William A. Shine Great Neck South High School

William A. Shine Great Neck South High School (commonly Great Neck South, South High School, or GNSHS) is a four-year public high school located in the Lake Success village of Great Neck, New York. The school serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is in the Great Neck school district.

William A. Shine Great Neck South High School
Address
341 Lakeville Road

Great Neck
,
New York
11020

United States
Information
TypeComprehensive school
Founded1958[1]
School districtGreat Neck Union Free School District[2]
PrincipalChristopher Gitz[3]
Faculty114.75 FTEs[4]
Enrollment1,222 (2021–22)[4]
Student to teacher ratio10.65[4]
Color(s)    Orange and blue   
Team nameRebels
NewspaperThe Southerner
YearbookVista
WebsiteSchool website

Great Neck South is one of three high schools in the Great Neck school district, the others being Great Neck North High School and Great Neck Village High School. Great Neck South offers its 1,222 students academic acceleration, along with special education classes for students with disabilities. The school opened in 1958 and was named Great Neck South High School until 2006.[5][6]

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,222 students and 114.75 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.65:1. There were 217 students (17.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 27 (2.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[4]

Campus history and school facilities
A sign at South High School of the school's name

In 1949, the School District acquired the 124-acre (0.50 km2) South complex in Lake Success from the former estate of Henry Phipps Jr., steelmaster and one-time partner of Andrew Carnegie. His mansion and 9 acres (36,000 m2) were given to the district by the Phipps heirs; the mansion is now the Phipps Administration Building. The rest of the property was purchased for $279,000.[1][7][8] In 1957, South High School was built on property surrounding the administration building. When the estate was donated, there was a stipulation that part of it be kept in its natural state, a condition that was met during construction.[9]

One of the final remaining intact portions of the Long Island Motor Parkway, the first road in the United States built solely for automobiles, runs through the campus of the High School.[10]

In 1958, Great Neck Senior High School was renamed Great Neck North High School to differentiate it from the district's new Great Neck South High School.[1][7][8] Prior to 1979, Great Neck South High School included grades 10 through 12.[11] In 1980, grade 9 was added.[11] In 2006, the school was renamed to honor Dr. William A. Shine for his respected status in the Great Neck School District.[5]

Great Neck South has more restrictions on its open campus than Great Neck North. Rona Telsey, a spokesperson for the district, said that while Great Neck North is near a major shopping center, Great Neck South is further away. In addition, she said that a student would need to use a car to go off-campus for lunch. Prior to 1980, all students had open campus. In 1980, the school decided that younger students at Great Neck needed more restrictions than older students. Beginning in 1980, only 11th and 12th graders at Great Neck South had open campus privileges.[12]

Mascot and flag history

Prior to the early 1980s, South High School used a Confederate battle flag as part of its logo, along with a gray Confederate rebel representing it as a mascot. Great Neck South quarterback David Gurfein, from the Class of 1983, recalled, “We would go down to Middle Neck Road waving these confederate flags. We had so much team spirit, so much unity, so much energy.”[13]

While the flag has ties to the Confederate South, the school and town alike did not identify it with the flag's history, but rather saw it solely as a representation of school spirit, and a pun of it being Great Neck's "southern" high school rather than any purposeful ill intent. After the 1981 lynching of Michael Donald in Mobile, Alabama, and being made aware of the flag's history seeing contemporary pictures of the Ku Klux Klan with it in the background, Gurfein regretted the mascot and flag use, and lead a successful effort to replace the Confederate flag and soldier with a more generic American Revolutionary War rebel and Betsy Ross flag.

Academics

Newsweek ranked Great Neck South High School 49th out of 500 in its 2011 list Best High Schools in America. (The school has been cited in Newsweek's public school rankings on several other occasions).[14][15] Students are offered Advanced Placement, honors, and accelerated courses as well.[16] Great Neck South’s disabled students attend special education classes.[17] One of the Advanced Placement physics courses tested the audience response technology which was successful and the Great Neck School District has expanded the technology to other schools.[18]

The majority of South High students (more than 90%) achieve a B average or better. 98% of the South High School Class of 2019 entered college. 19% were recognized as finalists or received Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.[16]

Events

Cultural heritage

One of the most popular events at Great Neck South is Cultural Heritage Night, where students put on a two-hour extravaganza of multicultural art, theater and dance.[19]

Blazing Trails-4-Autism

Great Neck South has hosted the Blazing Trails-4-Autism on its campus.[20] In 2009 the Run/Walk was selected to be a part of the USATF-Long Island Grand Prix of Long Island Road Races.[20]

Rebel War

Rebel War is a tradition in which the four teams, divided by graduation year, compete for fun. Events include speedball and tug of war. The members of each team dress in their corresponding team colors and work to design a class banner for their teams. In years prior to 2023, the school's annual Rebel War has been cancelled due to COVID.[21]

Enrollment

Demographics

As of the 2021–22 school year, the student body of 1,222 (49.8% male, 50.2% female) consists of:[4]

  • 843 Asian or 69%
  • 11 Black or African American students or 0.9%
  • 102 Hispanic or Latino students or 8%
  • 243 White students or 20%
  • 23 multiracial students or 2%

The student population at Great Neck South is predominantly Asian American, with a large White minority and smaller Hispanic and Latino Americans and African American minorities.

Grade distribution

As of the 2021–22 school year the grade distribution is:

  • Grade 9: 288
  • Grade 10: 300
  • Grade 11: 307
  • Grade 12: 327[4]

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. "District History". http. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  2. NYS Admin Listing; URL accessed September 26, 2009.
  3. Principal's name; URL accessed February 27, 2019
  4. "GREAT NECK SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  5. South High To Be Named for Bill Shine; URL accessed July 13, 2006.
  6. "Great Neck Union Free School District". nysed.gov. Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  7. "This is Great Neck", (The League of Women Voters of Great Neck).
  8. "Lucky 7", (Match, Richard).
  9. "History / Henry Phipps and the Phipps Administration Building". http. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  10. Andy Newman (August 8, 2014). "Duo Push For Park Path". Great Neck Record. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  11. Schools Split on 'Open Campus' - The New York Times; URL accessed November 2, 2009.
  12. Saslow, Linda. "Schools Split on 'Open Campus'." The New York Times. October 23, 1988. Retrieved on October 18, 2011.
  13. Newman, Andy (June 27, 2015). "Long Island High School Alumni Recall Connection to the Confederate Flag (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  14. "America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com". Newsweek.com. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  15. Page 2; URL accessed July 22, 2011.
  16. https://www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/cms/lib/NY02208059/Centricity/domain/22/profiles/shsprofile20.pdf Great Neck Public Schools Web site, PDF document titled "Great Neck Public Schools: South High School", accessed August 9, 2020
  17. Special Education Programs in Great Neck; URL accessed August 9, 2020.
  18. Students Click, and a Quiz Becomes a Game; URL accessed July 26, 2011.
  19. Surge in Asian Enrollment Alters Schools; URL accessed July 27, 2011.
  20. Run/Walk; URL accessed November 6, 2009.
  21. Gu, Olivia. "Rebel War Returns to South". The Southerner. GNSHS Southerner. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  22. 6 Questions For: Fashion Influencer Danielle Bernstein; URL accessed August 7, 2020.
  23. Fischler, Marcelle S "For ‘Hairspray’ Star, ‘My Darn Dream Come True’", The New York Times, July 8, 2007. Accessed July 11, 2007. "In her sophomore year, unable to find her niche, she switched from the John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School to the Village School, the district’s alternative high school, with 50 students. After class, she joined the theater program at the William A. Shine Great Neck South High School..."
  24. "Famous Alumni From The Eighties and Nineties", Great Neck Public Schools; URL accessed August 8, 2020.
  25. "Quinn Early" at ESPN; URL accessed March 29, 2006.
  26. "Famous Alumni: Sixties and Seventies". Great Neck Public Schools. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  27. "Comedy Series Nominees / Winners 2010".
  28. "Stocks". Bloomberg News.
  29. https://www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/Page/7483 ;Famous Alumni, URL acceded April 23, 2021.
  30. Grunberger, Alessia (September 28, 2021). "Comedian From Great Neck Cast In Upcoming SNL Season". patch.com. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  31. "Charlie Williams". Baseball-Reference.com.
  32. "Zachary Wissner-Gross wins Hertz Fellowship", Hertz Foundation, November 30, 2007. Accessed January 5, 2017. "Wissner-Gross graduated in 2003 from Great Neck South High School, Great Neck, N.Y., where he was a National Merit Scholar."

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