Scarsdale High School (SHS) is a public high school in Scarsdale, New York, 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. In its very first selection process, the United States Department of Education named Scarsdale High School as "one of the 144 exemplary schools to which others may look for patterns of success." According to a study done for U.S. News & World Report, Scarsdale High School is in the nation's top 100 for math and science.
From the graduating class of 2009, 98% continued their education with college programs, and 96% entered 130 different four-year national and international colleges and universities. 15 students in the class of 2010 (4%) were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, and 66 (18%) 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 2009–10 school year, SHS had a professional staff of 164 with a median teaching experience of 14 years. 98% of the faculty held a master's degree, 76% had 30 credits or more beyond a master's, and 12% had doctorate degrees. The student faculty ratio is 9 to 1, and its teachers have one of the highest paying salaries in the country; 44% had a base-salary of over $100,000 in 2005.
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 being of Japanese origins 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. Principal Judy Fox formed the Multicultural Steering Committee to try to resolve racial tensions within the school.
What The New York Times termed a "homecoming bacchanal" made regional news in 2002 and sent five students to the hospital with acute alcohol poisoning. Reportedly scores of students arrived drunk at the dance. 28 of them received suspensions. The Times said the incident evoked "soul-searching" in "this iconic suburb, which prides itself on giving children every advantage." A student was quoted as saying "We are supposed to be Scarsdale, the rich people, the good people, the studious." Principal John Klemme told student government leaders that "the world is taking a perverse pleasure in Scarsdale's humiliation" and challenged them to "reclaim your school."
Eric Alterman (1978), Nation columnist Jacob M. Appel (1992), bioethics scholarNan Aron (1966), civil rights advocate, public interest lawyerNancy Friedman Atlas (1967), United States federal judgeGreg M. Behrman (1994), author, Henry Kissinger Fellow for Foreign Policy at The Aspen Institute, founder, editor and CEO of NationSwellDan Biederman (1971), urban management pioneerLeslie Cannold (1983), author, commentator, ethicist, activistJudy Cheng-Hopkins (1970), United Nations CommissionerLizabeth Cohen (1969), historian, scholarLydia Cornell (as Lydia Korniloff) (1971), actressLaura Dave (1995), novelistLisa Donovan (1998), actressRobert Durst (1961), son of Seymour Durst, murderer John S. Dyson (1961), businessmanNicole Eisenman (1983), visual artistEve Ensler (1971), playwright, performer, activistPaul J. Feiner (1974), mayor of Greenburg, New York David Feldshuh (1961), physician, dramatist, artistic director at Cornell UniversityTovah Feldshuh (1966), actressRob Fishman (2004), entrepreneur and writerRichard Foreman (1955), playwright, avant-garde theater pioneerDavid Galef, novelist, short story writerLindsay Gottlieb (1995), women's college basketball coachGordon Gould (1938), physicist credited with inventing laserEarl G. Graves, Jr. (1980), basketball playerRoss Greenburg (1973), executive for HBO SportsPeter Grosz (1992), actorJonathan Haidt (1981), social psychologistJeffrey Hoffman (1962), astronaut Richard Holbrooke (1958), American diplomatHeather H. Howard (1986), health policy expert and political advisorGish Jen (1974), novelistKenneth I. Juster (1972), government official, lawyerBrewster Kahle (1978), artificial intelligence expertMatthew Kahn (1984), environmental economics scholarBob Kauffman (1964), professional basketball playerAlison Knowles (1951), artistBarbara Kopple (1964), documentary film directorRichard Kostelanetz (1958), writer and visual artistGlenn Kramon (1971), journalist, assistant managing editor of The New York TimesRobert Kuttner (1961), journalist, editorDavid Lascher (1990), actorJohn Leventhal (1970), musician, producer, songwriter, recording engineerMara Liasson (1973), National Public Radio correspondentCabot Lyford (1942), sculptorCharles S. Maier (1956), professor of history at Harvard UniversityMichael Mark (1968), musician/composerLinda McCartney (1959), photographer, wife of Paul McCartneyLiza Minnelli (attended 1961–62, did not graduate) singer, actorRick Moser (1974), National League Football player, actorEthan Nadelmann (1975), writer and advocate on drug policy reformCharles Newirth (1973), film producerJack Newkirk (1932), United States naval aviatorJudith Newman (1977), journalist and authorSuzanne Nossel (1987), non-profit executive and human rights activistDan O'Brien (1992), playwrightJon Oringer (1992), entrepreneur and the founder of the popular microstock photography site ShutterstockCathryn Jakobson Ramin (1975), journalist and writerVictoria Redel (1976), poet, fiction writer, professor at Sarah Lawrence CollegeBryan Reynolds (1983), playwright, Shakespeare scholarThomas E. Ricks, '73, journalistTom Rogers (1972), media executiveDan Rosensweig (1979), business executive, CEO of CheggElisabeth Rosenthal (1974), physician, journalist for The New York TimesCynthia E. Rosenzweig (1966), climatologistDouglas Rushkoff (1979), media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarianDaniel Schacter (1970), psychologistCarl Emil Schorske (1932), cultural historianChristopher M. Schroeder (1982), entrepreneurAlan Schwarz (1986), sportswriterJohn E. Schwarz (1957), political scientist, distinguished senior fellow at DemosDJ Shiftee (2004), DJ, turntablist, born Samuel Morris ZornowAaron Sorkin (1979), screenwriterAndrew Ross Sorkin (1995), journalistRichard Stengel (1973), editor of Time magazineRoderick Stephens (1927), American sailorCarolyn Strauss (1981), television executive and producerGeorge Sugihara (1968), theoretical biologistIvan Sutherland (1955), Internet pioneerOjetta Rogeriee Thompson (1969), judgeJames Traub (1972), journalistGary Trauner (1979), Wyoming politicianNina Totenberg (1962), journalist Florence Wald (1934), nurse, professor, administratorJohn Wallach, (1960), journalist, author, editor, founder of Seeds of PeaceEllen Weiss (1977), radio executiveBob Wilber (1945), jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, band leaderHarris Wofford (1944), United States Senator from PennsylvaniaGeorge Zimmer (1966), entrepreneur
