- Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science. Together with Stuyvesant High School and Bronx High School of Science, it is one of three original specialized science high schools, operated by the New York City Department of Education, all three of which were cited by The Washington Post in 2006 as among the best magnet schools in the United States. Admission is by competitive examination, and as a public school, there is no tuition fee and only residents of the City of New York are eligible to attend.
- Brooklyn Tech is a founding member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology. Brooklyn Tech is noted for its famous alumni (including two Nobel Laureates), its academics, and the large number of graduates attending prestigious universities. Routinely, more than 98% of its graduates are accepted to four-year colleges.
- Building and facilities: The school, built on its present site from 1930-33 at a cost of $6 million, is 12 stories high, and covers almost an entire city block. Facilities include: Gymnasiums on the first and eighth floors, with a mezzanine running track above the larger first floor gym. The eighth floor gym had a bowling alley lane and an adjacent wire-mesh enclosed rooftop sometimes used for handball and for tennis practice.
- Swimming pool with a diving board in the basement.
- Wood, machine and other specialized shops. Most have been converted into normal classrooms or computer labs, except for a robotics shop.
- Foundry on the seventh floor, with a floor of molding sand used for creating sand casting molds. It was closed during the 1990s.
- Materials testing lab, used during the basic materials science (Strength of Materials) class. Included industrial capacity Universal Testing Machine.
- Aeronautical lab, featuring a large wind tunnel.
- Radio studio. Registered with Federal Communications Commission as WNYE (FM), it has not been used since the 1980s.
- 3,100-seat auditorium — Second-largest in New York City next to Radio City Music Hall, with two balconies.
- Recital hall.
- Scientifically equipped classrooms for Chemistry works for each student.
- Technical drawing and freehand drawing rooms.
- Library with fireplaces.
- Football field on Fulton and Clermont Streets. The Football Field, named in honor of Brooklyn Tech Alumnus Charles Wang, was opened in 2001, with the home opener played October 6, 2001, against DeWitt Clinton High School.
- Access to Fort Greene Park for outdoor track, tennis, etc.
- A 456-foot-tall rooftop broadcasting antenna, when added to the height of the building itself (145 feet), makes Brooklyn Tech the borough's tallest structure, at 597 feet high. It is 85 feet taller than Brooklyn's tallest building, the 512-foot Williamsburg Savings Bank.
- In 1934, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), which later became the Works Projects Administration (WPA), commissioned artist Maxwell B. Starr to paint a mural in the foyer depicting the evolution of man and science throughout history.
- Brooklyn Tech's founder and first principal, Dr. Albert L. Colston, had an apartment built for himself in the tower of the building, and was the only person to live at Brooklyn Tech.
- In December 2006, developer and New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner proposed a new building for Tech as part of the basketball arena he is constructing at the Atlantic Yards. The building will reportedly be able to fit about 6000 students.
- Original plan: In 1918, Dr. Albert L. Colston, chair of the Math Department at Manual Training High School, recommended establishing a technical high school for Brooklyn boys. His plan envisioned a heavy concentration of math, science, and drafting courses with parallel paths leading either to college or to a technical career in industry. By 1922, Dr. Colston's concept was approved by the Board of Education, and Brooklyn Technical High School opened in a converted warehouse at 49 Flatbush Avenue Extension, with 2,400 students. This location, in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, is the reason the school seal bears that bridge's image, rather than the more obvious symbol for the borough, the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn Tech would occupy one more location before settling into its current site, for which the groundbreaking was held in 1930.
- Early academics: A notable feature of Brooklyn Tech is its system of college-style majors . The curriculum consists of two years of general studies with a technical and mechanical emphasis, followed by two years of a student-chosen major.
- The curriculum remained largely unchanged until the end of Dr. Colston's 20-year term as principal in 1942. Upon his retirement, Tech was led briefly by acting principal Ralph Breiling, who was succeeded by Principal Harold Taylor in 1944. Tech's modernization would come under Principal William Pabst, who assumed stewardship in 1946 after serving as chair of the Electrical Department. Pabst created new majors and refined older ones, allowing students to select science and engineering preparatory majors including Aeronautical; Architecture; Chemistry; Civil; Electrical (later including electronics); Industrial Design, Mechanical and Structural. Arts and Sciences, a general college preparatory curriculum, would be added later.
- 1960s: Principal Pabst retired in 1964 and in August 1965, a ten-year-old boy named Carl Johnson drowned in the swimming pool at Brooklyn Tech while swimming with his day-camp group. The next year, more than 30 graduating Seniors in the school (including many student leaders) complained that Tech's curriculum was old and outdated. Their primary complaint was that the curriculum was geared towards the small minority of students that were not planning on attending college. In 1967 the schools of New York City got to view television in the classrooms for the first time, thanks to the station WNYE-TV, then located in the transmitter center on top of Brooklyn Tech.
- 1968 was a turbulent year at Tech, when Principal Isidor Auerbach rebuked approximately 200 students who had violated the school's dress code by wearing jeans to school. Dean Jack Feuerstein lectured the students on discipline then sent them to the auditorium, where they spent the day studying. In early February, approximately 300 students at Tech protested outside in support of the Vietnam War, with students holding signs that said "Support the Boys in Vietnam" and "Bomb Hanoi".
- In May 1969, 60 students were suspended in what was called the biggest mass suspension ever in New York City's public school system. The suspensions came about when three students were first suspended for hanging pictures of Martin Luther King Jr., and Eldridge Cleaver, spokesperson for the Black Panther Party, in the cafeteria. 60 other students refused to go to their classes to protest the suspension of these three and were subsequently suspended by Principal Auerbach.
- New York City specialized high schools: In 1972, Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant High School, and High School for Performing Arts become incorporated by the New York State Legislature as specialized high schools of New York City. The act called for a uniform exam to be administered for admission to Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, and Stuyvesant. The exam would become known as the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) and tested students in math and English. With its statewide recognition, the school had to become co-educational.
- In 1973, Tech celebrated its 50th anniversary with a dinner-dance at the Waldorf Astoria. To further commemorate the anniversary, a monument was erected, with a time capsule beneath it, in the north courtyard. The monument has eight panels, each with a unique design representing each of Tech's eight majors at that point.
- Technological advances again changed Tech's character in 1976, with the school adding the Graphic Communications major, now commonly known as the "Media" major.
- In 1983, Matt Mandery's appointment as principal made him the first Tech alumnus to hold that position. The following year, Tech received the Excellence in Education award from the U.S. Department of Education. The Alumni Association was formally created during this time, and coalitions were formed with the New York City Department of Transportation.
- John Tobin followed as principal in 1987. He oversaw the addition of a Bio-Medical major to the curriculum, while abolishing the Materials Science department and closing the 7th floor foundry.
- Endowment: In March 1998, an alumni group led by Leonard Riggio, class of 1958 announced plans for a fundraising campaign to raise $10 million to support their alma mater financially through facilities upgrades, establishment of curriculum enhancements, faculty training, and a university-type endowment. The endowment fundraiser, the first of its kind for an American public school, received front-page attention at The New York Times and sparked a friendly competition amongst the specialized high schools, with both Bronx Science and Stuyvesant announcing their own $10 million campaigns within weeks of the Brooklyn Tech announcement. In November 2005, the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Association announced the completion of the fundraising phase of what they had termed the Campaign for Brooklyn Tech.
- Lee McCaskill controversy: Dr. Lee D. McCaskill, appointed principal in 1992, served for 14 years, during which Tech saw the installation of more computer classrooms and the switch from traditional mechanical drawing by hand to teaching the use of computer-aided design programs. McCaskill also presided over the elimination of long-standing hallmark academic concentrations at Tech such as aerospace engineering.
- In 2003, The New York Times published an investigative article that noted "longstanding tensions" between the faculty and Principal McCaskill, "spilled into the open in October, with news reports that several teachers accused him of repeatedly sending sexually explicit e-mail messages from his school computer to staff members". The article described the principal as autocratic, controlling the school "largely through fear and intimidation", and documented acts of personal vindictiveness toward teachers; severe censorship of the student newspaper and of assigned English texts, including the refusal to let the Pulitzer Prize-finalist novel Continental Drift by Russell Banks be used for a class; and of bureaucratic mismanagement. The article also quoted praise from McCaskill's supervising superintendent, Reyes Irizarry, who cited the principal's expansion of music and sports programs.
- A follow-up column in 2004 found the situation had worsened due to increased teacher exodus, and documented Principal McCaskill's campaign against Alice Alcala, described as one of the city's leading Shakespeare teachers. Alcala had won Brooklyn Tech a $10,000 grant and brought in the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain for student workshops. "When [McCaskill] tried killing her Shakespeare program", the Times wrote, "she went over his head to the central administration and got it reinstated. The day after she was quoted in news articles criticizing McCaskill, she received an unsatisfactory classroom observation rating for the first time in 28 years of teaching. She was repeatedly denied access to the auditorium and in June, got an unsatisfactory for the year." Alcala left for Manhattan's Murry Bergtraum High School, where she shortly thereafter brought in $1,800 in grants for Shakespeare education, while at Brooklyn Tech, the article reported, there was no longer any course solely devoted to Shakespeare.
- 2005 articles in the New York Daily News and New York Teacher note that a $10,000 grant obtained by Dr. Sylvia Weinberger in 2001 to refurbish the obsolete radio room remained unused. New classroom computers were covered in plastic rather than installed because the classrooms had yet to be wired for them.
- The Office of Special Investigations of the New York City Department of Education launched an investigation of McCaskill on February 2, 2006, concerning unpaid enrollment of New Jersey resident McCaskill's daughter in New York City public school, which is illegal for non-residents of the city. On February 6, McCaskill announced his resignation from Brooklyn Tech and agreed to pay $19,441 in restitution.
- On February 7, 2006, the Department of Education named Randy Asher, founding principal of the High School for Math, Science and Engineering (HSMSE), as interim acting principal. Mr. Asher had previously served as Tech's assistant principal in mathematics from 2000-2002 before leaving to become founding principal of HSMSE.
- Special commissioner Richard J. Condon rebuked the Department of Education on Feb. 14 for allowing McCaskill to retire, still collecting $125,282 in accrued vacation time, just days before the OSI completed its investigation. Condon also recommended that Cathy Furman McCaskill, the principal's wife, be dismissed from her position as a teacher at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn for her part in submitting fake leases and other fraudulent documents to indicate the family lived in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. The next day, the Department of Education announced it would move to fire her.
- Tech in the 21st century: Since 2001, Brooklyn Tech has undergone such refurbishing as the renovation of the school's William L. Mack Library entrance, located on the fifth-floor center section. As well, two computer labs were added. The school also reinstated a class devoted to the study of Shakespeare, which students can elect to take in their senior year.
- Classes were held during the 2005 New York City transit strike, though attendance was sparse.
- Tech uses a college-style system of majors, unusual for an American high school. As of April 2007, majors include:.
- Applied Physics: Formerly Electrical/Mechanical Engineering. Students take AP Physics B and Project Lead the Way Principles of Engineering Junior year (11th) grade. AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Project Lead the Way Digital Electronics, and Robotics during Senior year (12) grade.
- Architectural Engineering: Students take Project Lead the Way Civil Engineering & Architecture and Construction Documents junior year. Structural design , Senior Design Studio, and Building Construction during senior year.
- Biochemistry (Gateway to Medicine Program/PULSE).
- Biomedical Sciences (Bio-Med): Students take AP Biology junior year. Genetics, Anatomy, and Organic chemistry senior year.
- Chemistry (Chem): Students take Advanced Placement Chemistry junior Year. Quantitative analysis and Organic chemistry senior year. Students take Quantitative analysis Fall term, then Organic chemistry during the Spring Term. Both classes are triple periods.
- Civil Engineering (Civil): Students take Project Lead the Way Civil Engineering & Architecture and Surveying junior year. Structural design and Senior Design Studio senior year. Civil Engineering Senior Design Studio is different from Architecture Senior Design Studio.
- Computer Science Technology (Comp-Sci): Students take AP Computer Science, A+, and Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) junior year. Database Design, Project Lead the Way Digital Electronics, and Video game design senior year.
- Environmental Science: Students take AP Environmental Science junior year. Urban Planning and Environmental health or Energy and Engineering senior year. In addition students must choose another Advanced Placement Science to take senior year.
- Industrial Design (ID): Students take two dimensional & three dimensional Design and Drawing and Product Design junior year. AP Art History, AP Studio Art 2D, and Project Lead the Way Computer-integrated manufacturing senior year.
- Law and Society: Formerly Technology and Liberal Arts. Students take AP United States History, AP United States Government and Politics , and Constitutional Law junior year. Criminal law, Forensic Criminology, Ethics, Logic, and a Mock Trail competition course senior year.
- Mathematics: Students take Math Analysis and Math Research junior year. Math Analysis, AP Calculus BC, Discrete mathematics , and Linear algebra senior year. Math Analysis is a class for participation in the school Math team. AP Calculus BC is a double period.
- Media Communications (Media): Students take Computer Graphics I and II, Graphic Design, and Digital Photography junior year. Web Design, Adobe Flash, AP Studio Art 2D, and Animation senior year.
- Social Science Research (SSR): Students take Social Science Research junior year. AP Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology senior year. Students also have a choice of continuing Social Science Research or mentoring junior students in junior year Social Science Research.
- Aerospace Engineering will be introduced for the class of 2010. Students take AP Physics B and Engineering in Junior year, and Aerospace Engineering, AP Physics C and Astronomy in Senior year.
- Students apply for majors in sophomore year, and take ten semesters of major classes throughout junior and senior year. Tech also has a Bio-Chemistry major as part of its "Gateway to Medicine" program, to which, unlike the other majors, students apply to as incoming freshmen. All Advanced Placement science courses are taught as double periods to accomodate the large lab requirement.
- Extracurricular Activities: Brooklyn Tech fields 30 junior-varsity and varsity teams in the Public School Athletic League (PSAL). The school's more than 100 clubs and organizations include math, debate, forensics (speech), robotics and mock trial teams, which compete in inter-school tournaments. The Model U.N. Club provides students with a venue for discussing foreign affairs. Other clubs cater to a wide range of topics such as anime, Dance Dance Revolution, ultimate Frisbee, politics, quilting, and animal rights. Brooklyn Tech is also known for its strong varsity swim program and its tennis team.
- S.I.N.G. is an annual tradition that pits seniors against juniors against freshmen and sophomores in a competition to create the best student-produced play. Additionally, Tech students put on a musical each spring.
- The school Coordinator of Student Activities (COSA) works with students to help organize events and gain administration approval for student activities. The school also assigns a COSA to each grade. Each grade level also has its own class government with the COSA has its adviser and consisting of an executive boards comprised of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and parliamentarian. The four collective class governments form the Schoolwide Student Government Organization.
- Notable alumni: Gary Ackerman, 1960 - U.S. Congressman.
- Warren Adler, c. 1945 - Author, The War of the Roses.
- John Catsimatidis, 1966 - Chairman & CEO, Red Apple Group, Inc.
- Tom Chapin, 1962 - Entertainer, humanitarian.
- Kim Coles, 1980 - Actor.
- John Piña Craven, 1942 - former chief scientist of the US Navy's Special Projects Office.
- Richard Fariña, 1945 - Writer, folksinger.
- Lou Ferrigno, 1969 - Bodybuilder, actor.
- David Groh, 1958 - Actor, television's Rhoda.
- Herbert L. Henkel, 1966 - Chairman, president & CEO, Ingersoll-Rand Company.
- Troy Johnson, 1980 - Founder, AALBC.com.
- Stuart Kessler, C.P.A., 1947 - Chairman, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants board of directors.
- Richard LaMotta, 1960 - Founder of Chipwich, ice cream sandwich company.
- Conrad McRae, 1989 - Professional basketball player.
- Werner Roth, 1966 - Professional soccer hall-of-famer.
- Russ Salzberg, 1969 - WWOR-TV sports anchor.
- Liev Schreiber (year?) - Actor-director.
- Raymond Scott c. 1916 - Composer and inventor of the music sequencer.
- Keeth Smart, 1996 - First American named #1 male saber fencer.
- Anthony Weiner, 1981 - U.S. Congressman.
- Robert Anton Wilson, 1950 - Author, Playboy editor.
- 1998 Hall of Fame inductees: Frank A. Cipriani, Ph.D. 1951 - President, SUNY at Farmingdale.
- Adam J. Cirillo, 1929 - Educator, championship high-school football coach.
- Albert L. Colston, Ph.D. – Creator and founding principal, Brooklyn Tech.
- Gen. James E. Dalton, 1949 - Four-star general, United States Air Force.
- Bernard Friedland, Ph.D., 1948 - Engineer, author.
- Meredith C. Gourdine, Ph.D., 1948 - Electrogasdynamics pioneer, 1952 Olympic silver medalist.
- Stuart Kessler, C.P.A. 1947 - Chairman, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants board of directors.
- Marvin Kitman, 1947 - Author, Newsday television critic.
- Sal Restivo, Ph.D. 1958 - Author, researcher.
- George Wald, Ph.D. 1923 - Biologist, 1967 Nobel Laureate.
- 1999 Hall of Fame inductees: Col. Karol J. Bobko, 1955 - NASA astronaut.
- Donald L. Klein, Ph.D., 1949 - Inventor, silicon gate transistor.
- Sgt. Meyer S. Levin, 1934 - Decorated Air Force hero, World War II.
- Harvey Lichtenstein, 1946 - President, Brooklyn Academy of Music.
- Leonard Riggio, 1958 - Founder, Barnes & Noble.
- 2000 Hall of Fame inductees: Harry Chapin, 1960 - Entertainer, humanitarian.
- Joseph J. Kohn, Ph.D. 1950 - Mathematician.
- Arno A. Penzias, Ph.D. 1951 - Physicist, 1978 Nobel Laureate.
- Charles B. Wang, 1962 - Founder, Computer Associates International; principal owner, New York Islanders hockey team.
- Josh S. Weston, 1946 - Chairman, Automatic Data Processing, philanthropist.
- 2003 Hall of Fame inductees: Joseph J. Jacobs, Ph.D., 1934 - Author, engineer, humanitarian.
- William L. Mack, 1957 - Chairman, Mack-Cali Realty; philanthropist.
- Saverio "Sonny" Morea, 1950 - NASA engineer.
- Steven P. Shearing, M.D. 1952 - Ophthalmologic surgeon, inventor of shearing lens.
- 2005 Hall of Fame inductees: Joseph M. Colucci, 1954 - Executive director, General Motors, Research & Design Center.
- Joseph "Tucker" Madawick, 1937 - President, Industrial Designers Society of America.
- Bernard Gifford, Ph.D., 1961 - Scientist, Apple Computer vice president of education.
- George W. Sutton, 1945 - Author, editor, mechanical engineer who designed ablation head shield material for space re-entry.
- Paul C. Szasz, 1947 - International-law scholar.
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