Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Packin' them in

From its brass entry doors to its rooftop observatory to the intricate oak paneling of the principal’s office, Richmond Hill High School in Queens was built to inspire something like awe for public education. The only discordant response during the structure’s dedication in 1923 was whether, with a capacity for 1,800 students, it was too large.

A Queens High School With 3,600 Students, and Room for Just 1,800

Nobody asks that question anymore. Over the past dozen years, Richmond Hill’s most notable architectural accouterment has been the quote-unquote temporary classroom. Twenty-two of these red metal trailers, encased within chain-link fencing, occupy the school’s former yard, evoking the ambience of the Port Elizabeth container-ship terminal.

As for the cargo, that would be the students, faculty members and staff. Richmond Hill currently holds more than 3,600 pupils, twice its supposed limit, and could have 4,000 next fall as other neighborhood high schools in Queens are broken into mini-schools with smaller, more selective enrollments. Andrew Jackson, Springfield Gardens and Franklin K. Lane have already closed; next year, Far Rockaway will, too.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This problem in Queens goes back decades, and never seems to have be really solved.

Now they are proposing a boost in the student population by adding human warehouses to Queens holding 100,000s with tens of thousands of school aged kids.

Today the birthrate in US is the highest in decades, unique it seems, in the industrial world (which is focused on stale 1980s things like ZERO POPULATION GROWTH) (hello)!

And not a peep, not an even akward throat cleaning moment by NY's chattering classes.

Mylady's maid is in invisble as soon as she steps foot outside the room.

Anonymous said...

The reference to "cargo" and "containers" is so on target. For decades, the plan for youngsters in New York has been to store them through most of the year.

Feed them, entertain them, fill them with all sorts of "esteem". But, educate any youngster? Not on a bet!

Between the unions and the bureaucrats (also unionized) the plan is to have jobs for life for the adults cunning enough to take the money and accomplish nothing.

Second bet: The scheme since the 1960s has been as racist as the KKK.

We end up paying for the storage and then the ignorance set loose at "graduation".

Finally, we pay for the crime by having mayors for decades looking to make up for the ignorance by allowing illegal aliens to take the jobs that should have otherwise gone to youngsters who were educated.

Anonymous said...

Fucking disgusting.

Anonymous said...

more guest workers and anchor babies should help this situation

to raise a child in queens today in public school is insane

georgetheatheist said...

And where has the Republican Party been while ALL this was happening?

Anonymous said...

Haha! Oh boy, this dump!

As much as I love to bash a high school as lousy as this one is now, there are a few errors in this artcle.

The features described in the first part of the article were from RHHS's original structure, built in 1899. The existing school was erected in 1929.

Here is a link to the Richmond Hill Historical Society website which explains in further detail.

http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/rhhs.html

Anonymous said...

Once again folks.....
Richmond Hill has been red lined !

It is a neighborhood in decline.....
thanks to political backstabbing.

Sadly......
it might be a wise time to sell and move out
before it gets worse.

The closing of Jahn's was the metaphorical
cherry on top of the sundae!

Anonymous said...

When a neighborhood has been red-lined,
you have some choices. available to you.

If you're young:

#1. You can move out and begin a new life.

#2. You can stay and fight
despite the uncertainty of winning or losing.

If your old you have little choice.

#1. You can be bitter to the end.

#2. You can find what's left that's good
and enjoy your remaining time.

Life can oftentimes be brutish, sad and short!

Thank you Mayor Bloomberg
for your leadership in accomplishing the destruction of Queens' neighborhoods!

Anonymous said...

This isn't just a problem in Richmond Hill. I am not sure when some of you graduated High School, but I graduated in 1998 from Cardozo, a graduating class of almost 1,000, and I believe the school had pretty close to 4,000 kids.....10 years ago. And even then we had those red trailers. Look at Francis Lewis....same school district...except I think back then they had a few more trailers than we did. There are just too many people, we need more schools all over the borough.