George Washington High School has been in existence since 1919. It is located in the Washington Heights section of New York City. Housing grades 9-12, it is home of the Trojans and Lady Trojans. It is known for its exceptional academics and for educating students well for post high school career choices. School colors are black, orange and red. There have been many well known alumni, including Harry Kissinger (former U.S. Secretary of State and award winner of the Nobel Peace Prize), Manny Ramirez (professional baseball player) and Harry Belafonte (actor and singer).

The George Washington High School is divided into four academics, located on four different floors of the school. On the first floor of the school, students can study in the High School for Media and Communications. The next floor is dedicated to the curriculum of the High School for International Business and Finance. On the third floor is the High School for Health Careers and Sciences. For those students who want to go into the legal field, the fourth floor contains the High School for Law and Public Service.

Being in high school can get a bit mundane, even in the best of conditions. To fight against the student body feeling glum about being in school so many hours a day, the faculty got together and decided to spice things up a little for the student body. The school is known for the beautiful murals painted all over. These paintings are there to serve as motivation and inspiration for the students to have a little cheer during their days at the school. There is also a hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, located on the first floor of the school.

Finally, the George Washington High School has plenty of extracurricular activities for the students to enjoy. There are many sports teams the students can join and/or support, including football, basketball, softball, volleyball and cheerleading. There is also a rooftop garden on top of the school for both the faculty and students to enjoy. 

With so many negative problems that the youth in New York City face, it is nice to know that they have a school that is challenging and rewarding in which to get involved. The George Washington School enables students to get a top notch education and also allows them to nurture their creative and competitive natures.

Manny Ramirez is one of Major League Baseball’s most prolific yet controversial players. To date, he has had twelve All-Star Game appearances, nine Silver Slugger awards, and his 21 grand slams place him third on the all-time list. He is one of only 25 players to hit over five hundred home runs over his career, and he has hit 28 post-season homers, more than any other player in Major League Baseball history.

Yet his career has also been marred by scandal. In 2003, Ramirez allegedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. In 2009, he was suspended for fifty games for taking a drug known to restart testosterone production after steroid usage, and in 2011, he was found in violation again and opted to retire rather than face a potentially positive drug test, although he was reinstated with a fifty game suspension.

Although many baseball fans know about Manny’s incredible achievements as well as his shortcomings, many fans are unfamiliar with his background. Before he played for the Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, White Sox, Devil Rays, and currently the A’s, Manny was a George Washington Trojan.

Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. His family would later move to New York City, specifically to the Washington Heights neighborhood far on the Upper West Side. Washington Heights was a neighborhood full of Dominican immigrants, and still maintains a strong Dominican presence today.

Manny attended George Washington High School and played for the Trojans baseball team. Even then, his stat-line and skill level were unbelievable. Ramirez made the All-City baseball team three years, and as a senior in 1991 he was crowned with the title of New York City Public School Player of the Year. That year, he batted an unheard of .650, including 14 home runs in just 22 games. He was known as an extremely talented, yet humble kid who just wanted to hang out with his teammates.

Ramirez would not graduate from George Washington High School, because at the age of just 19 years old, he was drafted with the 13th pick in the first round of the MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians and was signed with a $250,000 bonus. He would get called up to the major leagues in 1993, and was awarded the runner up for Rookie of the Year.

Here are the top ten New York City schools based on test scores reported in math and reading. The percentage of students who passed the exams reflects their place on the list. 

P. S. 188, Kingsbury School
This school is at the top of the list and is located at 218-12 Hartland Ave. The school covers kindergarten through grade five. Ninety-four percent of the students at Kingsbury school passed the math exam. They had slightly fewer pass on the reading test than the math, but still it was a healthy ninety-two percent. 

P. S. 234, Independence School
Located at 292 Greenwich Street, the Independence School allows children from pre-kindergarten through grade five to attend. Their math score was eighty-nine percent, and reading was ninety-five percent.

Lower Lab School
The Lower Lab School is on 1700 Third Avenue at 96th Street. The children who attend are pre-kindergarten through grade five. The math score for the school was an even ninety percent while the reading was at ninety-three percent. 

P.S. 184, Shuang Wen School
The Shuang Wen is at 293 E. Broadway. They accept children from pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade there. The math average for the children there is ninety-four percent and reading is eighty-five percent. 

P.S. 94, David Porter School
The David Porter School is located at 41-77 Little Neck Parkway. The children going to this school are attending for pre-kindergarten through grade five. The math scores for the children were ninety-one percent and reading was eighty-six percent.

P.S. 98, Douglaston School
This school is located at 40-20 235th Street. The kids are accepted between kindergarten and grade 5. Their math average was eighty-seven percent and reading score was ninety percent. 

P.S. 196, Grand Central Parkway School
The address of P.S. 196 is 71-25 113th Street. The school accepts children from pre-kindergarten to the fifth grade. Eighty-seven percent of the children there passed the math test, and ninety percent passed the reading test. 

P.S. 6, Lillie Devereaux Blake School
P.S. 6 is located at 45 E. 81st Street at Madison Avenue. Children at this school are accepted for kindergarten through grade five. Their math and reading scores are eighty-seven percent and eighty-nine percent respectively. 

P.S. 290, Manhattan New School
This school is located at 311 E. 82nd Street at Second Avenue. They accept children from kindergarten through grade five. Eighty-seven percent of the children passed the math test, and eighty-nine percent passed the reading test. 

P.S. 89
Located at 201 Warren Street at West Street, P.S. 89 accepts children starting school from pre-kindergarten through grade five. The math score for the school was eighty-two percent, and the reading score was ninety-four percent.

The New York City Public School District is the largest school district in the nation, serving all five boroughs of New York City. With 1,700 different schools and serving more than 1.1 million students a year, there are more students in this system than is most states. The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is part of the municipal government of New York city, and is currently headed by Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott.

History of The New York City Public School District

In 1969, after a series of protest and strikes, the New York City Mayor, John Lindsay, agreed to relinquished mayoral control of the school system. Control of the school system would now be the responsibility of the Board of Education, made of seven members appointed by the five boroughs and the mayor, and 32 community school boards. 

In 2002 control of the school system was returned to the mayor so that it could undergo reform. The Board of Education was renamed to the Panel for Educational Policy, run by twelve members of which seven are mayoral appointees and five by Borough Presidents. On July 1, 2009, the struggle to reach a decision whether or not to continue mayoral control of the school system between Democratic and Republican parties, forced the pre-2002 Board of Education system to be reinstated.

The current New York City Public School District employs over 75,000 teachers spread across the 1,700 schools. In 2000, the school system was under intense pressure to fill teaching positions, so it experimented with hiring uncertified teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act forced the Department of Education to try new and innovative methods for hiring teachers. Programs like the TOP Scholars Program helps to bring teachers from abroad and fill in the teacher gaps.

Demographic of The New York City Public Schools

Almost a quarter of the population of New York City is under the age of 18, and nearly 55% of them are enrolled in the public school system. About 25% of the children are under the age of five and will be entering the school system for the first time. That equates to more than half a million children each year.

Of the 1.1 million students that attend school each year, about 40% of them live in a household where a language other than English is spoken. To aid parents of non-English speaking students, The Department of Education offers translations of school documents and report cards into one of 13 different languages.

Charles is a undersized DE who most likely will play LB or FB at the next level. Here are some quotes from his recruitment story over at Scout.com:

“Tonight I got home from football practice and Coach O called me and told me that he and Coach Kiffin talked, and that the entire staff wanted to grant me a scholarship, regardless of if I graduate early or not.“I was all fired up and told him that I want to be a Trojan.”

Burks, who also had offers from Stanford, Duke and San Diego State among others, picked USC because of the coaching staff and the chance to stay local.

“I fell in love with the coaching staff,” he said. “They are all just great people and really good coaches. I love the way that they run things.

I like this pick-up because my theory on recruiting is you get the best results when you pit your elite 5 & 4 star players with tough/hungry 3-star players in each class to create a competitive environment.  Charles is the perfect example of a player who might not have the ideal size or elite talent but will overachieve through his work-ethic and attitude. Having players like that make the team better.  This brings me back to the old days when we recruited overachievers like Mike Patterson, Ryan Kalil, Fili Moala, Josh Pinkard, etc.