Hillcrest High School (Queens)

Hillcrest High School
Address
160-05 Highland Avenue Queens, New York United States
Coordinates	40°42′32″N 73°48′08″W / 40.709°N 73.8022°WCoordinates: 40°42′32″N 73°48′08″W / 40.709°N 73.8022°W
Information
Type	Public
Principal	David T. Morrison
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	3104
Color(s)	Violet and Gray
Mascot	Hawk
Website	http://schools.nycenet.edu

Hillcrest High School is a four-year public high school located in Jamaica, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education.

The mascot is the hawk and the school colors are violet and gray.

The school's boys and girls' soccer team became division champions in the 06/07 and also the 07/08 season guided by Coach Asqui. The school is also notable for its rigorous baseball program led by Coach Malave. The school serves approximately 3,000 students and was the recent recipient of the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award from the New York State Department of Education.

Mr. Stephen M. Duch was the school principal from 1996 to the beginning of 2014. Prior to the arrival of Mr. Duch, the school was listed as the most violent school in the city. Mr. Duch is attributed to turning the school around and significantly decreasing the number of major violent incidents at the school.^[1] After his retirement, Mr. David T. Morrison, a graduate of Hillcrest and who served as the AP of English for several years, became the new principal.

Small Learning Communities

The school is divided into distinct groups called "Small Learning Communities," or SLCs. There are one director and one guidance counselor for each SLC, which makes it possible for students to receive more attention and care. The current SLCs are Biz-Tek, Global Citizens, Health Careers, Media Arts & Music, Pre-Med, Public Service & Law, Teachers of Tomorrow, and Theatre.

Notable alumni

This is a partial list of notable alumni of Hillcrest High School. Names on this list should either have an accompanying existing article link which verifies they are an alumnus, or reliable sources as footnotes against the name showing they are a notable alumnus.

• Fran Drescher (Class of 1975), actress, best known for her role on The Nanny.^[2] While there she was told to get voice lessons. Her character Fran Fine from The Nanny also graduated from Hillcrest.
• Ray Romano (Class of 1975), actor, best known for his role as Ray Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond and Manny in all five of the Ice Age movies.^[3]
• Aaron Alexis, former US Navy civilian contractor, killed 12 US Navy servicemembers and contractors in an attack in Washington, DC on September 16, 2013.
• Bianca Golden (Class of 2006), model, best known for America's Next Top Model (Cycle 9)
• Padmanee Sharma (Class of 1988) MD, PHd researcher, scientist - Scientific Director for The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

References

Notes

1. Highlighter, Hillcrest. "Hillcrest Highlighter". http://www.hillcresthighlighter.webs.com/. Hillcrest High School. Retrieved 2014-05-07. External link in |website= (help)
2. Meisler, Andy. "TELEVISION; Mary Poppins She's Not", The New York Times, December 18, 1994. Accessed November 20, 2007. "After she graduated from Hillcrest High School in Queens, where she met Mr. Jacobson, the two of them moved to Los Angeles and were married."
3. "Yahoo Movies - Ray Romano". Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved 2006-08-23.

Further reading

• Hillcrest High School gets Undeserved Grade on 2007 Progress Report published by the NY Daily News (November 27, 2007)
• Two Hillcrest High Students Caught Setting Fires At School, Queens Chronicle (April 28, 2005)
• Public Advocate's Newsday Op-Ed on School Safety, Public Advocate for The City of New York (April 5, 2005)
• Principal Apple of His Eye, New York Daily news reprint (January 7, 2004)

External links

• Hillcrest High School website
• Hillcrest High School report card published by the New York State Education Department (NYSED)
• Hillcrest Highschool's library website