The news came as a surprise...
It was an Internet article from the New York Daily News that was sent to me by a friend. Christopher Columbus High School was shutting its doors.
It was an Internet article from the New York Daily News that was sent to me by a friend. Christopher Columbus High School was shutting its doors.
The place where I spent three years of my life toiling to make enough passing grades to graduate, was closing. The school, where I spent approximately six hours a day struggling to concentrate as I wrestled with my then undiagnosed Hyperactivity Attention Deficit Disorder, was coming to an end.
I think I spent more time daydreaming in school than anything else. But thanks to my caring father who pushed me along, and would even drive me to school to make sure I got there, I was able to pass all my classes, albeit barely. I was so eager and anxious to finish high school and escape from what to me was its shackles, that I didn't even attend my graduation ceremony with fellow students. Instead, I left for Fort Dix a few days before the scheduled gala event. My Dad, having made arrangements with school officials to pick up the diploma for me.
I'm thinking of these things now because of the article. Columbus closing? A neighborhood landmark. It didn't seem possible. Years ago, when I attended Columbus in the early 1970s, it was considered to be one of the better high schools in the Bronx. While schools such as Samuel Gompers, James Monroe, Morris and Evander Childs all had reputations for high rates of fights, truancy and drugs.
A profound sense of sadness began to envelop me as I read the article. A precious part of my teenage years was fading into history. Yes, I hated school. But my years at Columbus played a big part in my life. I also met a great friend there, Lenny. He and I would stay in touch after graduation, and until my arrest, which the news of hurt him very much.
I'm sure the building, which could fill a city block, is not going to be demolished. It may be turned into a charter school, which are becoming popular in New York City, or it will be divided into a handful of smaller schools all packed into one building. This too is common now. Just like one movie theater becomes a multiplex.,
Disappointingly, a once illustrious school now has the reputation, according to the article, as a failing institution, and failing students. A far too low graduation rate and poor standardized test scores. How tragic!
This is not the Columbus I remember. That school is no more.
D.B.
Beloved Bronx High School Named For Christopher Columbus Sets Sail.
By Dennis Slattery, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 7, 2014
I'm thinking of these things now because of the article. Columbus closing? A neighborhood landmark. It didn't seem possible. Years ago, when I attended Columbus in the early 1970s, it was considered to be one of the better high schools in the Bronx. While schools such as Samuel Gompers, James Monroe, Morris and Evander Childs all had reputations for high rates of fights, truancy and drugs.
A profound sense of sadness began to envelop me as I read the article. A precious part of my teenage years was fading into history. Yes, I hated school. But my years at Columbus played a big part in my life. I also met a great friend there, Lenny. He and I would stay in touch after graduation, and until my arrest, which the news of hurt him very much.
I'm sure the building, which could fill a city block, is not going to be demolished. It may be turned into a charter school, which are becoming popular in New York City, or it will be divided into a handful of smaller schools all packed into one building. This too is common now. Just like one movie theater becomes a multiplex.,
Disappointingly, a once illustrious school now has the reputation, according to the article, as a failing institution, and failing students. A far too low graduation rate and poor standardized test scores. How tragic!
This is not the Columbus I remember. That school is no more.
D.B.
Beloved Bronx High School Named For Christopher Columbus Sets Sail.
By Dennis Slattery, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 7, 2014
