High school life in New York City for Bernie and Jennie Nelson’s children and neighbors during the thirties, forties, and fifties was an adventure in variety, experience, and quality education. There was hardly a high school in the city that didn’t offer a specialized career path of interest to any youngster. With a few exceptions, any student could attend any high school of his/her choice in any of the five boroughs, regardless of where the child lived in the city. The only exceptions were the schools that required an entrance examination, and that only because of the schools’ popularity. Among them were the Bronx High School of Science (rated one of the best in the United States), Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn Technical High School, and the New York High School of Music and Arts, the school after which the movie and TV series “Fame” was modeled. An education at any one of those high schools during those eras was the equivalent of a two-year associate’s degree in most colleges of the current era.
Quoting a Wikipedia article about Brooklyn Tech, “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.”
Of the seven Nelson children, three attended Brooklyn Tech: Bob, Warren, and Gene. (Bob’s son Tommy also graduated from Tech.) The other four children each went to a different high school: Dick; the New York School of Printing , Allen; Aviation High School, Marilyn; Bay Ridge High School, and Howie; Fort Hamilton High School . Allen was the first in the family to graduate high school, followed by the three younger ones, Marilyn, Gene, and Howie. Most of the neighborhood friends were able to continue their friendships at the more popular local high school, Fort Hamilton.
Until 1972 Brooklyn Tech was an all-male school. Bay Ridge was an all-female school. In 1985 Bay Ridge High School was closed, and the following year it was reopened as the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology. Attending a single-gender high school offered academic advantages, but the opportunities for a well-rounded social life, especially with members of the opposite sex, had to wait until after school hours. It was particularly challenging when your high school sweetheart went to a different high school.
There were no school buses in the city during those days, but every student was issued a pass for public transportation by either the subway or the bus. In many instances before the fifties, the city trolley was the mode of transportation. Incidentally, the Brooklyn Dodgers got their name from the expression "trolley dodgers."
The Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn was so heavily populated with Norwegian immigrants that Bay Ridge High School offered Norwegian as a second language.
Quoting a Wikipedia article about Brooklyn Tech, “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.”
Of the seven Nelson children, three attended Brooklyn Tech: Bob, Warren, and Gene. (Bob’s son Tommy also graduated from Tech.) The other four children each went to a different high school: Dick; the New York School of Printing , Allen; Aviation High School, Marilyn; Bay Ridge High School, and Howie; Fort Hamilton High School . Allen was the first in the family to graduate high school, followed by the three younger ones, Marilyn, Gene, and Howie. Most of the neighborhood friends were able to continue their friendships at the more popular local high school, Fort Hamilton.
Until 1972 Brooklyn Tech was an all-male school. Bay Ridge was an all-female school. In 1985 Bay Ridge High School was closed, and the following year it was reopened as the High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology. Attending a single-gender high school offered academic advantages, but the opportunities for a well-rounded social life, especially with members of the opposite sex, had to wait until after school hours. It was particularly challenging when your high school sweetheart went to a different high school.
There were no school buses in the city during those days, but every student was issued a pass for public transportation by either the subway or the bus. In many instances before the fifties, the city trolley was the mode of transportation. Incidentally, the Brooklyn Dodgers got their name from the expression "trolley dodgers."
The Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn was so heavily populated with Norwegian immigrants that Bay Ridge High School offered Norwegian as a second language.
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