by the United States Government as well as private foundations, for its turnaround and for its safety in the midst of urban decline and deterioration.
In the 1970s and 1980s, numerous programs were available to assist and enhance students' academic performance: College Bound Program, Career Development Program (CDP), Co-Op Program, Study to Employment Program, (STEP), and Toward Upward Mobility Program (TUM). To address the problems of students with difficulty attending school, the SOAR program was initiated and recognized by the Federal Government for excellence. The school's General Equivalency Diploma (GED) program was one of the most successful in the city with a code of 421. Later, a parent suit brought into question the school's methods of counseling students who were not attending classes regularly. Eventually, these disruptive students were allowed to attend the school again, causing security problems. During the 1980s and 1990s, led by Ms. Rozella Kirchgaessner, the school's magnet Law Studies Program attracted students from various parts of New York City, many of whom went on to attend prestigious universities, such as Columbia, Cornell, NYU, and Syracuse. A majority of Lane's Honors Program alumni also fared well.
On March 8, 2004, the New York Daily News' front page headline "City's Worst School" led to a story in the newspaper regarding the poor academic performance, low graduation rates, violence, and students transferring out in large numbers due to those problems.[6] In December 2007, the Department of Education announced that Franklin K. Lane would be phased out due to consistently poor performance. The school stopped accepting 9th graders in 2009 and graduated its last seniors in 2011.[3] Not all of the replacement schools have received acceptable ratings.
^ abcdeAckerman, Gary L."Representative Ackerman Salutes Franklin K. Lane High School on the Occasion of its 50th Anniversary", Congressional Record Extension of Remarks, October 5, 1987. Accessed February 7, 2017. "On Saturday, October 12, 1987, more than 1,000 Lane alumnis [sic] will celebrate with a day of festivities as 50 classes of past and present students come together to mark the important occasion. Some of the better known graduates include the comedian Sam Levison [sic]; Broadway star Ann Jackson; Spanish dancer Jose Greco; Franklin Thomas, the head of the Ford Foundation; Red Holtzman, the former coach of the New York Knicks basketball team; and Warren Phillips, president of the Dow Jones."
^McFadden, Robert D. "Anne Jackson, Stage Star With Her Husband, Eli Wallach, Dies at 90", The New York Times, April 13, 2016. Accessed February 7, 2017. "Ms. Jackson attended Franklin K. Lane High School and delivered monologues at assemblies under the guidance of a teacher who recognized her acting potential. After graduating in 1943, she studied drama at what was then the New School for Social Research, won a talent contest and spent 16 weeks in Eva Le Gallienne's touring production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard."
^Cook, Richard M. Alfred Kazin: A Biography, p. 16. Yale University Press, 2007. ISBN9780300145045. Accessed February 7, 2017. "By his senior year in Franklin K. Lane High School, that promise was showing scattered signs of fulfillment and even provoking a little recognition."
^Berliner, David C. "Sam Levenson Sees Rebirth for Brooklyn", August 19, 1973. Accessed February 7, 2017. "Mr. Levenson, one of eight children of struggling immigrant Jewish parents, attended Junior High School 178, Franklin K. Lane High School and Brooklyn College."
