Bushwick High School, opened in 1914, had a rough final decade or two before the school graduated its last class in 2006.
In the 1990s, a student was raped in the basement. The student body was twice as large as the building could hold. The graduation rate stalled at 35 percent.
With this in mind, it’s hard to imagine a time when Bushwick High was an athletic powerhouse and students swelled with pride.
But if the school song is to be believed, they were—about 100 years ago.
A sampling of the lyrics:
“Oh! See the flashing colors of dear old Bushwick High;
And hear her sons and daughters throw out the gladsome cry;
Dear Bushwick now and ever, in vict’ry or defeat;
On diamond, track, and field, old Bushwick’s athletes can’t be beat.”
Tags: " vintage sheet music covers, "Hurrah for Bushwick High, brooklyn high schools, Brooklyn Street, Bushwick Brooklyn, Bushwick High School, Irving Avenue Bushwick, New York City school songs, New York street
Ephemeral New York 
February 22, 2012 at 7:22 am |
Sad to say, Bushwick had been a trouble school for more than a few decades prior to closing. I graduated in 76 and a teacher had been raped in the stairwell a year before. They used to chain the doors to kee drug dealers and gangs out and it was not unusual for the police to be called to the school 5 or 6 times a day.
My sister graduated in 67 and there were frequent riots. The Assistant Principal’s (Miss LaGrasse) car was turned over during one riot. In decades prior to the 60’s it was much better.
March 1, 2022 at 1:16 pm |
My father, Louis Yagoda, was a proud Bushwick High School graduate, class of around 1927.