Far Rockaway High School
  

For Over a Century, Truly a Place of Educational Excellence
by Stevie S. Stevens
The earliest photograph on record of the original Far Rockaway high School - newly completed, approximately 1899.
 

Like a bumper sticker reads, by the spring of 2011 Far Rockaway High School will be a "school without class. " After over a century of successful public service, our alma mater is no more! There will no longer be entering freshman classes this September, the building will survive but it will now be sub-divided into smaller and "hopefully" more effective project or specialized schools. The "old" Far Rockaway High School is no more - it has been phased out! It has been renamed the "Far Rockaway Educational Campus. " The new academies utilizing the former high school facility will, if all goes according to plan and design, be better able to provide those learning essentials necessary to educate the current youth residing in the Rockaways.

There is no formal recorded history of Far Rockaway High School. It is believed that the secondary school actually began in an unused second-floor section of an elementary school - located somewhere in the area of Arverne around the year 1895. It has been said that the first school principal, Sanford J. Ellsworth, was in fact self-appointed and teachers hired were paid smalls sums contributed by then local municipalities. In fact, the City of New York was not established until year 1898.

Highslide JS
It is believed that FRHS began on the second floor of this building - at Beach 68th Street - in the original P.S. 42 - NOT the Academy Avenue School as previously thought. Even back at the turn of the 20th century, the Academy Avenue School was filled to capacity with elementary-age children. P.S. 42 was not as crowded due to its less desirable location. Photo courtesy of the Dean Georges Collection

Most of those originally enrolled in the newly-established high school were male, most families did not believe in educating daughters beyond the 8th year. Many females were put to work by their mid teens and it was generally considered that advanced education for that segment of the population was a waste of time and effort. The Rockaway peninsula itself was mostly seasonal and heavily into farming back in those early days and boys who attended classes were only permitted "time off from chores" - perhaps one or two hours each day. The typical graduating class back at that time was only a dozen or so "children" each year. Education was not considered legally compulsory in those early days.
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