City Honors School

City Honors School at Fosdick-Masten Park
The Front of City Honors School
Address
186 East North Street Buffalo, New York, (Erie County) 14204 United States
Coordinates	42°54′11.16″N 78°51′38.2″W / 42.9031000°N 78.860611°W / 42.9031000; -78.860611Coordinates: 42°54′11.16″N 78°51′38.2″W / 42.9031000°N 78.860611°W / 42.9031000; -78.860611
Information
Type	Public Exam School
Established	1975
Opened	1976
School district	Buffalo Public Schools
School number	195
Principal	William A. Kresse
Grades	5-12
Campus type	Urban
Color(s)	Cardinal red and Silver
Mascot	Centaurs
Accreditation	IB
National ranking	10th^[1]
Newspaper	Silent Noise and Ques (Previous student newspapers have included Quærere, Dimensions, and Triumph, along with the unofficial publications Schism, Seditious Libel and The Liberator)
Website	City Honors School

City Honors School at Fosdick-Masten Park, known colloquially as City Honors, or CHS, is a college preparatory school in Buffalo, New York. City Honors is part of the Buffalo Public Schools system. The school was founded in 1975 by three faculty members from Bennett High School and Clinton Junior High School for academically gifted and talented high school students. In 1975, it was born as a school-within-a-school program and in one year it became a school of its own. It is located in the historic Fosdick-Masten Park High School, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.^[2]

Today, the school thrives with curriculum including Advanced Placement & International Baccalaureate courses as well as Regents courses required by New York State Education Department. Currently 885 students from grades 5-12 attend the school. In 2014, the Washington Post ranked City Honors as the most challenging high school in the northeast.^[3]

History

City Honors began as a series of enrichment topics at Bennett High School in 1973. Known as "Course Y", selected students took classes in the evening that dealt with enrichment courses and interdisciplinary topics. Increased student demand led to these workshops becoming a "school-within-a-school" at Bennett beginning in 1975, with a partnership being forged with nearby Canisius College.

School 8

School 56

In 1976, City Honors landed its own building, the former P.S. 17 located at the corner of Main and Delavan, which would allow the school to add grades 5 through 8 and strengthen its affiliation with Canisius. This made City Honors one of the first magnet elementary schools in the district. The school would eventually move to its current location at the Fosdick-Masten Park High School building in 1980. In 1991, City Honors adopted the International Baccalaureate program.^[4] From 2007-2009, the Masten/Fosdick location underwent a $40 million expansion and renovation project that included a new athletic complex. During that time, Grades 5-8 were temporarily housed at School 56, and Grades 9-12 at School 8.^[5]

Former principals

Previous assignment and reason for departure denoted in parentheses

Jane E. Morris–1976-1977 (Principal - P.S. 41, named Principal of Early Childhood Center 61)
Elmer J. Schamber–1977-1978 (Principal - West Hertel Academy, named Principal of Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts)
Angelo J. Gianturco–1978-1980 (Principal - West Hertel Academy, named Interim Principal of Southside Junior High School)
Michael J. Anelli–1980-1995 (Principal - Riverside High School, retired)
Paul A. Lafornara–1995-2000 (Principal - South Park High School, retired)
Catherine F. Battaglia–2000-2005 (Staff Developer - Niagara Falls City School District, named Community Superintendent for Buffalo Public Schools)

Academics

William Kresse, the current principal of City Honors School, with students (left to right) John Dracup '07, Joshua Wells '07, and Michael-Dane Alexander '08.

City Honors School has such an academic intensive program that a test is required to become a student. This test can be taken in the November before the next school year. There are multiple testing days throughout the month. For example, to enter in as a 5th grade student, the test must be taken in the 4th grade year.

City Honors currently offers Advanced Placement & International Baccalaureate courses to its high school students. The IB program was adopted in 1991. The IB courses that are offered at City Honors include English A1 HL (Higher Level), Language B SL (French, Spanish or Mandarin) (Standard Level), Economics SL, History of the Americas HL, Biology SL/HL, Physics SL/HL, Environmental Systems & Societies SL, Mathematics SL, Mathematics Studies SL, Film HL, Visual Arts HL, and Theory of Knowledge (ToK). The school was authorized as a Middle Years Program (MYP) school in Summer 2008. This brings the IB program to grades 5-10 as well. At a minimum, all juniors and seniors take two years of IB English, this is a requirement to graduate from City Honors School and can bring college credit if a student does well enough in the course.

AP Exams offered at City Honors include: English Language and Comp, English Literature (taken by all sophomores), World History (taken by all sophomores), U.S. History (taken by all juniors), Calculus, Statistics, Biology, Physics, Environmental Science, French, Spanish, Chinese, Art History, Geography, Music Theory, and Studio Art. All students must take AP Literature and AP World History in 10th grade and AP U.S. History and Government in 11th grade.

2007 human remains found

In anticipation of the school reconstruction project, workers dug exploratory shafts in December 2007. This was done because the school building had been built on the site of an old Potter's field and there was concern that not all remains had been moved when the school was originally built. Crews did find the skeletal remains of two adults and one infant.

At the time, those remains were moved to Forest Lawn Cemetery. In May 2008, digging resumed and many more human remains were found. All remains in the reconstruction areas have been removed. They were examined at Utica College and were sent to Forest Lawn for re-interment.^[6]

An old photo of the original school itself, Fosdick High School.

Sports

An early drawing of what would become Chiron the Centaur, the school's mascot.

An image of City Honors' hockey team, showing the centaur logo.

City Honors students participate in a wide variety of varsity and club sports. The list of sports at CHS includes Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Bowling, Cheerleading, Men's and Women's Crew, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's Hockey, Men's and Women's Soccer, Women's Softball, Men's and Women's Swim Team, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball, and Men's and Women's Rugby.

City Honors has a long tradition of athletic success:

The City Honors Swim Team compiled 13 undefeated seasons under coaches Drake Francescone and Michael Wech. This streak ended in 1997 in a loss to arch-rival Hutch Tech. The team set a Buffalo Public School record with over 130 victories. City Honors currently has a 14-year undefeated streak spanning from 1998-2012. City Honors has won 27 out of the last 28 Syracuse Cups with the only loss being in 1997 to Hutchinson Central Technical High School. The current coaches are Kristy Mrugala (Men's) and Heather Creighton (Women's).
The Men's Basketball team won the New York State Class C Championship in 2003, defeating Cooperstown 66-59. In 2002, the team went to the title game but lost to Blind Brook 57-49.
The Men's Soccer team has won the city championship multiple times, most recently in 2006,and 2007 both penalty shootout victories over rival Grover Cleveland High. In 2010 they won the City Championship with a 1-0 victory over Riverside Technical High School, they also won the Section 6 Class B2 Championship with a 1-0 win over Wilson High School.
From 1990 to 1993, the Women's Volleyball team won four straight New York State Class C Championships. The team won back that title again during the 2009-10 school year This was done while not losing a game up through to the championship. Their regular season has gone undefeated, not dropping a game in a match for over 20 years. The team is currently coached by Debra Matos.
City Honors was the first public school in Western New York with its own rowing program. Founded in 1996, the Men's and Women's Crew teams have consistently been one of the top teams in the nation, winning several state championships and even a national championship over the last few years. The team has also won medals in several regional regattas, and has participated in the prestigious Stotesbury Cup. Independently of City Honors Crew, members of the team have had success in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, US Rowing Nationals, and one member even made it to the Junior National team.
The City Honors men's hockey team won the Super Sunday High School Club Hockey Championship in 1990 and again in 2009. They were the runners-up in 2007 and 2010. In addition, they were NYS Small School semifinalists in 2005, and qualified for the NYS Small School Championships in 2006 and 2007. They were West Sectional Quarterfinalists in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

In September 2005, CHS men's hockey coach Fred Korey, who was also the executive director of Hasek's Heroes, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Korey was forced to stop coaching in February 2006 due to his declining health, and died in fall 2009.

The men's baseball team has won the Cornell Cup 15 times, most recently in 2003, 2004, and 2005. They were runners-up in 2006 and 2008, and semifinalists in 2007.
Former City Honors physical education teacher Drake Francescone—who coached Women's Softball, Men's Basketball, Women's Volleyball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Swimming and Men's and Women's Tennis—is one of only 25 members of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2006. However, he was diagnosed with cancer and died in May 2011.
City Honors was one of the first high schools in Western New York to have a rugby team . The Men's team won the Division II state title in 2004-05. The Women's team placed well in a national tournament in 2005-06. In January 2006, Women's Rugby Team alumna Carretta Reese was named to the USA Rugby National Women's Team.
The Women's Varsity Soccer Team has won the Buffalo Public Schools city championship every year.
In the 2007-2008 season the Woman's Varsity Basketball team went undefeated for the first time in league play, winning the Canisius Cup.

Clubs and extra-curricular activities

City Honors School has over 35 extra curricular activities and clubs, as seen below.

African Dance, Amnesty International, Amnesty Local, Anime Club, AP Chemistry Club, Bible Club, Book Club, Chess Club, Color Guard, Debate, Donate Life, French Film Club, GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance, President: Jackson Herlan) Gospel Chorus, Helicon Literary Magazine, High School and Middle School Ski Club, J8, Jazz Combo, Junior Chorus, Key Club, Marching Band, Masterminds, Media Club, NYS Math League, Middle School Chorus, Middle School Orchestra, Middle School Swim Club, Model U.N., Multi-Cultural Club, Orchestra, Silent Noise (School newspaper), Public Speaking, Science Olympiad, Select Chorus - High School, Student Council, Writer's Circle, Yearbook.

The City Honors Masterminds (formerly "It's Academic") Team won the New York State Championship in June 2011.

On May 18, 2008 City Honors Player's musical "Children of Eden" won several Kenny awards. The show, which was performed in November, won best choral performance, best actor in a leading role (West Richter, Jr. as Father), and best overall production. Winning best overall production includes a monetary award for the musical theater department.

Additional facts

The building that houses City Honors is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]
In December 2008, City Honors School was again nationally recognized for its strong academic rigor as U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked the Buffalo Public School the 35th best in the country. Last year the magazine ranked C.H.S. the 50th best in the nation. The strength and rigor of the school’s International Baccalaureate (I.B.) Program is believed to be reason why there was an increase of 15 spots on the best schools rankings list.
City Honors School has been named as one of the top public high schools and middle schools in Western New York (or near the top) by Business First every year since the publication began its rankings in 1997.
The school was named one of the top 50 public feeder high schools in the United States by Worth Magazine.
In 1951 longtime City Honors staff member [she moved with the school when it relocated from School 17 to the new Fosdick Masten location in 1980] Irene McVay was involved in a student-led strike protesting racial segregation in the school system in Prince Edward county, Virginia. The two-week strike led to a lawsuit, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, which became part of the famous Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision.
Buffalo native and Canisius High School graduate, Tim Russert of NBC's Meet The Press was named an honorary City Honors graduate by Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent James A. Williams on May 22, 2007.
City Honors School was ranked #4 on Newsweek Magazine's list of America's Top Public High Schools^[7] for 2006.
City Honors School was named #8 Newsweek Magazine's list of America's Top Public High Schools^[7] for 2007.
City Honors was ranked #11 on Newsweek Magazine's list of America's Top Public High Schools in 2008.
City Honors was ranked #10 on Newseek Magazine's list of America's Top Public High Schools in 2010.^[1]
City Honors began as a program at Bennett High School, moved to School 17 and then to its current location in 1980. Fosdick-Masten had been closed for several years when City Honors arrived.
Mary V. Kiefer was coordinator of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program from 1999-2007. She grew the program from an average of 16 IB Diploma Candidates to 48. She was also instrumental in implementing the policy that all juniors and seniors take IB English A1 HL. However, Mary's family, friends, and the City Honors Community lost her to cancer on October 10, 2007.
The City Honors Foundation was started in the mid-1990s. It is a 401(c)(3) non-profit organization and its purpose is to raise money to benefit the City Honors community. It merged with the City Honors Alumni Association and the Fosdick-Masten Park Alumni Association in 2007.
The Mary V. Kiefer International Baccalaureate Endowment Fund was created in March 2008. The purpose of the fund is to help the IB program grow and insulate it from possible budget cuts.
City Honors moved back to the Fosdick Masten location after being displaced for two years due to reconstruction. The school reopened on September 8, 2010. The reconstruction added a new building to the property to provide the students with a proper sized gymnasium as well as an indoor swimming pool. The new building also includes multiple new classrooms. The reconstruction project helped improve and update classrooms in the main building as well.
In winter 2007, four gang members broke into the school and assaulted a student, leading to media coverage by the Buffalo News.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni from City Honors and Fosdick-Masten Park High School include:^[8]

Economist Rexford Tugwell, a member of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Brain Trust" who served as one of the chief architects of the New Deal and directed many New Deal programs, Class of '11
Kit Klein, Class of '28, a speed skater who won gold medals in the 1932 and 1936 Winter Olympics
Richard Hofstadter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who is often cited as one of the leading public intellectuals of the 20th century, Class of '33
Entertainer Buffalo Bob Smith, the host of the popular 1950s children's show Howdy Doody, Class of '33
Eminent American poet Lucille Clifton, Class of '53
Author Connie Porter, Class of '77
Steve Mesler (bobsleigh), Class of '96, a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team and 2010 Gold Medal winner in the 4-man Bobsleigh with USA-1.

References

1 2 "America's Best High Schools: The List - 2010". News Week. 13 June 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
1 2 Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ High School Challenge Washington Post
↑ LaChiusa, C. (2000, May). A Brief History of City Honors High School
↑ Simon, P. (2007, October 27). City Honors sets rise in security after attacks. The Buffalo News, p. B1.
↑ Buckley, Eileen (2007-12-06). "Remains from 19th Century Discovered at City Honors School". Retrieved 2007-12-07.
1 2 America's Top Public High Schools, Newsweek Magazine, 2006, 2007
↑ Notable Alumni from City Honors and Fosdick-Masten Park High School

External links

Buffalo Public Schools

Elementary Schools	PS 3 D'Youville Porter Campus PS 6 Buffalo Elementary School of Technology PS 17 Early Childhood Center PS 18 Dr. Antonia Pantoja Community School of Academic Excellence PS 19 Native American Magnet School PS 27 Hillery Park Elementary PS 30 Frank A. Sedita Academy PS 31 Harriet Ross Tubman School PS 32 Bennett Park Montessori PS 33 Bilingual Center PS 37 Marva J. Daniel Futures Preparatory School PS 39 Martin Luther King Multicultural Institute PS 43 Lovejoy Discovery School PS 45 International School PS 53 Community School PS 54 Dr. George E. Blackman ECC PS 59 Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet Annex 59A PS 61 Early Childhood Center PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted PS 65 Roosevelt ECC PS 66 North Park Middle Academy PS 67 Discovery School PS 69 Houghton Academy PS 72 Lorraine Elementary PS 74 Hamlin Park School PS 76 Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy PS 79 Pfc. William J. Grabiarz School of Excellence PS 80 Highgate Heights PS 81 School PS 82 Early Childhood Center PS 84 Health Care Center for Children at ECMC PS 89 Dr. Lydia T. Wright School of Excellence PS 91 BUILD Academy PS 93 Southside Elementary PS 94 West Hertel Academy PS 95 Waterfront School PS 97 Harvey Austin School PS 99 Stanley M. Makowski Early Childhood Center

Middle/High Schools	PS 131 Academy Programs @ 4 PS 156 Frederick Law Olmsted School at Kensington PS 192 Buffalo Academy for Visual & Performing Arts PS 195 City Honors School PS 197 Math, Science, Technology Preparatory School PS 198 The International Preparatory School

High Schools	PS 200 Bennett High School PS 204 Lafayette High School PS 205 Riverside Institute of Technology PS 206 South Park High School PS 212 Leonardo da Vinci High School PS 301 Burgard High School PS 302 Emerson School of Hospitality PS 304 Hutchinson Central Technical High School PS 305 McKinley High School PS 307 East High School PS 353 S.T.A.R. Academy @ Lafayette PS 402 Occupational Training Center PS 415 Middle Early College High School

Notable Defunct Schools	PS 8 Follow Through Magnet School 13 PS 63 Campus North School 87 PS 96 Campus West School Fosdick-Masten Park High School PS 192 Buffalo Traditional School PS 202 Grover Cleveland High School PS 203 Kensington High School PS 302 Emerson Vocational High School PS 306 Seneca Vocational High School

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