J.H.S. 80
Isobel Rooney Middle School, Bronx NY on Mosholu Parkway North at Van
Cortlandt Avenue East, April 2014. PWA funds allocated 1934-36, opened in
1936 or soon afterwards[1,2]. Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Penny Marshall,
and Rob Reiner went here. This school, like most others in NYC in the era
of "education reform", has been broken up into mini-schools, most or all of
them probably charters. The name of the school was changed in 2012 to
"Norwood Academy for Communal Excellence at the Isobel Rooney Campus", to
the disgust of most parents and neighborhood residents[3]. Despite all
attempts to shut it down[4,5] it's still going as a school in some form
(I know because I live two blocks away).
Photo: Frank da Cruz.
References
- More
PWA Funds Granted - $1,418,700 Allotted for 3 Schools and New Wing for Hospital,
New York Times, 27 Sep 1934.
- PWA
School Aid Hailed by Tuttle - $34,500,000 Received by City for Work in
Depression Years,
New York Times, 26 Jan 1936.
- J.H.S. 80
changes name, Bronx Times, 24 May 2012. If you visit the
school's website today, its name is "J.H.S. 080 The Mosholu Parkway".
No trace of Isobel Rooney, beloved school board member and champion of
public education in the 1970s-80s-90s. All the changes apparently didn't do
much good, quite the opposite [next reference].
- Iconic
JHS 80 likely to close amid poor performance,
Bronx Times, 20 April 2012.
- Recent
articles, Norwood News (search results). A case study in how to
crush public education.