Prospect Heights High School, formerly The Girls' Commercial High School, is a defunct comprehensive high school

Comprehensive high school

Comprehensive high schools are the most common form of public high schools in the United States and are meant to serve the needs of all students, as compared to the common practice in other nations in which examinations are used to sort students into different high schools for different populations...

 that served the Prospect Heights

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

Prospect Heights is a neighborhood in the northwest of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The traditional boundaries are Flatbush Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway to the south, and Washington Avenue to the east...

 neighborhood of Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York from the 1920s to 2006. Prospect Heights Campus is the collection of educational buildings that housed Prospect Heights High School until its closure in 2006.

History

First known as The Girls' Commercial High School, later to become Prospect Heights High School, was built in the 1920s. The school's exterior was designed to harmonize with the environment while the interior was made to accommodate 3,500 students in fifty regular classrooms and other specialized laboratories and working rooms. At some point, the all-girls high school became coeducational and was renamed Prospect Heights High School. After many years of decline and falling academic levels, the school graduated its last class in June 2006 and is now closed. The Prospect Heights building now houses four small high schools: the Brooklyn School for Music and Theater, Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment, International High School at Prospect Heights, and the High School for Global Citizenship.

One of the main reasons why Prospect Heights High school had to be shut down is because it was over crowded and consistently received low grades from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

City Department of Education. It was broken down into four smaller schools, each with a specific focus and a cap on the amount of student in take.

Violence was also an issue within Prospect Heights High School. the area around the school saw a rise in gang activities in the 80s which seeped into the school and cause problems. Prospect Heights High School even ranked the twelfth most violent high school among New York City's 125 high schools in 1990 by the Board of Education, resulting in Prospect Heights High School becoming an example used by advocates for more metal detectors in New York City schools.
Recently police involvement in the area has reduced the violence.

Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment

BASE is a three-campus New York City Public High School that integrates the missions and resources of Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to offer academic excellence and rigor. The community of staff, families and community partners supports students in becoming critical thinkers, active learners and problem solvers who are scientifically literate, engaged citizens who value and respect the environment.

Brooklyn School for Music and Theatre

The academic program at this school focuses on the integration of the performing arts and core knowledge in science, math, language arts and social studies. Students engage in experiential learning opportunities through theatre projects in acting, music, stage and costume design, theatre technology, and theatre management. Students benefit from summer internships and instruction from professional artists as well as a rigorous academic curriculum including college preparation and interdisciplinary project-based learning.

High School for Global Citizenship

Founded by Global Kids and Principal Brad Haggerty in September 2004, the High School for Global Citizenship (HSGC) is an innovative small high school in Brooklyn that aims to create a community of active learners who are engaged participants in the democratic process and are learning about foreign policy issues and the connections between their personal lives and international events.

International High School at Prospect Heights

The International High School at Prospect Heights addresses needs of recent immigrant students by teaching them fluency in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding English through a rigorous curriculum that is language rich, interdisciplinary, and project based. Students learn to think critically, navigate societal constructs, and prepare for college and other education after high school. Students, staff and families create a caring school environment that promotes collaboration, cross-cultural interaction, and appreciation of diversity. Above all, International High School students become successful contributing members of society and conscientious global citizens of the future.

School demographics

1. Number of students per school:
   
   • International High School: 330
     
   • High School For Global: 323
     
   • Brooklyn school for music and theater: 409
     
   • Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment: 454
   
   


2. Here is the racial breakdown of each school in Prospect Heights:
   
   • The International High School at Prospect Heights is composed of 8.7% Caucasians, 25.4% African Americans, 34.2% Hispanics, and 31.5% Asians.
     
   • The High School for Global Citizenship is composed of 9.2% Caucasians, 84.8%African Americans, 12.4% Hispanics, 0.9% Asians, and 0.9% American Indians.
     
   • Brooklyn School of Music and Theater is composed of 0.20% Caucasians, 85.3% African Americans, 11% Hispanics, 0.07% Asians, and 0.14% American Indians.
     
   • Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment is composed of Caucasian-0.08%, 86.6% African Americans, 10.4% Hispanics, 1.8% Asians, and 0.4% American Indians.
   
   


3. Student to teacher ratio per school:
   
   • INT: 16:5
     
   • HSGC: 14:3
     
   • BSMT: 14:9
     
   • BASE: 15:7
   
   


4. % of students at each school that receive free or reduced lunch:
   
   • INT: 320 (97%)
     
   • HSGC: 285 (88%)
     
   • BSMT: 297 (73%)
     
   • BASE: 371 (82%)
     

Safety & security issues

Every morning students have to enter the building from the backdoor of the cafeteria, they have to go to scanning, they must take off their belts, swipe their id cards to indicate each school's attendance. Electronics devices such as cell phones, ipods, mp3s, psp, and other devices are not allowed in the building. Students have to come early to get scanning because its four schools in Prospect Heights Campus.

The Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act (SAVE) was passed by the New York State Legislature and signed by Governor George Pataki on July 24, 2000 in response to issues of school safety and violence prevention.
Prospect heights high school ranked twelfth most violent among New York City's 125 high schools in 1990 by the Board of Education, Prospect Heights rates not only all the security hardware, but also a special full-time security coordinator, a retired police detective.