Ponce High School
Encyclopedia
The Ponce High School is public educational institution in Ponce, Puerto Rico
, offering grades ten through twelve. The school's main building is a historic structure located on Cristina Street, in the Ponce Historic Zone
. From its beginning the school has secured a unique place in Puerto Rico's educational history. Of over 3,000 schools erected in Puerto Rico in the first quarter of the twentieth century, Ponce High was the largest, "at a time enrolling more students than all the other Puerto Rico high schools combined", and for many years enrolling more students than any other high school in Puerto Rico. The cost of the building in 1915 dollars was $150,000 USD. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
on August 4, 1987. The school has the only diamond-level DECA
chapter in Puerto Rico.
. It faces Cristina street to the north and is bounded on the south by Comercio street (PR-133), on the west by Salud street, and on the east by Trujillo street. Its location is only two blocks from Plaza Las Delicias
. It is also diagonally across from the Ponce Free School of Music, the old location of Liceo de Ponce (Liceo Ponceño), an early 20th century girls-only school. It is also one block from Teatro La Perla.
architectural style. The front entry consists of a raised portico
and a lobby area.
The school library is located on the first floor and the auditorium is on the second floor.
At both Eastern and Western sides of the lobby, and at both levels, L-shaped arcaded hallways lead to the classrooms. Two semi-enclosed patios are thus defined between the library-auditorium wing (much higher and wider) and the identical classroom wings facing East and West. Three sets of stairs are symmetrically laid out in the scheme: one of secondary importance at either side of the lobby; the most public one next to side entrances at the L-shaped circulation wings. A third set of stairs faces the patios and is the only one not to connect to the building's basement where more classrooms are found.
The most continuous side of the E-shaped structure constitutes the front facade
; it is articulated to best reflect and express the internal organization in plan. Sophisticated neoclassical details, although integral to the building's public "face", are not used with such insistence anywhere else on the building, except for the lobby, which includes some mouldings, cornices and relatively simple pilaster inlays. Set back from the street, the front facade is enhanced by two small green parterre
s adjoining the concrete-iron fence and sidewalk. The elevation includes doric
columns and pilasters running two stories high, identical pediment
s (with denticles) at each end and an escutcheon
-like crowning piece with a clock. The latter is dead center over the entrance portico
. Concrete flat roofs, an extended parapet
and a wide horizontal cornice tie together all the elements, therefore underlining the horizontal continuity of the structure. Fenestration consists mainly of wood louver
ed windows with glass. Some have been substituted by contemporary metal louvered windows, which are found all over the rest of the building.
A most significant feature of Ponce High School is its two-story high, elongated auditorium, which also contains a generous stage
area and a U-shaped wood mezzanine
supported from the concrete ceiling. Its original lighting fixtures were removed and replaced by fluorescent ones. Classrooms are well lit and ventilated; there are many openings. Walls are plain, having been painted over and over throughout the years. The original wood floor finish is still retained in the library, the auditorium, and many of the classrooms; some have been substituted or changed to concrete. Hallways and stairs are paved in concrete. Vinyl flooring is used at offices. Glazed concrete tile is found at the lobby, where the original iron grilles, of geometrical design, are still in use.
Two small lean-to wood and zinc structures were added a few years ago. The auditorium was adapted to air conditioning features, with acoustic ceiling and related fixtures having been added. In spite of it all, and probably, because of the school's imposing scale, well balanced proportions and well-kept classical detailing, the integrity has not yet been lost.
of Chicago, Snyder of New York, Cooper of Boston and, especially, William B. Ittner
of St. Louis.
Given the date of erection (earlier than for most other public schools built on the Island) Ponce High School emerges, as one of the earlier American government-sponsored construction efforts at such a large scale on the Island. Strikingly significant is the fact that with the choice of building vocabulary (strongly reminiscent of Mc Kim, Mead & White's Pennsylvania Station
in New York) the use of the neoclassical style for educational structures was introduced in Puerto Rico. Ponce High School is today one of the most dignified and imposing structures in the city, a fact underlined by its architectural style, scale and overall architectural merits.
Government's Interior Department, and was responsible for many other structures of similar use, size and style. As such, he is a key figure on Puerto Rico's architectural development.
role. The site itself is a historic one, where the U.S. Army barracks were once located, before a fire ravaged the premises. The event is widely remembered in Ponce.
sponsored drama
events that were later acknowledged as definitive for the formation of a Puerto Rican theatrical tradition. The auditorium at Ponce High molded those beginnings. In conclusion, the architecture of Ponce High stands out among the Island's built legacy for historic, stylistic, conceptual and symbolic reasons.
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, offering grades ten through twelve. The school's main building is a historic structure located on Cristina Street, in the Ponce Historic Zone
Ponce Historic Zone
The Ponce Historic Zone is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico with construction that dates to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone was originally designated in 1962, and then it only included the center core of the city, but it has since been expanded to...
. From its beginning the school has secured a unique place in Puerto Rico's educational history. Of over 3,000 schools erected in Puerto Rico in the first quarter of the twentieth century, Ponce High was the largest, "at a time enrolling more students than all the other Puerto Rico high schools combined", and for many years enrolling more students than any other high school in Puerto Rico. The cost of the building in 1915 dollars was $150,000 USD. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on August 4, 1987. The school has the only diamond-level DECA
DECA (organization)
DECA, also known as Collegiate DECA on the college level) is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service . DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing,...
chapter in Puerto Rico.
History
The history of the institution dates to November 1899 when the new government authorized the establishment of a public secondary school in Ponce modeled after the American school system. In 1903 the Roosevelt Industrial School was built on land where the US military had the munitions depot that caused the fire of January 25, 1899, known as El Polvorin. Five years after El Polvorin, in the 1904-1905 timeframe, a two-story building with 12 classrooms was built to accommodate the Ruiz Gandia Grammar School in the same spacious El Polvorin lot. The first class of Ponce High School students formed in 1902. As new facilities were completed, the students were moved to them. For the 1907-1908 school year another building was built called the McKinley building, and the Ponce High students occupied said facilities as well. Construction of the now-historic Ponce High School building on Cristina Street started in 1915 and the building was inaugurated in 1920.Location
The school is located in barrio TerceroTercero (Ponce)
Tercero is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Primero, Segundo, Cuarto, Quinto, and Sexto, Tercero is one the municipality's six core urban barrios.-Location:...
. It faces Cristina street to the north and is bounded on the south by Comercio street (PR-133), on the west by Salud street, and on the east by Trujillo street. Its location is only two blocks from Plaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within Plaza Las Delicias. Plaza Las Delicias is actually composed of...
. It is also diagonally across from the Ponce Free School of Music, the old location of Liceo de Ponce (Liceo Ponceño), an early 20th century girls-only school. It is also one block from Teatro La Perla.
Construction and appearance
The main and most historical of the buildings faces north. In the back of this building is a large yard paved with concrete. This backyard contains several other large school buildings. The main building follows the neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
architectural style. The front entry consists of a raised portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
and a lobby area.
The school library is located on the first floor and the auditorium is on the second floor.
At both Eastern and Western sides of the lobby, and at both levels, L-shaped arcaded hallways lead to the classrooms. Two semi-enclosed patios are thus defined between the library-auditorium wing (much higher and wider) and the identical classroom wings facing East and West. Three sets of stairs are symmetrically laid out in the scheme: one of secondary importance at either side of the lobby; the most public one next to side entrances at the L-shaped circulation wings. A third set of stairs faces the patios and is the only one not to connect to the building's basement where more classrooms are found.
The most continuous side of the E-shaped structure constitutes the front facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
; it is articulated to best reflect and express the internal organization in plan. Sophisticated neoclassical details, although integral to the building's public "face", are not used with such insistence anywhere else on the building, except for the lobby, which includes some mouldings, cornices and relatively simple pilaster inlays. Set back from the street, the front facade is enhanced by two small green parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
s adjoining the concrete-iron fence and sidewalk. The elevation includes doric
Doric
Doric may refer to:* Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode* Doric dialect...
columns and pilasters running two stories high, identical pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s (with denticles) at each end and an escutcheon
Escutcheon
In heraldry, an escutcheon is a shield which forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word is used in two related senses....
-like crowning piece with a clock. The latter is dead center over the entrance portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. Concrete flat roofs, an extended parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
and a wide horizontal cornice tie together all the elements, therefore underlining the horizontal continuity of the structure. Fenestration consists mainly of wood louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed windows with glass. Some have been substituted by contemporary metal louvered windows, which are found all over the rest of the building.
A most significant feature of Ponce High School is its two-story high, elongated auditorium, which also contains a generous stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
area and a U-shaped wood mezzanine
Mezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
supported from the concrete ceiling. Its original lighting fixtures were removed and replaced by fluorescent ones. Classrooms are well lit and ventilated; there are many openings. Walls are plain, having been painted over and over throughout the years. The original wood floor finish is still retained in the library, the auditorium, and many of the classrooms; some have been substituted or changed to concrete. Hallways and stairs are paved in concrete. Vinyl flooring is used at offices. Glazed concrete tile is found at the lobby, where the original iron grilles, of geometrical design, are still in use.
Two small lean-to wood and zinc structures were added a few years ago. The auditorium was adapted to air conditioning features, with acoustic ceiling and related fixtures having been added. In spite of it all, and probably, because of the school's imposing scale, well balanced proportions and well-kept classical detailing, the integrity has not yet been lost.
Significance
Ponce High School is one of the five best school buildings built in Puerto Rico at the beginning of the 20th century and one of the most impressive. Between 1900 and 1925 over 3,000 schools were erected on the Island; only four included fully equipped auditoriums (not just assembly rooms) in their design: San Juan's Central High, Luis Muñoz Rivera School in Salinas, Arecibo's own Luis Muñoz Rivera School and Ponce High School. In that sense, these are the most representative examples of school building ideas being developed at the time in the United States by architects of renown, such as Haussander and PerkinsPerkins and Will
Perkins+Will was founded in Chicago in 1935 by and ., on the belief that design has the power to transform lives and enhance society...
of Chicago, Snyder of New York, Cooper of Boston and, especially, William B. Ittner
William B. Ittner
William Butts Ittner was an architect in St. Louis, Missouri. He designed many school buildings in Missouri and other areas, was president of the St...
of St. Louis.
Given the date of erection (earlier than for most other public schools built on the Island) Ponce High School emerges, as one of the earlier American government-sponsored construction efforts at such a large scale on the Island. Strikingly significant is the fact that with the choice of building vocabulary (strongly reminiscent of Mc Kim, Mead & White's Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station is a label first applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals.-New York City:...
in New York) the use of the neoclassical style for educational structures was introduced in Puerto Rico. Ponce High School is today one of the most dignified and imposing structures in the city, a fact underlined by its architectural style, scale and overall architectural merits.
Architect
So far, the name of the architect for Ponce High School remains a mystery, although many facts point to Adrian C. Finlayson as its designer. Mr. Finlayson was, at the time, architect of the InsularInsular area
An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States...
Government's Interior Department, and was responsible for many other structures of similar use, size and style. As such, he is a key figure on Puerto Rico's architectural development.
Setting
Its setting — on a block surrounded by other schools also of architectural merit — adds to the school's important urbanUrban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
role. The site itself is a historic one, where the U.S. Army barracks were once located, before a fire ravaged the premises. The event is widely remembered in Ponce.
List of principals
- Horace O. Wells. (c. 1903-?)
- Charles H. Terry. (c. 1915 - ? )
- C. McKroskey (c. 1916-?)
- E. D. Brown. (c. 1920 - ?)
- Lydia Quiñones (c. 2010 - ?)
Alumni
Some of the Puerto Rico's most important public figures attended this school: three of Puerto Rico's governors graduated from there. Its auditoriumAuditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
sponsored drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
events that were later acknowledged as definitive for the formation of a Puerto Rican theatrical tradition. The auditorium at Ponce High molded those beginnings. In conclusion, the architecture of Ponce High stands out among the Island's built legacy for historic, stylistic, conceptual and symbolic reasons.
Notable alumni
- María Teresa Babín CortésMaría Teresa Babín CortésMaría Teresa Babín Cortés was a Puerto Rican educator, literary critic, and essayist. She also wrote poetry and plays...
, writer - Teodoro MoscosoTeodoro MoscosoTeodoro Moscoso Mora , was a Puerto Rican politician known as "the architect of "Operation Bootstrap".-Early years:...
, public servant - Mariano Villaronga Toro, public servant
- Luis Torres NadalLuis Torres NadalLuis Torres Nadal was a Puerto Rican playwright, poet, educator, actor, choreographer, and theatrical director.-Early years:...
, playwright - Francisco "Paquito" MontanerFrancisco "Paquito" MontanerFrancisco "Paquito" Montaner was a Puerto Rican pitcher from Ponce. He was the first Puerto Rican baseball player to throw a "no-hitter." He is honored with the name of one of the largest stadiums in Puerto Rico, Francisco Montaner Stadium in Ponce...
, baseball player - Felix MaldonadoFelix MaldonadoFelix Juan Maldonado was a scout and player development official for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball...
, baseball player - Elin OrtizElin OrtizElin Ortiz is a Puerto Rican actor, comedian and producer. -Life in the entertainment business:Ortiz began his career as a telenovela actor in Puerto Rico, sharing credits with such actors as Walter Mercado, Alicia Villamil and many others...
, actor - Francisco Porrata DoriaFrancisco Porrata DoriaFrancisco Porrata-Doria was a twentieth-century Puerto Rican architect from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Porrata-Doria was a pioneer in the development of the local modern architecture and one of the architects responsible for what has been called "Ponce Monumental Architecture", of which the Banco Crédito...
, architect
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in southern Puerto RicoNational Register of Historic Places listings in southern Puerto RicoThis is a list of properties and districts in the southern municipalities of Puerto Rico that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes places along the southern coast, and on islands, and in the peaks and on the south slope of Puerto Rico's Cordillera Central.The area...
- List of high schools in Puerto Rico