John F. Kennedy High School is a former four-year comprehensive New York City public high school, located at 99 Terrace View Avenue along the border of the Spuyten Duyvil section of the Bronx and the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, near the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. The building currently operates as John F. Kennedy Educational Campus, housing five public high schools and two charter high schools. The campus serves grades 9–12 and is operated by the New York City Department of Education.
JFK High school is known as one of the most successful Public Schools Athletic programs in New York City. The male sports teams' mascot is the Knight and the female's is the Flame. The school has won 37 Public Schools Athletic League championships as of 2011, including titles in basketball, football, volleyball, gymnastics, and track and field.
Notable alumni include American politicians, hip-hop legends, and professional sport stars.
Location
John F. Kennedy Campus is located along the north–south border of the Bronx and Manhattan, the eastern half of the campus within Marble Hill, and the western half in Spuyten Duyvil, with the Hudson Line of the Metro-North Railroad and Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the south. Marble Hill is politically and legally part of Manhattan, but geographically within the Bronx. The school was built as part of an "educational park" along with PS/MS 37 and In-Tech Academy (MS/HS 368) to the north. The high school building was built to serve 4,000 students and is eight-stories high, but is depressed from the surrounding neighborhoods in the former creek riverbed. Entrance to the building is via a pedestrian bridge at the fourth floor, leading east to Terrace View Avenue in Marble Hill. A second bridge on the west side of the school to Spuyten Duyvil was originally planned, but never built. The other access point is at West 230th Street and Tibbett Avenue at the north end of the educational park, leading to a first floor entrance. The building features a large 22,000-volume library, several gymnasiums, and numerous industrial arts shops. The building also features several escalators and elevator banks. The roof of the school features solar panels, which provide five percent of the structure's electricity. Several portable buildings are located at the north end of the building, used for security offices and extra classrooms. At the south end of the campus near the shore is the athletic complex, featuring a football field circumscribed by a running track, a baseball field, and eight tennis courts. The football field was originally AstroTurf, but now consists of modern artificial turf. The baseball field is dirt and grass.
The campus is served by the Marble Hill–225th Street subway station, and the Marble Hill Metro-North station, both located at West 225th Street and the foot of the Broadway Bridge. The school is also served by the and bus routes, which run along either Broadway or West 231st Street near the campus.
History
Prior to the 20th century, the site of John F. Kennedy High School was part of the course of Spuyten Duyvil Creek which separated Manhattan and the Bronx, while Marble Hill was geographically part of Manhattan. Tibbett Avenue was originally the right-of-way of Tibbetts Brook, which merged with the creek at approximately West 230th Street. In 1895, the Harlem River Ship Canal was dug between Marble Hill and the rest of Manhattan, and in 1914 the original creek routing was filled in. The land was later used as a freight spur called Kingsbridge Yard by the New York Central Railroad, as part of the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad.