Townsend Harris High School at Queens College (THHS) is a public magnethigh school for the humanities in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the campus of Queens College, City University of New York. Townsend Harris consistently ranks as among the top 100 high schools in the United States. Since 2019, U.S. News & World Report has ranked THHS #1 in New York State; THHS ranked #19 nationally in 2022.[1] The school was named in honor of Townsend Harris the 19th-century American merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the first American Consul to Japan. Students and alumni often refer to themselves as "Harrisites."
History
Entrance to the High School on 149th Street
Townsend Harris High School was founded in 1984 by alumni of Townsend Harris Hall Prep School, who wanted to reopen their school that was closed in the 1940s. This process started in 1980.
The first principal was Malcolm Largmann, a former high school English teacher with a strong belief in a classical education who also handpicked the school's original faculty.[2] Largmann served as principal of Townsend Harris from 1984 until his retirement in 2001.[3] The new school began life in a small building on Parsons Boulevard, originally intended as a temporary home until a permanent facility could be realized. In early 1995, the school moved into a new building located on the campus of Queens College.
Brian Condon became principal after a heated debate concerning Interim Principal Rosemarie Jahoda, which was covered extensively by student reporters from The Classic.
Admissions
Well over 15,400 students compete for approximately 270 seats in the freshman class each year based on their middle school grades, standardized test scores and even attendance records. Admission is available to all New York City residents in 8th grade. A minimum grade point average of 91 is required of all applicants to be considered for admission. Minimum standardized reading and math scores at the 90th percentile are also required (4.3 on both English and Math).[4]
Some seats are available for 9th graders wishing to start Townsend as sophomores, though as the number depends on the number of students who decide to leave the school during freshman year the number varies significantly from year to year; in 2006, only 5 were available. In 2019, just 10 seats were available to 5,000 students who applied.[4]
Initially, the admissions process included an interview and a writing component, but this was eliminated by 1988. Upon application, students take a writing and math assessment, record a student video, and submit final middle school grades in order to apply for the school.[5]
Academics
In addition to the standard three-year Regents English program, all students take a "fifth year" of English as freshmen in the form of a "Writing Process" composition course. In addition to the standard modern language requirement which may be fulfilled with classes in Spanish, French, or Japanese, students must meet a two-year classical language requirement which can be fulfilled by classes in Latin or classical Greek. There is also a rigorous physical education requirement, especially in freshman gym, and a senior project required of students. A variety of electives and AP classes are also offered to students. As of 2004, AP World History became a mandatory subject and replaced the Regents-level course. Every subject requires students to execute at least one major project a year, with history classes requiring one per semester and English several per semester. These projects are referred to as "collaterals."
The most notable feature of the school's curriculum is the senior "Bridge Year" program. Students in good standing may take up to 12 credits at Queens College at no cost to themselves. This includes an elective course taught by Queens College faculty and a required humanities seminar co-taught by Harris teachers and Queens College faculty. The curriculum and format is fairly similar to the Great Books seminars required of liberal arts freshmen at colleges around the world, with heavy emphasis on critical reading and writing.
Townsend Harris was originally an all boys school, but is now open to all.
As of 2019, the school's minority population is largely Asian, with the New York City Department of Education's "Asian and other" category making up 44% of the student body total, comprising the largest segment of the school's population. White students comprise 37% of the population, Hispanic students 12% and black students 7%.[6]
48% of students at Townsend Harris are from an economically disadvantaged background.[1]
The school maintains a 100% graduation rate.[7][8]
Miscellaneous
The attendance rate is the highest in NYC.[9] Scores on standardized examinations are also high when compared to other public high schools; in the year 2005–2006, Harrisites had average scores of 628 and 632 on the SAT verbal and math sections, respectively, compared to 551 and 565 for what the city deems "similar schools" and 444 and 467 for students citywide.[10] In 2000 Eileen F. Lebow published a history of the original school, The Bright Boys: A History of Townsend Harris High School (ISBN0-313-31479-9).
The Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Foundation named Harris a 21st Century School of Distinction in June 2004.[11] In December of that year, the school was named a Lighthouse School by the same organization.
In 2005 and 2006, the school had the highest percentage of students passing Regents exams of any New York City Department of Education high school.[12]
2006-2007 Highest Percentage Passing AP World History Scores in the US for a Large School [13]
Notable alumni
Scholars
Manfred Halpern, political scientist expert in modern Middle East
^College Board Advanced Placement report to the nation 2007, "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2011-05-25.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), 78
^Pollack, Howard (2006), George Gershwin: his life and work, Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press, ISBN978-0-520-24864-9, (p. 224) By 1916, Gershwin had also begun writing songs with Irving Caesar ... Caesar, a tunesmith in his own right, had grown up on the Lower East Side, and like Ira had graduated from Townsend Harris ...
^Bloom, Ken (2007), The Routledge guide to Broadway, New York, NY, USA: Routledge, ISBN978-0-415-97380-9, (p. 148) Frank Loesser was the most versatile of all Broadway composers ... He was educated at Townsend Harris Hall and dropped out of City College.
^Lebow, Eileen F. (2000), "The bright boys: a history of Townsend Harris High School", Contributions to the Study of Education, Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Press, ISBN0-313-31479-9, ISSN0196-707X, (p. 137) ... affirming the school's unique role and listing distinguished alumni: among them Justice Felix Frankfurter, Senator Robert Wagner ... Sidney Kingsley, playwright; and Edward G. Robinson, actor.
