Herricks High School

Herricks High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school with 1450 students accredited by the New York State Board of Regents and the Middle States Association. The school is located in Searingtown, New York, 20 miles east of Manhattan. Dr. Tony Sinanis is the superintendent of Herricks Union Free School District. He succeeded Dr. Fino Celano after the 2021-2022 school year. This school was involved in one of the major Supreme Court rulings affecting prayer in public schools in 1959. This school also received the National Blue Ribbon school distinction in 2017.

Herricks High School
Herricks High School on October 2, 2021.
Address
100 Shelter Rock Road New Hyde Park , NY 11040 United States
Coordinates	40°45′53″N 73°39′46″W
Information
Type	Public
Established	1958
School district	Herricks Union Free School District
Superintendent	Tony Sinanis
Principal	Joan Keegan
Faculty	94.2 FTEs[1]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,309 (as of 2016-17)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	14.6:1[1]
Color(s)	Royal blue and silver
Mascot	The Highlander
Website	High school website
[2][3]

As of the 2014–15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,373 students and 94.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.6:1. There were 61 students (4.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 29 (2.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.^[1]

History

Herricks High School stands on Watermelon Hill. It was designed by Valley Stream-based Frederic P. Wiedersum Associates.^[4] The land near the area was a burial ground for the Pearsall family starting in the 17th century, but the burial grounds were later removed.^[5]

The high school opened in September 1958 and had its first graduating class in 1960.^[6]

Known for the "Herricks Prayer Case, Engel v. Vitale," the Herricks School District (a.k.a. Union Free School District #9) was sued by five district property owners in 1959. "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country" was recited as a daily procedure on the recommendation of the NY State Board of Regents. This case was decided by the U. S. Supreme Court, which ruled the prayer unconstitutional in 1962.^[7][8]

In 2013, Herricks High School celebrated the Herricks School District's 200th anniversary.^[9]

In the late 2010s, the cafeterias received major renovations, creating a more inviting and open atmosphere.^[10]

Music and theater

The music department is home to ten different performing ensembles, including several advanced groups: Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, and Chamber Choir.^[11]

Herricks is also home to Chapter 1975 of the Tri-M Music Honor Society.^[12][13]

Sports

Herricks High School offers the following sports: football, badminton, softball, baseball, tennis, soccer, wrestling, volleyball, lacrosse, basketball, bowling, swimming, track, winter track and field, golf, cross country, fencing, girls flag football and cheerleading.^[14]

Television

Herricks High School has a television channel called HTN (Herricks Television Network) that goes with their TV Studio classes. The morning announcements air on HTN at around 9:30 AM Monday-Friday. HTN airs locally on Channel 47 on Verizon Fios, Channel 75 on Altice, and Channel 65 on Antenna TV.

Publications

Publications include the Highlander newspaper^[15][16] and the OPUS literary magazine.^[17]

Notable alumni

• Ray Dalio, hedge fund manager^[18]

• Cliff Asness, hedge fund manager^[19]
• Krishna Das, musician
• Nadine Faustin-Parker, three-time Olympian for the Republic of Haiti (2000, 2004, 2008)^[20]
• Alyssa A. Goodman, Class of 1980, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University
• Alex Katz (baseball), baseball player in the Baltimore Orioles organization^[21][22][23]
• Liam McHugh, sports journalist^[24][25][26]
• Eric J. Nestler, Chair of Neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• David Quinn, actor and co-founder of Allrecipes.com^[27]
• Joe Roth - film executive, producer and film director^[28]
• Matthew Senreich, screenwriter, producer & director^[29]
• Robert Sitkoff, Professor at Harvard Law School
• Jai Wolf (Sajeeb Saha), electronic music producer^[30]
• Richard Zimler, novelist

References

1. School data for Herricks High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 12, 2016.
2. "About our School". Archived from the original on 2011-12-29. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
3. America’s Best High Schools 2012 - Newsweek and The Daily Beast Archived May 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
4. "Herricks Votes Again On School Expansion". Newsday. March 18, 1955. p. 26 – via ProQuest.
5. "What Do You Know About Herricks?". The Roslyn News. November 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
6. "Alumni Newsletter". Herricks Public Schools. 2009. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
7. "Education: The Offensive Prayer". Time. March 9, 1959. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
8. "Engel et al v. Vitale et al". ThisNation.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
9. Tedesco, Richard (September 5, 2013). "Herricks celebrates 200 years". The Island Now. Archived from the original on October 28, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
10. "Herricks High School Café + Commons – BBS Arch". Retrieved 2020-08-10.
11. "Music". Herricks Public Schools. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
12. Miller, Mary (October 21, 2011). "Herricks High School Tri-M Honors Concert". Patch. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
13. "Herricks High School Tri-M Chapter 1975". Long Island String Festival Association. 2008-05-11. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
14. "Athletic Boosters' Site / Herricks Sports". Herricks Public Schools. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
15. "Herricks Highlander Front Page". My High School Journalism. February 5, 2007. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
16. Walter, Geoffrey (July 16, 2013). "Herricks Student Pieces Together District's Past". Patch. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
17. Tedesco, Richard (June 26, 2014). "Herricks top scholars weren't competitors". The Island Now. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
18. Glancy, Josh (December 24, 2017). "Interview: I got it all wrong . . . And made billions, says Ray Dalio". The Times.
19. Cohan, William D. (March 29, 2011). "Man vs. Machine on Wall Street: How Computers Beat the Market". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
20. "Department of Athletics Newsletter" (PDF). UNC-Chapel Hill. August 2008. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 10, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
21. "Alex Katz Reflects On His Playing Career". Axcess Baseball. April 10, 2018. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
22. Cavanagh, John (March 16, 2017). "Two St. John's Baseball Alumni Take Their Talents Overseas". The Torch. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
23. Kramer, Ari (June 10, 2015). "Alex Robinson heads list of LIers taken in MLB draft". Newsday. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
24. Best, Neil (February 3, 2018). "LI's Liam McHugh gets prime exposure on NBC's Super Bowl LII and Winter Olympics coverage". Newsday. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
25. Best, Neil (May 31, 2011). "McHugh the man". Newsday. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
26. Klar, Rebecca (March 13, 2018). "Williston Park native anchors for NBC during Super Bowl, Olympics". The Island Now. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
27. "Hillary Anna Michael Wed to David Quinn in Seattle". The New York Times. 19 March 1989.
28. Harmetz, Aljean (March 4, 1990). "Has Joe Roth Got the Key to Success at Fox?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
29. Lehman, Ken (November 11, 2011). "Herricks Alumni Spotlight: Matt Senreich". Patch. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
30. "r/ABCDesis - Jai Wolf AMA". reddit. April 17, 2019. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.

External links

• Official website