Washington Irving Campus

Coordinates: 40°44′07″N 73°59′15″W / 40.7353°N 73.98741°W / 40.7353; -73.98741

The Washington Irving Campus is located at 40 Irving Place between East 16th and 17th Streets in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. It is a public school campus run by the New York City Department of Education. The campus was entirely a high school, Washington Irving High School, until 2008, when Gramercy Arts High School was established at the site, along with the High School for Language and Diplomacy in 2009, International High School at Union Square in 2010, and Union Square Academy for Health Sciences and the Academy for Software Engineering in 2012. ^[1]

History

The school is named after writer Washington Irving. The building in which the school is located was designed by the architect C.B.J. Snyder and built in 1913. The original building is eight stories high, though the extension on 16th Street designed by Walter C. Martin and built in 1938, is eleven stories high.

The school had been located on Lafayette Street, but because the student population was growing at a rapid rate, a decision was made to move the school to another location,^[2] and land was purchased at 40 Irving Place. The school started out as a branch of Wadleigh High School, known at first as Girls' Technical High School, the first school for girls in the city. In 1913 the name changed to Washington Irving. On September 1986, the school became co-ed. Currently there are more than 2,000 students. In the period that Hector Xavier Monsegur (Sabu) attended Irving, 55% of the school's students graduated with their classes.^[3]

Closure and Success Academy Charter School

New York City DOE announced in December 2011 that WIHS would be one of two high schools to be closed by summer 2015. The school is to be replaced with Success Academy Charter School. Among the reasons for closing include a graduation rate of 48%.^[4]

The Success Academy Charter Schools planned to open an elementary school in the building in 2013.^[5] The site was suggested by the City Department of Education but the decision was not final until 2014.^[6] Washington Irving High School graduated its last class in June 2015 and beginning in early September, all of the second floor, and most of the third floor will be the site of Success Academy.

2016 fire incident

On February 25, 2016, a fire broke out in the building after an electrical explosion, resulting in the campus to be closed for an unspecified amount of time. All students and staff were relocated to another building.^[7]

Artwork

One of the murals in the lobby, depicting a scene from one of Irving's books

The bust of Washington Irving outside the school

The school's interior varies. The lobby's walls are covered by wood panels, and toward the ceiling there are murals depicting the history of New York. Many are by the noted muralist, Barry Faulkner. In the middle of the lobby, there is a grand decorative fireplace. Guests enter the building through the main door, which is opposite the fireplace. Above the fireplace are statues of women carved from a single piece of white stone; the statues are covered by the American flag. On the second floor and above, the walls are white, the doors are red, and the floors are black. The exterior is limestone up to the second story, then gray brick trimmed with limestone. On the corner of Irving Place and 17th Street is a bust of Washington Irving by Friedrich Beer, which is featured on the school's ID. The exterior was used in the TV sit-com Head of the Class. The school's auditorium is located in the middle, between the left and the right wings. It is usually accessed only from the lobby, but has seats on the second level. There are many performances held at the auditorium, by students and outside artists.

Student life

Each day students enter the building from East 16th Street, swipe their ID cards, and go through metal detectors while their belongings go through a security X-ray scanner. As per the New York City Schools Chancellor's regulations, cell phones (cell phones may be allowed now under the De Blasio mayoral administration), MP3 players, and other electronic devices are banned in New York City public schools. In addition, students may no longer enter the building after 10:00 AM.

Notable alumni

• Vast Aire – rapper
• Asa Akira – actress in adult films ^[8]
• Joy Behar – comedian and host on The View
• Gertrude Berg – actress, screenwriter
• Claudette Colbert – actress^[9]
• Hector Xavier Monsegur (Sabu) – computer hacker (left in 2001 and never finished the ninth grade)^[10]
• Patricia Morison – actress
• Anita Page – actress
• Sylvia Robinson – singer, musician, record producer ^[11]
• Bella Spewack – writer^[12]
• Gabourey Sidibe – actress^[13]
• Whoopi Goldberg – Academy Award-winning actress, comedian and moderator/co-host on The View.^[14]

See also

• New York City portal
• Schools portal

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Washington Irving Campus.

• Official website
• M460 "Washington Irving High School" on Insideschools.org