Ossining High School

The present Ossining High School building was designed by James Gamble Rogers in a Collegiate Gothic style, with a warm-toned blend of brick and stone. Construction began in 1928 and was finished the following year; the school was built to replace the smaller Washington School (Ossining, New York), which then became an elementary school for the district.{{cite web|title=Downtown Walking Tour|url=https://www.villageofossining.org/about/files/downtown-walking-tour-brochure|website=Village of Ossining|access-date=20 March 2018}} The school was built by Rafael Paiva. The school building has been substantially enlarged in the years since.{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Gray|title=Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County|year=2003|publisher=Westchester County Historical Society|isbn=0-915585-14-6}}

Between 1968 and 1974, the town of Ossining experienced a string of four race-related disturbances. The final one, on March 13, 1974, began in the school's cafeteria and resulted in several days of school closure, 15 student suspensions, and 19 injuries (including one to a school administrator); a student at the time recalls being locked in a biology classroom for hours, and a curfew for Ossining was implemented for days as a result. This disturbance took place just days after the district's announcement of a plan to redraw elementary school boundaries; at the time, one elementary school was over 60 percent Black, while two others were under 10 percent Black.{{cite web|title=School Desegregation in Ossining, New York: a Staff Report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights|url=http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/documents/cr12d4519.pdf|publisher=United States Commission on Civil Rights|access-date=21 March 2018}} Many believed this elementary school segregation to be an underlying cause of these racial disturbances. This eventually resulted in the implementation of the "Ossining Plan" for elementary school desegregation in 1981, which assigned each elementary school within the district by grade level instead of neighborhood.{{cite news|last1=Costello|first1=Ann|title=20 Years After Ossining's Riots, Mood of Racial Harmony Prevails|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/nyregion/20-years-after-ossining-s-riots-mood-of-racial-harmony-prevails.html|access-date=20 March 2018|work=The New York Times|date=6 March 1994}}{{cite web|last1=Mader|first1=Jackie|title=Once racially troubled, a district shrinks the achievement gap|url=http://hechingerreport.org/once-racially-troubled-a-district-shrinks-the-achievement-gap/|website=The Hechinger Report|access-date=21 March 2018}}

The district that operates the high school includes sections of the towns of Ossining and New Castle. Included within the portions of the school district in Ossining Town are Ossining Village and a section of Briarcliff Manor.{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st36_ny/schooldistrict_maps/c36119_westchester/DC20SD_C36119.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Westchester County, NY|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=2022-06-10}} About 28% of Briarcliff Manor is in the Ossining District, including Chilmark.{{cite news|first=Cheryl|last=Weinstock|title=If You're Thinking of Living In/Briarcliff Manor; Small-Town Quality But Near Manhattan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/02/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-briarcliff-manor-small-town-quality-but-near-manhattan.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 2, 2000|access-date=September 12, 2014}}

Ossining High School has 9 periods, each 41 minutes long. A normal school day begins at 8:04{{nbsp}}am and ends at 2:45{{nbsp}}pm.[http://ohs.ossiningufsd.org/site_res_view_folder.aspx?id=f03b98fd-3bd5-4b2d-b176-285d72f9a480 Ossining High School - General Information]. Retrieved 4-13-2010 The school offers optional extra help time from 2:45-3:15{{nbsp}}pm. Classes run on an A/B day schedule, so that days alternate, and some electives or labs may occur every other day. The school operates an open campus for students above the ninth grade; these students are allowed to leave school supervision during school hours, and often take advantage of food establishments in surrounding Downtown Ossining.{{cite news|last1=Stone Lombardi|first1=Kate|title=IN THE SCHOOLS; The Open Campus: How Open Should It Be?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/nyregion/education/in-the-schools-the-open-campus-how-open-should-it-be.html|access-date=21 March 2018|agency=The New York Times|date=6 April 2006}}

The school's current full-time principal is Stephen Hancock, and the school's three full-time assistant principals are Tiffany Bergen, Latoya Langley, and Clara Reyes.{{cite web|title=Ossining High School Staff|url=https://ossiningufsd.org/schools/ohs/staff/|website=Ossining Union Free School District|access-date=19 March 2018}}

As of the 2016–2017 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,378 students and 97.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14:1.{{cite web|title=Ossining High School - Startclass|url=http://public-schools.startclass.com/l/64221/Ossining-High-School-in-New-York|website=Startclass|access-date=21 March 2018|ref=startclass}} 135 students (9%) were classified as English Language Learners, 217 (15%) were classified as Students with Disabilities, and 775 (54%) were Economically Disadvantaged. The school graduation rate in 2016 was 76%.{{cite web|title=Ossining High School Graduation Rate Data|url=https://data.nysed.gov/gradrate.php?year=2016&instid=800000035065|website=New York State Education Department|access-date=19 March 2018}} Roughly half of the student population is Hispanic or Latino, with large White and Black minorities and a smaller Asian minority.

In 2012, OHS was named a School of Distinction finalist by Intel in the High School Science category; of those schools, it also received the top "Star Innovator" award from the company. The award, only one of which was granted annually, came with a prize of $100,000. The award recognizes K-12 schools that "provide a rich, rigorous science or mathematics curriculum by incorporating hands-on investigative experiences that prepare students for future jobs." OHS was recognized on the basis of the success of its long-running Science Research program, as well as the surprising success of the school's robotics program, founded that year.{{cite web|title=New York School Wins Top Honors at Intel School of Distinction Awards|url=https://newsroom.intel.com/news-releases/new-york-school-wins-top-honors-at-intel-schools-of-distinction-awards/|website=Intel Newsroom|access-date=21 March 2018}}{{cite web|last1=Lane|first1=Ellen|title=Ossining High School Robotics Team Wins Spot at International Competition|url=https://patch.com/new-york/ossining/an--ossining-high-school-robotics-team-wins-spot-at-i34d8617d28|website=Ossining Patch|access-date=21 March 2018}} In 2016, the school was named a "School of Opportunity" by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) for its efforts in closing the achievement gap.{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Colleen|title=Ossining HS given 'school of opportunity' award|url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2016/09/13/ossining-hs-award/90278154/|access-date=21 March 2018|agency=LoHud|publisher=USA Today Network|date=13 September 2016}}{{cite web|title=Ossining High School|url=http://www.schoolsofopportunity.org/recipient-details/ossining-high-school|website=Schools of Opportunity|access-date=21 March 2018}} OHS has also been recognized by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools as a School of Distinction for its programs in music, school counseling, and world languages.{{cite news|last1=Hanson|first1=Alesha|title=Middle States Association Recognizes Ossining HS For Its Programs|url=http://ossining.dailyvoice.com/schools/middle-states-association-recognizes-ossining-hs-for-its-programs/538913/|access-date=22 March 2018|agency=Ossining Daily Voice|date=14 December 2014|ref=MiddleStatesDailyVoice}}

As of the 2018–2019 school year, Ossining High School offers 41 college-level classes, mainly in partnership with the University at Albany, SUNY (SUNY) and Westchester Community College (WCC), although a few are also offered in partnership with Iona College (New York), SUNY at Oneonta, and Syracuse University. Labeled the "SUNY Early College Program," they allow OHS students who plan to attend SUNY or WCC schools to complete a significant portion of their college curriculum at OHS.{{cite web|title=Ossining High School Program of Studies - 2018-2019|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HOczDhfXZVO0njKGf7TbI7aiXPKegaNb/view?usp=sharing|website=Ossining Union Free School District|access-date=22 March 2018}} A notable SUNY class offered is "SUNY Racism, Classism, and Sexism," started in 2005 with the intention of drawing more nonwhite students to advanced courses; it has achieved success in doing so, although more rigorous AP classes are still disproportionately White.{{cite web|last1=Goldstein|first1=Dana|title=Left Behind?|url=http://prospect.org/article/left-behind-0|website=The American Prospect|access-date=22 March 2018}}

The school also offers 14 Advanced Placement classes, which include AP English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Spanish Language and Culture, Studio Art levels 1 and 2, U.S. History, U.S. Government and Politics, World History, Biology, Environmental Science, Calculus AB and BC, Computer Science, and Statistics. For the 2014–2015 school year, 38% of 12th-graders took at least one AP exam at any point during high school, and 57% of AP exams taken were passed (received a score of 3 or higher).{{cite web|title=Ossining High School - Test Scores - Student Proficiency Testing|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-york/districts/ossining-union-free-school-district/ossining-high-school-13948/test-scores|website=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=22 March 2018}}

OHS offers foreign language classes in Spanish, French, and Italian, as well as American Sign Language classes.

9% of the OHS student population were English Language Learners in 2017, and the school has received acclaim from the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) for its academic programs to help this population. These students are taught using an Integrated Co-Teaching Model, in which an English as a New Language Teacher and a content area teacher collaborate to teach and aid ELL students participating in full English-language classes. In addition, OHS runs an Emergent Literacy Program for students with interrupted education or low literacy skills. The school has also been noted by NEPC for its co-taught classes for students with disabilities, in which these students are similarly aided by the collaboration of a special education teacher and content area teacher.

The school offers specialized vocational education instruction through the Putnam/Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (PNW BOCES) in Yorktown Heights, New York; interested eleventh- and twelfth-graders can complete some vocational courses for high school credit within a two-hour class at the BOCES Tech Center.

Science teacher Angelo Piccirillo started OHS's science research program in 1998 with three students. Twelve years later it had 90 students, with Piccirillo and a second teacher, Valerie Holmes, working on the science research full-time. The program includes guidance on research topics, mentors, and help with writing papers and presenting them. It accepts approximately 30 freshmen yearly out of more than 100 applicants.

{{cite web

|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/nyregion/27towns.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

|title= A School Far From No. 1, but a Leader in Science

|access-date= 2011-01-28

|author= Peter Applebome

|date= January 26, 2011

|work=Our Towns

|publisher= New York Times

}} The science research program was nationally recognized in 2012, when it had eight semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, more than any other program in the country.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} Since 2001, this program has produced 94 STS semi-finalist scholars and 8 finalists.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Ossining High School offers a wide variety of sports throughout the school year, ranging from modified to junior varsity to varsity levels. Physical education (PE) is a requirement for all students to attend each semester. However, sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are on varsity teams are exempt from PE class while the sport is in season.

These sport teams are open to all genders, though some are more dominated by a single sex:{{cite web|title=Ossining High School - Sports|url=https://ossiningufsd.org/schools/ohs/athletics/sports/|website=Ossining Union Free School District|access-date=20 March 2018}}

{{Div col}}

• Baseball (predominantly male)
• Cheerleading (predominantly female)
• Cross country
• Field hockey (predominantly female)
• Football (predominantly male)
• Golf
• Gymnastics (predominantly female)
• Ice hockey (predominantly male)
• Softball (predominantly female)
• Track
• Volleyball (predominantly female)
• Wrestling (predominantly male)

{{Div col end}}

Exclusive girls' and boys' teams exist for the following sports:

• Basketball
• Lacrosse
• Soccer
• Swimming
• Tennis

File:Ossining HS band Pat day 67 jeh.jpg

For 73 years, Ossining teams were the "Ossining Indians". In June 2002, the school changed its mascot after a request from the state education commissioner.[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/07wenoticed.html?_r=1&fta=y "A Fake Bird Dispatched, and ‘O’ Fills the Void"]. New York Times. January 7, 2007. Retrieved 4-13-2010. The request to change American Indian symbols and mascots was part of the Native American mascot controversy. A new mascot, the Riverhawk, was then chosen. After opposition from the student body, the Riverhawk was dropped. The school's athletic teams were then called the Ossining Pride. Ossining put in efforts to reach an agreement on a new mascot with the student body and community population, and on June 5th, 2024, the school adopted its new mascot, the Lion.

• Harry L. Twaddle (Class of 1905) – U.S. Army major general.{{cite news |date=June 25, 1905 |title=Suburban Notes: Ossining; The Final Graduation Exercises of the Ossining High School |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-graduation/128615210/ |work=New-York Daily Tribune |location=New York, NY |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}
• Peter Falk (Class of 1945) – actor, best known for his role as Lt. Columbo in the television series Columbo
• Ken Buck (Class of 1977) - U.S. Representative from Colorado
• Martha Quinn (Class of 1977) – cable television and radio personality
• Dan Coudreaut (Class of 1983) – Executive Chef at McDonald's{{Cite web|url = https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/meet-our-food-experts/our-chefs.html|title =Dan Coudreaut Vice President, Culinary Innovation/Executive Chef at McDonald's Corporation |access-date =13 February 2015|website =LinkedIn }}
• Ken Horton (Class of 2007) – professional basketball player
• Saniya Chong (Class of 2013) – UConn, NYSPHSAA State champion, & (Guard) WNBA professional basketball player
• Jamie Loeb (Class of 2013) – NYSPHSAA State champion/Duke University Tennis player
• Obi Toppin (Class of 2016) – Indiana Pacers forward
• Jacob Toppin (Class of 2018) - New York Knicks forward
• Aubrey Griffin (Class Of 2019)- NYSPHSAA State champion & Uconn Basketball Player
• AJ Griffin (AMD Middle School Class of 2017)- Atlanta Hawks Guard/Forward

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{{Westchester County, New York High Schools}}

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Category:Public high schools in Westchester County, New York

Category:School buildings completed in 1930

Category:Ossining, New York

Category:Historic district contributing properties in New York (state)

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York

Category:School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)

Category:1930 establishments in New York (state)