Save The Date: New Utrecht High School Celebrates 100 Years On October 24
Happy Birthday to New Utrecht High School, which is holding its centennial celebration next month.
Alumni, parents, teachers, and staff are invited a grand anniversary event at the school (1601 80th Street), on November 24, from 10am – 3pm. In addition to plenty of familiar faces and memories, a hot buffet breakfast will be served, and there will be yearbook tours, free t-shirts, a photo booth, and much more.
The 100-year-old high school has been great source of pride for southwestern Brooklyn over the years. Named for the original Dutch settlement of New Utrecht — which encompassed Bay Ridge, Borough Park, Bath Beach, and Gravesend and dates back to 1657 — the school was established in 1915 as an offshoot of Bay Ridge High School, which at the time served both boys and girls. When New Utrecht High School opened, Bay Ridge became a girls school, an New Utrecht became and all-boys institution.
New Utrecht was first housed in a small, wooden building on 86th Street and 18th Avenue and had only 350 students, according to the school’s website. Its first graduating class was made up of only 16 young men. In November 1924, the school moved to its present location and soon swelled to 2,300 students and began accepting girls. The school would continue to grow to include a main building and four annexes, with close to 11,000 students, becoming “the largest student body in the entire world,” according to the website.
Over the last century, the school’s graduates have excelled in numerous fields, from acclaimed economist Walter Adams, to feminist writer and psychologist Phyllis Chesler, to Barbara Aronstein Black, the first woman to head an Ivy League law school. New Utrecht’s alumni have also made their mark in television, movies, music, and theater. For example, Journey singer Steve Augeri and Tony Award winning playwright and humorist Abe Burrows both graduated from the high school.
Tickets to the high school’s upcoming centennial celebration is $35 per person. To RSVP, email NUHS100@aol.com for more information. Go Utes!
