High School of Fashion Industries (HSFI) is a secondary school located in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City, New York. HSFI serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the New York City Department of Education

New York City Department of Education

The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...

. HSFI has magnet

Magnet school

In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

 programs related to fashion design, fashion art, textile design, marketing and visual merchandising.

Mission statement

The mission of the High School of Fashion Industries is to provide challenging, creative, and effective occupational, technical and academic training for New York City students. The faculty and administration of our school, working with the cooperation of the parents and student body and with the support of the apparel industry, seek to provide a unique learning experience and a specially tailored program for all students who have an interest in a fashion related field. The school has devised programs which merge academic and occupational knowledge and skills, helping students to meet all graduation requirements and to see the unity within the diversity of learning.

Admissions

Admission to HSFI is highly selective. Students must complete an application to the Board of Education, take the school’s exam that includes an art aptitude test, and submit a portfolio. Students are not expected to have formal training in the arts, and many students apply who have little drawing abilities. For prospective students, the school offers pamphlets in most junior high schools and several open house events during the year that include a mock school day with 15-minute classes.

Student body

The school had a total of 1,743 students during the 2004–2005 school year.

• 56% were Hispanic
• 39% were African-American
• 15% were White
• 4% were Asian
  Asian people
  Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
  
  
• Less than 1% were Native American
  Indigenous peoples of the Americas
  The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
  
  s

Athletics

The High School of Fashion Industries is the home of the Falcons:

• Basketball Girls Varsity
• Basketball Boys Varsity
• Bowling Boys Varsity
• Bowling Girls Varsity
• Indoor Track Girls Varsity
• Outdoor Track Girls Varsity
• Softball Girls Varsity
• Swimming Girls Varsity
• Tennis Girls Varsity
• Volleyball Girls Varsity
• Volleyball Boys Varsity

History

Founded in the early 1920s, the school was originally known as Needles and Trade High School.
The school building was completed in 1941 as the Central High School of Needle Trades.

Auditorium murals

These murals were painted between 1939 and 1940 by Ernest Fiene

Ernest Fiene

Ernest Fiene was a 20th-century American graphic artist who primarily worked in New York City and Woodstock, New York. Fiene was known primarily for his varied printed works, including lithographs and etchings...

. and have landmark status. Construction of the murals (and the school building) were part of the US federal government's Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 (WPA) program. The murals "[portray] in dramatic and moving fashion the long generation of hope and despair, and the high standard of social and industrial accomplishment in the needle trades."

Notable alumni

• Frank Hewitt
  Frank Hewitt
  Frank Hewitt was a hard bop jazz pianist. Born in Queens, Hewitt lived most of his life in Harlem. His mother was a church pianist, and his initial study was classical and gospel music, but switched to jazz after hearing a Charlie Parker record. He took the bop pianists Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell...
  
  , jazz pianist
• Angela Simmons, businesswoman, reality television star (MTV's Daddy's Girls
  Daddy's Girls
  For the 1994 sitcom, see Daddy's Girls Daddy's Girls is an American reality television series and a spin-off of the MTV show Run's House. The series debuted January 5, 2009. Daddy's Girls follows Vanessa and Angela Simmons For the 1994 sitcom, see Daddy's Girls (1994 TV series)Daddy's Girls is an...
  
  )
• Lulu Braithwaite, America's Next Top Model
  America's Next Top Model
  America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
  
  contestant

External links

• Official Website
• Advisory Board's Website
• School profile at InsideSchools.org
• New York City Department of Education: High School of Fashion Industries
• HSFI in the NYC High School Directory