Hempstead High School (New York)

Hempstead High School is a public high school located in Hempstead, New York, United States. It is the Hempstead Union Free School District's only high school.

As of the 2014–15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,226 students and 116.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 19.2:1. There were 1,346 students (60.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 34 (1.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History
In the early 1920's, high school students from East Meadow, Roosevelt, Uniondale (East Hempstead), West Hempstead in addition to Hempstead Village, Brooklyn, Queens, New York City and New Jersey attended Hempstead High School located on Peninsula Boulevard between Greenwich St and Henry St next to Our Lady of Loretta Church.

The tuition to Hempstead SD #1 was paid by the neighboring Common School Districts and voting. It was not until the late 1950s that the last of these school districts built their own high schools.

In July 1970, Hempstead High School was burned down under presumably suspicious circumstances only 20 minutes after summer school classes were dismissed for the day.

By 1972, a new Hempstead High School was built and students returned to normal location for classes. Students would go from elementary school grades kindergarten to 5th grade then attend the new middle school which was built on the lot of the old high school from 6th to 8th grade and then students would go onto the high school from 9th grade to 12 grade and plan to graduate.

In 1972, in welcoming the students to the new Hempstead High school relocated on President Street in Hempstead, the school boosts of the following:

A 4 story, air-conditioned school on 27 acres, A Commons area as large as a football field with student lockers, 44 classrooms and lecture rooms on each floor, A library, 1000 seat auditorium, A completely outfitted Theatre stage, Vocation shops, Lecture halls, a large gymnasium and swimming pool, A large outdoor sports field with bleachers as well as, tennis and handball courts.

In 2014, Hempstead schools came to the attention of the New York State Education Department after a school document was leaked. This document revealed that 33 Hispanic students had been signing in for attendance each morning, only to be told to return home because there was not classroom space for them. The state later found that the number of excluded students may have been as high as 59, and threatened to remove school officials if they did not implement reforms. In a 2015 agreement with the New York Attorney General, the school agreed to implement new enrollment procedures and hire an independent monitor.

Design
The high school building is a three-level structure with an open courtyard in the center of the school. The school is built on a marshy area, and local legend holds that the school sinks a few inches every year. The school consists of three buildings: The "A" building, in which most of the classes are held and where the student lockers are located; the "B" building, which serves as home to the media center, administrative offices, the MCJROTC room, and a few classrooms; and the "C" building, which consists of the gymnasium, the nurses office, the auditorium, the student and faculty lunch rooms, and the science classrooms on the lower level. Renovations currently underway will relocate lockers to the school hallways, as they presently sit in the "commons" of the A building on the first floor. Hempstead High School also has an indoor swimming pool that reopened after renovations in the spring of 2005.

Academics
Once a school of high academic, music and athletic standing from the early 1900s to the mid-1970s, the school experienced difficulties during a period of change in Hempstead and Nassau County between the 1980s and early 21st century.

Hempstead HS experienced again began to show signs of improvements with the graduating classes of 2005 and 2006. In 2004, 57% of Hempstead's students passed the Math A Regents Examination (state average: 78%), up from 28% in 2003. In English for 2004, the passing rate stood at 66%, up from 49% in 2003 (state average: 77%). In Physics, Hempstead had an 88% passing rate, compared to an 81% state average. Hempstead also offers Advanced Placement courses in English, Biology, Chemistry, Spanish, United States History, French, and World History. There was an attempt to cut these classes, but a student protest in 2005 kept the Advanced Placement curriculum in place.

Student government
The student government consists of a four-member executive council, a Senate composed of 12th and 11th grade students, and a House of Representatives composed of 9th and 10th grade students. Elections are held in October and members must be elected every year. The executive board is elected by the Senate and the House. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have their own leader, the Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House respectively. The student government ratified its current constitution in November 2004. The student government is advised by a teacher.

Sports
Hempstead competes in class 1A, the largest classification in Nassau County.

Notable alumni

 * A+ (Andre Levins; born 1981), rapper noted for his hit "All I See", attended Hempstead High School and named his album released in 1999, Hempstead High.
 * Tavorris Bell (born 1978), Harlem Globetrotter
 * Spider Harrison, DJ and entertainer
 * Reuben L. Haskell, U.S. Representative
 * Tu Holloway (born 1989), basketball player for Maccabi Rishon LeZion in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
 * John Mackey, football player, Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers, Pro Football Hall of Famer, graduated 1959.
 * Rob Moore, football player, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, and Denver Broncos, graduated 1986.
 * David Paterson (born 1954), Governor of New York (2008–10), graduated 1971.
 * Ray Platnick (1917–1986), press and war photographer.
 * The Product G&B, a singing duo best known for their collaborative hit with Carlos Santana, "Maria Maria"; both attended Hempstead High School.
 * Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, Hempstead High 1975–78, music producer
 * Vivian Schuyler Key (1905–1990), American artist, designer
 * Raymond Gniewek ('49), Concertmaster for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.