Blind Brook High School
Encyclopedia
Blind Brook High School (BBHS) is a public, four-year secondary school
in Rye Brook, New York
, United States
, and is the lone public high school that serves the Blind Brook School District
. BBHS is a relatively small high school; the Class of 2008 was made up of 102 students. The Principal is Gina Healy. The assistant principal is Todd Richard.
The original building was considered modern as it contained 'open classrooms'. This setup contained classrooms that had only two walls around it. This made for an interesting and different learning environment since students walking in hallways would also be walking through classes. The building was designed in this manner as the district focused around a humanities curriculum that included interdisciplinary studies.
Even though the school opened in 1973, Blind Brook's first graduating class was the Class of 1975. This class was made up of only 4 students and the graduation took place in the middle of the school year.
1997 brought the arrival of Principal Robert Chlebicki, a position he would hold until 2003. During his tenure at Blind Brook, Chlebicki helped Blind Brook move into the 21st century. In 1999, with the construction of Bellefair, a new development, and the influx of younger families to the community, the Blind Brook community started to outgrow the original high school building. A parent-school district committee, called "Let's Bond for our Kids" formed a construction plan and encouraged the community to get involved and vote. The Bond passed by a large margin, bringing construction to the BB campus for the first time since 1973. In the Summer of 2001, Portables 1 and 2 were installed to create additional classroom space during the construction. These modular buildings are connected to each other, but are not connected to the main high school building. To this day, the modular classrooms, or as they are often called, the portables (even though they can not be moved), are still used for daily classes and are fairly popular among the student body.
During this time of change in the district, Susan Shirken, the Assistant Principal of the Middle/High School, left. She held this position until the arrival of Michael Mitchell in 2001.
With administration change occurring, the construction project progressed. The project ultimately resulted in a Middle School wing, Middle School gym, renovated IMC (library), new Middle School and High School main offices, a 450-seat auditorium, a new front walkway and entrance, a renovated commons area, and high school classroom renovation. In addition to additions to the building, in order to meet state fire codes, the construction also resulted in traditional, 4-walled, closed classrooms. By removing wall-less classrooms, the new classroom setup left some rooms window-less. In addition, the Commons had the carpet removed and new, artistic walls were installed. These walls were poked fun at often and seemed very silly in the eyes of students, with statements of "This is a school, not an art museum!" pushing a backlash against the walls. Many wanted the walls removed, though that wouldn't happen until Blind Brook went through its second wave of construction. The new auditorium was also criticized as it was too small and could not fit the entire high school and its faculty in the facility at the same time. In addition, the end-of-the-year graduation would not be able to be held in the new facility as it lacked necessary seating for guests. Graduations are held in the gym as it can accommodate the large amount of guests.
2002-2003 brought much change to Blind Brook High School. A new look, new technology, and new traditions changed the style of the culture through the halls of Blind Brook. A (non-merged) football team, albeit at the Junior Varsity level, was created, bringing football to Rye Brook after a long hiatus of any type of recreational football. The football team was originally made up of 25 students and practiced at Ridge Street School. Parking issues at the then-IBM building between the High School and the building's owners continued, resulting in tense negotiations between the two groups. Three International Baccalaureate classes (12th grade English, 11th grade Chemistry, and Theory of Knowledge) were added to the Blind Brook menu of classes in order to create a more difficult and challenging curriculum, though after months of discussion and debate, the Board of Education voted 4 to 1 against the continuing of the program in March 2003. The end of the school year also brought the resignations of Blind Brook's top administrators, long-time principal Robert Chlebicki and assistant principal Michael Mitchell, leaving a sense of uncertainty to the Blind Brook community. Chlebicki left Blind Brook for the North Shore School District on Long Island
as the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.
Blind Brook's future curriculum plans were also in limbo after the International Baccalaureate plan was rejected. A new strategy was put into action by the Board of Education to investigate the AP program and to see if it would be a good fit for BBHS. From 2004 to 2006, Blind Brook added numerous AP classes to the its class offerings. In addition to new AP classes, Blind Brook, in the 2005-06 school year, also added Latin
as an elective to its menu of course offerings.
In early 2005, the Blind Brook community was once again outgrowing the High School building. This gave school officials no other choice than expand onto the high school building once again. A Bond vote was conducted and passed by a high percentage. With this bond passed, construction returned to the Blind Brook campus for the second time in only 5 years.
Construction, however, did not start until late 2005, around October, because of problems with architect plans and a slow permit approval by the New York State Education Department. In the 2005-06 phase of construction, a new middle school cafeteria, fitness center, science labs, HS and MS classrooms, and new athletic fields were built. Problems arose when students became concerned with the future of the Rock, a tradition Blind Brook students take part in every year as the Senior class paints it. The problem was fixed as the rock was moved out of harm's way. The new fields feature synthetic grass, the idea behind them giving teams more flexibility in when they can use they fields and how often they do so.
A significant retaining wall malfunction delayed the construction of the soccer/football field as it had to be rebuilt. The manufacturer had announced that the wrong type of stones were chosen for the wall, meaning all retaining walls on the campus had to be taken down and rebuilt. This set the field projects back several months and the wall was finally completed in October 2006. The company who installed the wall and provided the stones paid for the damages. The upper field contains an artificial turf baseball field and the lower contains a 6-lane track and an artificial turf
lacrosse/soccer/football field in it. Because of the new field space, girls lacrosse was started in 2007 at the JV level. The baseball field, complete with stands, backstop, and sliding-dirt cutouts, was completed in mid-October 2006 while the soccer/football field wasn't complete until the Spring of 2007 and the track wasn't complete until July 2007.
The Village of Rye Brook, New York
, at the same time, was building their fields adjacent to the BBHS campus. These fields contain a softball field and a soccer/football field.
It was announced in the Spring of 2007 that Mr. Anthony Baxter would not be returning to Blind Brook for the 2007-08 school year. The Board of Education hired William Stark in June 2007 as the Interim Principal until a permanent replacement was found.
In the summer of 2007, Blind Brook was the site of the 2007 Empire State Games
Men's Soccer matches, which helped further show the community the new and state-of-the-art facilities Blind Brook has to offer.
At the 2008 Graduation Ceremonies, the Board of Education President announced that the IMC would be renamed the Monroe E. Haas Library and IMC in honor of the outgoing board member.
On April 16, 2008, it was announced that Scott Bersin, who formerly was the assistant principal at Great Neck High School North
on Long Island
, had been hired as the High School's new principal effective July 1, 2008.
However, Bersin only served one year of his three year probationary appointment. At a special meeting held on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, the Board of Education accepted Bersin's resignation making Bersin the third principal to resign in six years.
While Bersin's resignation produced a great deal of controversy, according to newspaper reports, Vincent Galasso, the former science coordinator for the middle school and high school, was appointed as an interim principal as of July 1, 2009.
On July 1, 2010, Gina Healey became the 6th principal of Blind Brook High School in seven years. When the vice principal Jane Wermuth was the only administrator to not be given a raise by Superintendent Stark, she left for the principal position at Yonkers High School.
, up from 85 in 2009, placing Blind Brook on its Gold Medal List for the second year in a row.
In 2008, Blind Brook, along with other high schools across the United States, asked Newsweek
Magazine to be left off the magazine's controversial rankings. Blind Brook signed a letter to Newsweek saying that it didn't want to be on a list that ranks high schools based on the ratio of students who take advanced-placement exams. Previously, Blind Brook was placed 89th on Newsweek Magazine's Top 100 Schools list in 2006 and 94th in 2007.
BBHS, over the last nine years, has expanded the Advanced Placement program offered to students. In 1999-2000, 7 AP courses were offered. As of 2007, BBHS offers 14 AP courses in addition to high school-level-Regents classes.
BBHS is the home to a regional BOCES
program for hearing impaired students.
What was first known as the "Underground Literary Magazine" in the early 1980s, is Blind Brook's student-produced Literary Magazine
, "Alter[ed] Ego". This magazine is popular for its short stories, poems, and art.
In addition to print, Blind Brook operates a cable television
station through BBTV, Blind Brook's video club. This club produces original programming for the station and helps run the station.
"The Movie Making Club", which was established in the beginning of the 2007 school year, has the stated purpose of creating one movie per year. The club recently produced and created a documentary on drinking among the students at BBHS.
run by Blind Brook students since its establishment in 1998. It serves the Port Chester
community by serving meals to the needy and less fortunate. In 2001, Blind Brook's Habitat for Humanity chapter was created. Since that time, the club has worked on numerous construction sites helping build homes, clean up debris, and paint churches.
The AIDS Awareness
Club's mission is to promote AIDS research and educate people about the topic. Another club that also expands people's knowledge is SAGA, a Gay-straight alliance
, which helps bring different groups of students together to promote acceptance among other things. A very active club at Blind Brook is the SADD Club, which stands for "Students Against Destructive Decisions". This club's goal is to help students make the right choices as they live their everyday lives. Topics range from drug use to drinking and driving to social issues. The club gets its message out through guest speakers, drunk driving simulators, and bake sales. Another popular club at Blind Brook is the Human Relations Club. This club is known for its annual weekend retreat.
The Language Clubs include:
Some of these academic clubs include the Chess
Club, in which students meet weekly to play chess, and JSA
, in which students debate political issues. During the presidential race, the JSA club sponsors a mock debate between the candidates.
team has been very successful recently on all levels of the New York State Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the New York State Bar Association
. The New York competition is the largest in the United States with over 375 high schools participating each year. The Blind Brook team is usually made up of 14-16 students and those wanting to join must go though an interview and question/response tryout. 6 students are assigned lawyer positions (3 for Prosecution, 3 for Defense) and 6 are given witness positions (3 for Prosecution, 3 for defense).
The Blind Brook Mock Trial Trojans have won the Westchester County
Championship 7 times, in 1995, 1998, from 2004 through 2007, and once again in 2011. Each year between 32 and 36 schools compete for the county title.
During the team's historic 4-peat from 2004 to 2007, Blind Brook beat North Salem High School
for the 2004 title, beat John Jay High School
for the 2005 title, beat Harrison
High School for the 2006 championship, and in 2007 defeated Scarsdale High School
for the title.
Once the team successfully captured the county title, Blind Brook moved on to the regionals. Blind Brook is in Region IV, the "Lower Hudson Valley", which is made up of Westchester, Rockland
, Orange
, Putnam
, Sullivan
, Dutchess
and Ulster County
. Blind Brook won the regional championship in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
In the years that Blind Brook captured the regional title, they moved onto the state-level of the competition in Albany
. In 2005 and 2006 the team were NYS Semi-Finalists and in 2007 they were runners up, losing to the Bronx School for Law, Government, & Justice.
is one of the more popular academic teams at the school. Approximately 60 students take part in 6 competitions throughout the school year. The high turnout can be attributed to the team's motto, "You can't hurt the team". The team has been successful in the recent past, finishing 5th and 8th in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
.
Basketball
V = Varsity, VB = Varsity B, JV = Junior Varsity, F = Freshmen, Mod = Modified
N/I = need information, – = not applicable
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Rye Brook, New York
Rye Brook, New York
Rye Brook is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the town of Rye. Prior to the village's establishment on July 7, 1982, the area was an unincorporated section of the town of Rye...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and is the lone public high school that serves the Blind Brook School District
Blind Brook School District
The Blind Brook School District, officially known as the Blind Brook-Rye Union Free School District, is a public school district that serves approximately 1,550 students in Rye Brook, New York in Westchester County. Before it was known as the Blind Brook School District, it was called District...
. BBHS is a relatively small high school; the Class of 2008 was made up of 102 students. The Principal is Gina Healy. The assistant principal is Todd Richard.
Blind Brook's Beginnings
Blind Brook High School opened its doors in the fall of 1973. The construction of the Blind Brook School District's first high school came about after the community (which was the unincorporated area of the Town of Rye at the time) wanted to expand the local school district (known as District #5). This push for expansion started after the community became frustrated spending lots of money to send their children to local high schools including Port Chester, Mamaroneck, Rye Neck, and Valhalla. In addition, the Ridge Street School, which housed classes from Kindergarten to 8th/9th grades, was becoming overcrowded and could not accommodate the growing population that would become known as Rye Brook (in 1982). Land was purchased on King Street and construction was started in 1972 and ended in late 1973, months into the school year. The High School today stands on the same campus as in 1973.30 Years of Blind Brook: 1973-2003
In the fall of 1973, Blind Brook opened its doors with Mr. David Schein as its first principal. Construction was ongoing in the new building during the first months of the school year. In fact, some classes were held at the Ridge Street School during this time.The original building was considered modern as it contained 'open classrooms'. This setup contained classrooms that had only two walls around it. This made for an interesting and different learning environment since students walking in hallways would also be walking through classes. The building was designed in this manner as the district focused around a humanities curriculum that included interdisciplinary studies.
Even though the school opened in 1973, Blind Brook's first graduating class was the Class of 1975. This class was made up of only 4 students and the graduation took place in the middle of the school year.
1997 brought the arrival of Principal Robert Chlebicki, a position he would hold until 2003. During his tenure at Blind Brook, Chlebicki helped Blind Brook move into the 21st century. In 1999, with the construction of Bellefair, a new development, and the influx of younger families to the community, the Blind Brook community started to outgrow the original high school building. A parent-school district committee, called "Let's Bond for our Kids" formed a construction plan and encouraged the community to get involved and vote. The Bond passed by a large margin, bringing construction to the BB campus for the first time since 1973. In the Summer of 2001, Portables 1 and 2 were installed to create additional classroom space during the construction. These modular buildings are connected to each other, but are not connected to the main high school building. To this day, the modular classrooms, or as they are often called, the portables (even though they can not be moved), are still used for daily classes and are fairly popular among the student body.
During this time of change in the district, Susan Shirken, the Assistant Principal of the Middle/High School, left. She held this position until the arrival of Michael Mitchell in 2001.
With administration change occurring, the construction project progressed. The project ultimately resulted in a Middle School wing, Middle School gym, renovated IMC (library), new Middle School and High School main offices, a 450-seat auditorium, a new front walkway and entrance, a renovated commons area, and high school classroom renovation. In addition to additions to the building, in order to meet state fire codes, the construction also resulted in traditional, 4-walled, closed classrooms. By removing wall-less classrooms, the new classroom setup left some rooms window-less. In addition, the Commons had the carpet removed and new, artistic walls were installed. These walls were poked fun at often and seemed very silly in the eyes of students, with statements of "This is a school, not an art museum!" pushing a backlash against the walls. Many wanted the walls removed, though that wouldn't happen until Blind Brook went through its second wave of construction. The new auditorium was also criticized as it was too small and could not fit the entire high school and its faculty in the facility at the same time. In addition, the end-of-the-year graduation would not be able to be held in the new facility as it lacked necessary seating for guests. Graduations are held in the gym as it can accommodate the large amount of guests.
2002-2003 brought much change to Blind Brook High School. A new look, new technology, and new traditions changed the style of the culture through the halls of Blind Brook. A (non-merged) football team, albeit at the Junior Varsity level, was created, bringing football to Rye Brook after a long hiatus of any type of recreational football. The football team was originally made up of 25 students and practiced at Ridge Street School. Parking issues at the then-IBM building between the High School and the building's owners continued, resulting in tense negotiations between the two groups. Three International Baccalaureate classes (12th grade English, 11th grade Chemistry, and Theory of Knowledge) were added to the Blind Brook menu of classes in order to create a more difficult and challenging curriculum, though after months of discussion and debate, the Board of Education voted 4 to 1 against the continuing of the program in March 2003. The end of the school year also brought the resignations of Blind Brook's top administrators, long-time principal Robert Chlebicki and assistant principal Michael Mitchell, leaving a sense of uncertainty to the Blind Brook community. Chlebicki left Blind Brook for the North Shore School District on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
as the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.
Blind Brook Prepares for the Future: 2004-To the Present
Blind Brook's administration was still up in the air in 2003-2004 school year as an interim principal was hired while the search for a new principal continued. Anthony Baxter and Jane Wermuth were hired for the positions of principal and assistant principal, respectively.Blind Brook's future curriculum plans were also in limbo after the International Baccalaureate plan was rejected. A new strategy was put into action by the Board of Education to investigate the AP program and to see if it would be a good fit for BBHS. From 2004 to 2006, Blind Brook added numerous AP classes to the its class offerings. In addition to new AP classes, Blind Brook, in the 2005-06 school year, also added Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
as an elective to its menu of course offerings.
In early 2005, the Blind Brook community was once again outgrowing the High School building. This gave school officials no other choice than expand onto the high school building once again. A Bond vote was conducted and passed by a high percentage. With this bond passed, construction returned to the Blind Brook campus for the second time in only 5 years.
Construction, however, did not start until late 2005, around October, because of problems with architect plans and a slow permit approval by the New York State Education Department. In the 2005-06 phase of construction, a new middle school cafeteria, fitness center, science labs, HS and MS classrooms, and new athletic fields were built. Problems arose when students became concerned with the future of the Rock, a tradition Blind Brook students take part in every year as the Senior class paints it. The problem was fixed as the rock was moved out of harm's way. The new fields feature synthetic grass, the idea behind them giving teams more flexibility in when they can use they fields and how often they do so.
A significant retaining wall malfunction delayed the construction of the soccer/football field as it had to be rebuilt. The manufacturer had announced that the wrong type of stones were chosen for the wall, meaning all retaining walls on the campus had to be taken down and rebuilt. This set the field projects back several months and the wall was finally completed in October 2006. The company who installed the wall and provided the stones paid for the damages. The upper field contains an artificial turf baseball field and the lower contains a 6-lane track and an artificial turf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
lacrosse/soccer/football field in it. Because of the new field space, girls lacrosse was started in 2007 at the JV level. The baseball field, complete with stands, backstop, and sliding-dirt cutouts, was completed in mid-October 2006 while the soccer/football field wasn't complete until the Spring of 2007 and the track wasn't complete until July 2007.
The Village of Rye Brook, New York
Rye Brook, New York
Rye Brook is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the town of Rye. Prior to the village's establishment on July 7, 1982, the area was an unincorporated section of the town of Rye...
, at the same time, was building their fields adjacent to the BBHS campus. These fields contain a softball field and a soccer/football field.
It was announced in the Spring of 2007 that Mr. Anthony Baxter would not be returning to Blind Brook for the 2007-08 school year. The Board of Education hired William Stark in June 2007 as the Interim Principal until a permanent replacement was found.
In the summer of 2007, Blind Brook was the site of the 2007 Empire State Games
Empire State Games
The Empire State Games are a set of annual Olympic-style competitions for amateur athletes from the state of New York, encompassing several divisions and allowing athletes of all ages to compete. It was a member of the National Congress of State Games...
Men's Soccer matches, which helped further show the community the new and state-of-the-art facilities Blind Brook has to offer.
At the 2008 Graduation Ceremonies, the Board of Education President announced that the IMC would be renamed the Monroe E. Haas Library and IMC in honor of the outgoing board member.
On April 16, 2008, it was announced that Scott Bersin, who formerly was the assistant principal at Great Neck High School North
Great Neck North High School
John L. Miller Great Neck North High School or simply "North High," or "North," is a public high school, including grades 9 through 12, in the village of Great Neck, New York, operated by the Great Neck School District...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, had been hired as the High School's new principal effective July 1, 2008.
However, Bersin only served one year of his three year probationary appointment. At a special meeting held on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, the Board of Education accepted Bersin's resignation making Bersin the third principal to resign in six years.
While Bersin's resignation produced a great deal of controversy, according to newspaper reports, Vincent Galasso, the former science coordinator for the middle school and high school, was appointed as an interim principal as of July 1, 2009.
On July 1, 2010, Gina Healey became the 6th principal of Blind Brook High School in seven years. When the vice principal Jane Wermuth was the only administrator to not be given a raise by Superintendent Stark, she left for the principal position at Yonkers High School.
Blind Brook's Literary Achievers
- 1986 Pulitzer Prize1986 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism:*Public service: The Denver Post**"For its in-depth study of "missing children", which revealed that most are involved in custody disputes or are runaways and which helped mitigate national fears stirred by exaggerated statistics."...
Winner, Jeffrey Marx
- Jason Stein, author of "Hello Friend, My Name is Melvany"
- Randy Krausman, co-author of "Hello Friend, My Name is Melvany"
- Ann Garofalo, author of "So Many Monsters"
- Joe Levy, Editor-in-Chief of Blender Magazine
- Cheryl Kramer, Beauty Editor at Redbook Magazine
- Paula Bernstein, co-author, with Elyse Schein, of Identical StrangersIdentical StrangersIdentical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited is a 2007 memoir written by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein and published by Random House. The twins were given up by their mentally ill mother and separated as infants, in part, to participate in a twin study. They were adopted by...
, published by Random House in 2007
Academics
Blind Brook High School is known for its strong educational program. In 2010, US News and World Report ranked Blind Brook # 1 in its list of best high schools in the world, up from 85 in 2009, placing Blind Brook on its Gold Medal List for the second year in a row.
In 2008, Blind Brook, along with other high schools across the United States, asked Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
Magazine to be left off the magazine's controversial rankings. Blind Brook signed a letter to Newsweek saying that it didn't want to be on a list that ranks high schools based on the ratio of students who take advanced-placement exams. Previously, Blind Brook was placed 89th on Newsweek Magazine's Top 100 Schools list in 2006 and 94th in 2007.
BBHS, over the last nine years, has expanded the Advanced Placement program offered to students. In 1999-2000, 7 AP courses were offered. As of 2007, BBHS offers 14 AP courses in addition to high school-level-Regents classes.
BBHS is the home to a regional BOCES
Boces
Boces is the second album by Mercury Rev, released in 1993. The band has explained the title as being inspired by the name of the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services in New York State, a vocational school system in the band's home state....
program for hearing impaired students.
Extracurricular activities
Blind Brook has many activities and clubs that students can take part in during Activity Period and after school. In recent years, Blind Brook's clubs and teams have been recognized as top performers in their fields. These clubs range from academic teams to community groups to the arts. In 2007-08, clubs were moved from Activity Period to after-school after formal complaints by the BBHS Congress and students. As a result of their moving, new procedures concerning clubs were established. These procedures require that both new and pre-existing clubs submit a complete list of members in order to obtain a one-year charter allowing them to operate.Student-Produced Publications/Media
Blind Brook's FOCUS is the award winning newspaper. They are winners of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's gold medal. The paper is produced in house by the students and a faculty adviser.What was first known as the "Underground Literary Magazine" in the early 1980s, is Blind Brook's student-produced Literary Magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
, "Alter[ed] Ego". This magazine is popular for its short stories, poems, and art.
In addition to print, Blind Brook operates a cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
station through BBTV, Blind Brook's video club. This club produces original programming for the station and helps run the station.
"The Movie Making Club", which was established in the beginning of the 2007 school year, has the stated purpose of creating one movie per year. The club recently produced and created a documentary on drinking among the students at BBHS.
Community Service-based Clubs
Blind Brook students are well-known for their commitment and enthusiasm towards improving the community and often surpass the 80 minimum hours required to graduate. In order to expand the community service opportunities, the Blind Brook Community Service Club organizes events with senior citizen centers, holds fund raisers, and has established a Pen Pal Program with a local elementary school. Another organization is the Blind Brook Soup Kitchen, a weekly soup kitchenSoup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
run by Blind Brook students since its establishment in 1998. It serves the Port Chester
Port Chester, New York
Port Chester is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is part of the town of Rye. As of the 2010 census, Port Chester had a population of 28,967...
community by serving meals to the needy and less fortunate. In 2001, Blind Brook's Habitat for Humanity chapter was created. Since that time, the club has worked on numerous construction sites helping build homes, clean up debris, and paint churches.
Clubs for Social Change
The students of Blind Brook run many clubs that promote social change. These clubs help inform the Blind Brook community of the issues facing today's world.The AIDS Awareness
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
Club's mission is to promote AIDS research and educate people about the topic. Another club that also expands people's knowledge is SAGA, a Gay-straight alliance
Gay-straight alliance
Gay–straight alliances are student organizations, found primarily in North American high schools and universities, that are intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their straight allies .-Goal:The goal of most, if not all,...
, which helps bring different groups of students together to promote acceptance among other things. A very active club at Blind Brook is the SADD Club, which stands for "Students Against Destructive Decisions". This club's goal is to help students make the right choices as they live their everyday lives. Topics range from drug use to drinking and driving to social issues. The club gets its message out through guest speakers, drunk driving simulators, and bake sales. Another popular club at Blind Brook is the Human Relations Club. This club is known for its annual weekend retreat.
Language Clubs
The study of foreign languages is a vital part of the Blind Brook culture. Each club uses bake sales, movie nights, and other creative means to expand the knowledge of other cultures and people.The Language Clubs include:
- FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Club - ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
Club - SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
Club - World Languages Club (which promotes all languages other than the "big 3" listed above)
Academic Clubs
Blind Brook houses many academic clubs which all strive to further educate the student body about topics of interest and expose the students to different activities.Some of these academic clubs include the Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Club, in which students meet weekly to play chess, and JSA
Junior State of America
The Junior State of America is an American non-partisan student-run youth organization. It is also the largest high school student-run organization in the country...
, in which students debate political issues. During the presidential race, the JSA club sponsors a mock debate between the candidates.
Mock Trial
The Blind Brook Mock TrialMock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
team has been very successful recently on all levels of the New York State Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the New York State Bar Association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. The New York competition is the largest in the United States with over 375 high schools participating each year. The Blind Brook team is usually made up of 14-16 students and those wanting to join must go though an interview and question/response tryout. 6 students are assigned lawyer positions (3 for Prosecution, 3 for Defense) and 6 are given witness positions (3 for Prosecution, 3 for defense).
The Blind Brook Mock Trial Trojans have won the Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
Championship 7 times, in 1995, 1998, from 2004 through 2007, and once again in 2011. Each year between 32 and 36 schools compete for the county title.
During the team's historic 4-peat from 2004 to 2007, Blind Brook beat North Salem High School
North Salem, New York
North Salem is a town in the northeast part of Westchester County, New York, United States. The county ranks second for wealthiest counties in New York State and the seventh wealthiest county nationally...
for the 2004 title, beat John Jay High School
John Jay High School (Cross River, New York)
John Jay High School is a public high school located in Cross River, New York. It is the only high school in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District...
for the 2005 title, beat Harrison
Harrison, New York
Harrison is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately northeast of Manhattan. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census.-Establishment:...
High School for the 2006 championship, and in 2007 defeated Scarsdale High School
Scarsdale High School
Scarsdale High School is a public high school in Scarsdale, New York, a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York. The school was founded in 1917...
for the title.
Once the team successfully captured the county title, Blind Brook moved on to the regionals. Blind Brook is in Region IV, the "Lower Hudson Valley", which is made up of Westchester, Rockland
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
, Orange
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
, Putnam
Putnam County, New York
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley. Putnam county formed in 1812, when it detached from Dutchess County. , the population was 99,710. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county seat is the hamlet of Carmel...
, Sullivan
Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
, Dutchess
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
and Ulster County
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
. Blind Brook won the regional championship in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
In the years that Blind Brook captured the regional title, they moved onto the state-level of the competition in Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. In 2005 and 2006 the team were NYS Semi-Finalists and in 2007 they were runners up, losing to the Bronx School for Law, Government, & Justice.
Math Team
The Blind Brook Math TeamMathematics education
In contemporary education, mathematics education is the practice of teaching and learning mathematics, along with the associated scholarly research....
is one of the more popular academic teams at the school. Approximately 60 students take part in 6 competitions throughout the school year. The high turnout can be attributed to the team's motto, "You can't hurt the team". The team has been successful in the recent past, finishing 5th and 8th in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Model UN
The Blind Brook Model United Nations club goes on multiple trips throughout the school year.Student Government
The Blind Brook Student Government is split up into four different organizations, Congress, Senate, a Shared Decision-Making Team, and Class OfficersClass Officers
At educational institutions above Primary education, each grade level or year of study is a class, referenced by the year of graduation, i.e., "Class of 2011". The official activities of these groups are generally organized and controlled by Class Officers, who are elected from and by the members...
.
Congress
Congress is an elected body of Blind Brook High School which is composed of elected students, faculty, student-related personnel, administration, and parents. Congress is responsible for "behind the scenes" items such as changes to the school constitution and policy issues.Senate
Senate is another part of the Student Government organization at Blind Brook. Senate consists only of students and is responsible for homecoming and other various school spirit events. Senate also sponsors other events such as an annual blood drive and the annual talent show, Showtime.Class Officers
Class officers are responsible for running their grades with the assistance of a class advisor. Freshmen and Seniors have 5 officers and the Sophomores and Juniors have 4.State championships
Soccer- 1980 NY State Class "C" Boys Soccer Champions
- 1978 NY State Class "C" Boys Soccer Champions
Basketball
- 2004 NY State Class "C" Boys Basketball Champions
- 2002 NY State Class "C" Boys Basketball Champions
Teams
| Sport | Level | Season | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road... |
V, JV, F (All under one coach) | Fall | Co-ed |
| Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
V, Mod | Fall | Boys' |
| Field Hockey Field hockey Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks... |
Not Currently Offered, Last offered in the late 1970s | ||
| Soccer | V, JV, Mod | Fall | Boys', Girls' |
| Girls' Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... |
V, JV, Mod | Fall | Girls' |
| Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... |
V, JV, Mod | Fall | Girls' |
| Cheerleading Cheerleading Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate... |
V | Fall, Winter | Girls' |
| Girls' Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... |
V | Fall | Girls'
|
| Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
V, JV, 9th Grade, 8th Grade, 7th Grade | Winter | Boys', Girls' |
| Gymnastics Gymnastics Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body... |
Not Currently Offered, last offered in 2007-08
|
||
| Ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take... |
V | Winter | Boys'
|
| Boys' Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... * |
V | Winter | Boys'
|
| Ski Ski A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes... |
V | Winter | Co-ed
|
| Track Track and field Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area... |
V, Mod | Spring | Co-ed |
| Wrestling Scholastic wrestling Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently... |
V | Winter | Boys'
|
| Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
V, JV, F, 8th Grade, 7th Grade | Spring | Boys' |
| Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand... |
V, JV, 8th/7th grade | Spring | Girls' |
| Boys' Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... |
V, JV, Mod | Spring | Boys' |
| Lacrosse Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh... |
JV | Spring | Girls' |
| Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.... |
V | Spring | Co-ed |
| Step Team | V | Winter | Girls |
| Dance Team | V | Winter | Girls |
V = Varsity, VB = Varsity B, JV = Junior Varsity, F = Freshmen, Mod = Modified
N/I = need information, – = not applicable
External links
- Official Blind Brook Schools Website
- Lohud.Com: Varsity Central
- "School Blackboards Are Turning White and Interactive" New York Times Article Dec. 8, 2004
- "Odd Math for 'Best High Schools' List" New York Times Article May 17, 2006
- 2006 Yearbook Excerpts
- Lohud.com: Cafeteria Fails Inspection
- NY Times: "Schools Try a Multicultural Approach" September 29, 1991
- NY Times Magazine: "Tense Times at Bronxville High" September 30, 2007
- NY Times: " Social Studies and an Economist" March 19, 1995