Scarsdale High School (SHS) is a four-year public high school in Scarsdale, New York, United States, a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York. It is a part of the Scarsdale Union Free School District.
The school was founded in 1917. From the graduating class of 2017, 98% continued their education with college programs, and 97% entered four-year national and international colleges and universities. Twenty-four students in the class of 2024 (7%) were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, and 42 (12%) students received National Merit Letters of commendation. Between 2007 and 2009, Scarsdale High School made a transition from Advanced Placement (AP) to Advanced Topics (AT) courses.
In the 2023–24 school year, SHS had a professional staff of 162 with a median teaching experience of 10 years. 100% of the faculty held a master's degree, 85% had 30 credits or more beyond a master's, and 7% had doctorate degrees.
The school is 22.3% Asian, 0.8% Black, 7.6% Hispanic, 63.0% White and 6.2% other.
Ethnic populations Japanese
Around 1986 only 5% of the school was of Asian origins. By 1991 large numbers of Japanese students enrolled at Scarsdale High because their fathers, on business assignments from Japanese companies, moved to Scarsdale for the quality of the schools. By that year almost 20% of the students were of Asian origins, most of them were of Japanese ancestry and a few being of Chinese and Korean origins. The school established an English as a second language (ESL) program to help Japanese students adjust. Initially the Japanese students faced hostility from many of the American students, and some Japanese students had hostility towards classmates they felt were becoming too Americanized and/or socialized too much with Americans. Therefore, the Japanese and American students socialized separately.Handelman, David. "The Japanning of Scarsdale: East Meets Westchester." New York Magazine (ISSN 0028-7369). New York Media, LLC, April 29, 1991. Vol. 24, No. 17. 40-45. - CITED: p. 41. Principal Judy Fox formed the Multicultural Steering Committee to try to resolve racial tensions within the school.Handelman, David. "The Japanizing of Scarsdale: East Meets Westchester." New York Magazine (ISSN 0028-7369). New York Media, LLC, April 29, 1991. Vol. 24, No. 17. 40-45. - CITED: p. 42.
Curriculum
In 2007, the school stopped using the Advanced Placement curriculum and started using the "Advanced Topics" curriculum instead. Students were no longer required to take AP examinations. The school continued to send its syllabi to the College Board, which designs and administers AP examinations. In 2008, Winnie Hu of The New York Times wrote "most students and teachers here praise the change for replacing mountains of memorization with more sophisticated and creative curriculums." There were some parents who did not support the change. A vice president of the College Board, Trevor Packer, argued that the new curriculum had a "very cosmetic" difference to the old one.
Athletics Boys soccer state champions (2022,2023) Girls tennis state champions (2021, 2022, 2023) Girls golf state champions (2019, 2024)
Notable alumni Jacqueline Alemany (2007), journalist Eric Alterman (1978), Nation columnist Jacob M. Appel (1992), author and bioethics scholar Nan Aron (1966), civil rights advocate, public interest lawyer Nancy Atlas (1967), United States federal judge Greg M. Behrman (1994), author; Henry Kissinger Fellow for Foreign Policy at The Aspen Institute; founder, editor and CEO of NationSwell Marc Bell (1985), Three Time Tony Award winner Dan Biederman (1971), urban management pioneer Leslie Cannold (1983), author, commentator, ethicist, activist Nick Civetta (2007), rugby lock/flanker Ed Cohen (2001), sportscaster Lizabeth Cohen (1969), historian, scholar Lydia Cornell (as Lydia Korniloff) (1971), actress Laura Dave (1995), novelist Lisa Donovan (1998), actress Robert Durst (1961), murderer, son of Seymour Durst and real estate heir John S. Dyson (1961), businessman Nicole Eisenman (1983), visual artist Eve Ensler (1971), playwright, performer, activist David Feldshuh (1961), physician, dramatist, artistic director at Cornell University Tovah Feldshuh (1966), actress Rob Fishman (2004), entrepreneur and writer Richard Foreman (1955), playwright, avant-garde theater pioneer David Galef (1977), novelist, short story writer Lindsay Gottlieb (1995), USC Trojans head coach Gordon Gould (1938), physicist credited with inventing laser Earl G. Graves Jr. (1980), basketball player Ross Greenburg (1973), executive for HBO Sports Peter Grosz (1992), actor Jonathan Haidt (1981), social psychologist Jeffrey Hoffman (1962), astronaut Richard Holbrooke (1958), diplomat Heather H. Howard (1986), health policy expert and political advisor Yanni Hufnagel (2001), college basketball coach Roger Harold Hull (1960), Educator, Administrator, Lawyer Andy Jassy (1986), CEO of Amazon Gish Jen (1974), novelist Kenneth I. Juster (1972), government official, lawyer Brewster Kahle (1978), founder of the Internet Archive and Wayback MachineEmail Archive 2008, Scarsdale High School PTA (2008) Matthew Kahn (1984), environmental economics scholar Bob Kauffman (1964), professional basketball player Alison Knowles (1951), artist Barbara Kopple (1964), documentary film director Zach Kornfeld (2008), YouTube personality and member of The Try Guys Richard Kostelanetz (1958), writer and visual artist Glenn Kramon (1971), journalist, assistant managing editor of The New York Times Robert Kuttner (1961), journalist, editor David Lascher (1990), actor John Leventhal (1970), musician, producer, songwriter, recording engineer Mara Liasson (1973), National Public Radio correspondent Cabot Lyford (1942), sculptor Charles S. Maier (1956), professor of history at Harvard University Michael Mark (1968), musician/composer Linda McCartney (1960), photographer, wife of Paul McCartney Liza Minnelli (attended 1961–62, did not graduate), singer, actor Rick Moser (1974), NFL (Steelers) football player, actor Ethan Nadelmann (1975), writer and advocate on drug policy reform Nadine Netter (1962), tennis player Charles Newirth (1973), film producer Jack Newkirk (1932), naval aviator Judith Newman (1977), journalist and author Suzanne Nossel (1987), non-profit executive and human rights activist Geoffrey Nunberg (1962), noted linguist, author, professor (U C Berkeley and Stanford) and commentator on NPR's "Fresh Air" Emily Nussbaum (1984), journalist Dan O'Brien (1992), playwright, poet, librettist, essayist Jon Oringer (1992), entrepreneur and the founder of the popular microstock photography site Shutterstock Cathryn Jakobson Ramin (1975), journalist and writer Victoria Redel (1976), poet, fiction writer, professor at Sarah Lawrence College Bryan Reynolds (1983), playwright, Shakespeare scholar Thomas E. Ricks (1973), journalist Tom Rogers (1972), media executive Cynthia E. Rosenzweig (1976), climatologist Dan Rosensweig (1979), business executive, CEO of Chegg Elisabeth Rosenthal (1974), physician, journalist for The New York Times Douglas Rushkoff (1979), media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian David Rusk (1958), author and consultant on regional strategies for metropolitan areas, former mayor of Albuquerque, member of the New Mexico legislature Daniel Schacter (1970), psychologist Noah Schnapp (2022), actor Carl Emil Schorske (1932), cultural historian Christopher M. Schroeder (1982), entrepreneur Alan Schwarz (1986), sportswriter John E. Schwarz (1957), political scientist, distinguished senior fellow at Demos DJ Shiftee (2004), DJ, turntablist, born Samuel Morris Zornow Cevin Soling (1984), filmmaker, musician, and writer Aaron Sorkin (1979), screenwriter Andrew Ross Sorkin (1995), journalist Richard Stengel (1973), editor of Time magazine Roderick Stephens (1927), sailor Carolyn Strauss (1981), television executive and producer George Sugihara (1968), theoretical biologist Ivan Sutherland (1955), Internet pioneer Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson (1969), judge Nina Totenberg (1962), journalist, NPR legal affairs correspondentCurrent Biography Yearbook 1996 James Traub (1972), journalist Gary Trauner (1979), Wyoming politician Florence Wald (1934), nurse, professor, administrator John Wallach (1960), journalist, author, editor, founder of Seeds of Peace Ellen Weiss (1977), radio executive Bob Wilber (1945), jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, band leader Harris Wofford (1944), United States Senator from Pennsylvania George Zimmer (1966), entrepreneur
References
External links
Scarsdale Alumni Association website Scarsdale High School Maroon, student newspaper website