Columbia High School (East Greenbush, New York)

Columbia High School (or CHS) is a public high school located on Luther Road in East Greenbush, New York, USA. It is the only high school for the East Greenbush Central School District and has a 2019-20 enrollment of approximately 1,230 students in grades 9-12.^[5] The school has a thirteen to one student to teacher ratio that is below the state average.^[6] Columbia High School, commonly referred to CHS, is home to the "Blue Devils". The principal is Michael Harkin, who replaced John Sawchuk in January 2018.^[7]

Columbia High School
Address
962 Luther Road East Greenbush , New York 12061 United States
Coordinates	42.625723°N 73.691017°W / 42.625723; -73.691017
Information
School type	Public school (government funded), high school
Motto	Creating Honor and Success
School district	East Greenbush Central School District
NCES District ID	3609630[1]
Superintendent	Jeffrey P. Simons
NCES School ID	360963000731[2]
Principal	Michael Harkin
Faculty	101.39 (FTE)[3]
Grades	9–12
Years offered	4
Enrollment	1,215 (2023-2024)[3]
Student to teacher ratio	11.98[3]
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Blue and White
Athletics conference	Section 2 NY
Mascot	Blue Devil
Team name	Blue Devils
Newspaper	The Devils Advocate [4]
Yearbook	The Columbian Yearbook[4]
Communities served	East Greenbush North Greenbush Nassau Chatham Sand Lake Schodack
Feeder schools	Goff Middle School
Website	www.egcsd.org/columbia/

Academics

The school offers eleven Advanced Placement classes in: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Economics: Micro, English Literature & Composition, Environmental Science, European History, Physics, Chemistry, U.S. History, and World History.^[8]

History

On February 9, 2004, 16-year old student Jon Romano fired three rounds with a 12-gauge shotgun. He was rushed and tackled by teacher Michael Bennett and assistant principal John Sawchuck. While being tackled, Romano fired the gun and shot Bennett in the leg.^[9] Romano was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and was later released early in 2020.^[10] After his release from prison, Romano began speaking publicly on TikTok about gun violence and the youth mental health crisis.^[11]

Notable alumni

• Jacob Clemente, Broadway performer.
• Jennifer Farley, television personality, MTV's Jersey Shore.^{[12][13][14][15]}
• Brian Lashoff, professional hockey player, currently under contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
• Danielle Roberts, physician involved in the NXIVM cult scandal
• Rich Romer, professional football player, Cincinnati Bengals^[16]
• Kevin Smith, professional baseball player for the New York Yankees.
• Ernie Stautner, professional football player, coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer^[17]
• Tyler Szalkowski, guitarist of the pop-rock band State Champs