Blind Brook High School

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Blind Brook High School (BBHS) is a public, four-year secondary school in Rye Brook, New York and is lone public high school that serves the Blind Brook School District. BBHS is a relatively small school (there were only 82 students in the class of 2006). The school principal is Mr. Anthony Baxter and the assistant principal is Mrs. Jane Wermuth.

History

Blind Brook High School was built in 1973 after the community (which was the un-incorporated area of the Town of Rye) wanted to expand the local school district (known as district #5). This push for expansion after the community became frustrated spending lots of money to send their children to high schools in the local area. In addition, the Ridge Street School, which housed classes from Kindergarten to 8th/9th grades, was becoming overcrowded and could not accomidate the growning population that would become known as Rye Brook. Land was purchased on King Street where the original Blind Brook High School building was built. The High School today stands on the same campus as in 1973.

• The building was considered modern as it contained 'open classrooms'. This meant that the building contained classrooms that had only two walls around it. This made for an interesting and different learning environment as students walking in the hallways would also be walking through a class. The building also contained, and still does to this day, The Commons, an open area in the middle of the building where students could do work, hang out, or just take a break. BBHS was not built with an auditorium but did, and still has, a LGI, or Large Group Instruction. School plays were held in the usually cramped space that only holds 100 people. Because of the LGI's small size, band and choral concerts and graducation in the Spring had to be held in the gym. The campus was built with two fields, a baseball field and a soccer field.

• In 1999, the fast-growing population of the Blind Brook community started to out-grow the original high school building. A parent-school district committee, called, "Let's Bond for our Kids" formed a construction plan and encouraged the community to get involved and vote. The Bond passed by a large margin, bringing construction to the BB campus. To create additional classroom space during the construction, the district bought two modular classrooms. These modular buildings are connected to eachother, but are not connected to the main high school building. To this day, the modular classrooms, or as they are often called, the portables (even though they can not be moved), are still used for daily classes and are fairly popular among the student body.

• The construction added a Middle School wing, Middle School gym, renovated IMC (library), new Middle School and High School main offices, an 450-seat auditorium, a new front walkway, a renovated commons area, and high school classroom renovation.

To meet state fire codes, the construction resulted in traditional, closed classrooms. By removing wall-less classrooms, the new classroom setup leaves some rooms window-less. In addition, the commons had the carpet removed and new, artistic walls were installed. These walls were poked fun at often and seemed very silly in the eyes of students. Many wanted the walls removed, though that wouldn't happen until Blind Brook went through its second wave of construction. The new auditorium was also criticized as it was too small and could not fit the entire high school and its faculty in the facility at the same time. In addition, the end-of-the-year graduation would not be able to be held in the new facility as it lacked necessary seating for guests. Graduations are held in the gym as it can accommodate the large amount of guests.

• In early 2005, the Blind Brook community continued its fast growth, giving school officials no choice other than expand onto the high school building. A Bond vote was conducted and passed by a high percentage.

• Construction, however, did not start until late 2005, around October, because of problems with architect plans and a slow permit approval by the State Education Department. In the 2005-06 phase of construction, a new cafeteria, fitness center, science labs, HS and MS classrooms, and new athletic fields were built. Problems arose when students became concerned with the future of the Rock, a tradition Blind Brook students take part in every year as the Senior class paints it. The problem was fixed as the rock was moved out of harm's way. The new fields will feature synthetic grass, giving teams more flexablility in when they can use they fields and how ofen they do so.

• A signifcant retaining wall malfunction delayed the construction of the lower field as it had to be rebuilt. The manufacturure has announced that the wrong type of stones were chosen for the wall, meaning all retaining walls on the campus must be taken down and rebuilt. This is projected to set the fields project back several months. The company who installed the wall and provides the stones will pay for the damages. The upper field will contain the baseball field and the lower will contain a 6-lane track and a soccer/football field in it.

• The village of Rye Brook, New York, at the same time, was building their fields adjacent to the BBHS campus. These fields will contain a softball field and a soccer/football field.

Academics

Blind Brook High School is historically known for its' successful educational program. It was placed 88th on Newsweek Magazine's Top 100 Schools list in 2006. BBHS, over the past three years, has expanded the Advanced Placement program offered to students. As of 2005, BBHS offers 13 AP courses in addition to high school-level-Regents classes.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Blind Brook has many activities and clubs that students can take part in during Activity Period and after school. In recent years, Blind Brook's clubs and teams have been recognized as top performers in their fields.

Mock Trial The Blind Brook Mock Trial Trojans have been very successful on all levels of the New York State Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the NY Bar Association. Each year the team receives the case that is given out throughout New York State. The New York competition is the largest in the United States with over 375 high schools participating each year. The team is usually made up of 14-16 students and those wanting to join must go though an interview and question/response tryout. Once the team is formed, 6 students are assigned lawyer positions (3 for Prosecution, 3 for Defense) and 6 are given witness positions (3 for Prosecution, 3 for defense). In recent years Blind Brook has won the Westchester County level of the competition in 2004, 2005, and 2006. There are between 32 and 36 teams competing for the title. Out of those 3 years, BBHS won the Region IV title in 2005 and 2006, giving them the chance to compete at the state level in Albany, New York. While in Albany, Blind Brook competed against 5 other schools from across New York.

FOCUS: FOCUS is Blind Brook's student-produced newspaper. It is published around 8 times a year and is distributed through the local newspaper, The Westmore News and at the high school. It is also available on Blind Brook's website. It has won numerous awards from The Journal News and was cited as the best newspaper in the nation by the American Scholastic Press Association.

Other Notable Clubs

• SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions)
• AIDS Awareness
• Habitat for Humanity (of Westchester)
• Junior States of America
• Investment Club
• Community Service Club
• Blind Brook High School Soup Kitchen
• Congress
• Senate
• Math Team- 5th in Westchester Co. in 2006
• Chess Club
• Book Club
• Spectrum- The Award-Winning Yearbook of BBHS
• Herpetology Club
• Boys' Volleyball Club
• Alter[ed] Ego- Student Produced Literary Magazine
• Spanish Club
• French Club
• World Languages Club
• BBTV (Video Club)

Athletics

Athletic Teams at Blind Brook MS/HS

Sport	Level	Season	Gender
Cross-Country	V, JV, F (All under one coach)	Fall	Co-ed
Football	V, Mod	Fall	Boys'
Field Hockey	Not Currently Offered
Soccer	V, JV, Mod	Fall	Boys', Girls'
Girls' Tennis	V, VB, JV	Fall	Girls'
Volleyball	V, JV, Mod	Fall	Girls'
Cheerleading	V	Fall, Winter	Girls'
Girls' Swimming	V	Fall	Girls' Merged Program with other local schools
Basketball	V, JV, 9th Grade, 8th Grade, 7th Grade	Winter	Boys', Girls'
Gymnastics	V	Winter	Girls' Merged Program with other local schools
Ice Hockey	V	Winter	Boys' Merged Program with Harrison, Rye, and Rye Neck
Boys' Swimming*	V	Winter	Boys' Will Merge with other local schools
Ski	V	Winter	Co-ed
Track	V, Mod	Winter, Spring	Co-ed
Wrestling	V	Winter	Boys' Merged with Rye
Baseball	V, JV, F, 8th Grade, 7th Grade	Spring	Boys'
Softball	V, JV, 8th/7th grade	Spring	Girls'
Boys' Tennis	V, JV, Mod	Spring	Boys'
Lacrosse	N/I	Spring	Girls'*
Golf	V	Spring	Coed

V = Varsity, VB = Varsity B, JV = Junior Varsity, F = Freshmen, Mod = Modified
N/I = need information, -- = not applicable, * = New in 06/07

Notes: *Girls' Soccer was moved after the Spring 2006 season to the Fall season.

External links

• [Official Blind Brook Schools Website]
• [Blind Brook EChalk Website]

 

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