James I. O'Neill High School

James I. O'Neill High School
Address
21 Morgan Rd. Highland Falls , New York 10928 United States
Coordinates	41.351658°N 73.975407°W / 41.351658; -73.975407
Information
Opened	1971
School district	Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District
School number	NCES: 361443001196 State: 440901040003
CEEB code	332375
Principal	Robin Haberman
Teaching staff	44.34 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	506 (2018–19)[1]
Average class size	21[2]
Student to teacher ratio	11.41[1]
Hours in school day	11 periods
Color(s)	Maroon, White, Gold
Fight song	Indian Fight song
Athletics	2019 Section 9 Champions: Girls' Soccer, Boys' and Girls' Cross Country
Mascot	Raiders (Indian Raiders)
Nickname	O'Neill
Team name	Raiders
Newspaper	Raider Review
Communities served	Highland Falls, Fort Montgomery, West Point Garrison (sent by home district) USMA (under contract) Formerly Saint Basil Academy
Website	www.hffmcsd.org

James I. O'Neill High School is a public high school in Highland Falls, New York and a part of the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District.

History

James I. O'Neill High School opened in 1971, replacing the existing Highland Falls High School on Mountain Avenue in Highland Falls. In 2019, contracts were awarded for the first major improvements to the school since its original building, including new playing fields, tennis courts, and classroom improvements.^[3]

In September 2004 O'Neill was still taking students from Saint Basil Academy who were not from families resident in New York State. At the time the academy was embroiled in a controversy over where it should send its students to school, as the academy no longer had its own in-house school, and whether it needed to pay for the tuition.^[4]

In 2021, 190 children living on-post at United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point attended O'Neill. In 2021 the agency at West Point announced that the bid to educate West Point High School students would be competitive,^[5] In March 2022 the O'Neill contract was renewed.^[6]

Service area

The Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery district, of which O'Neill is the sole comprehensive high school, includes most of the town of Highlands and portions of the town of Woodbury. It includes the village of Highland Falls and the hamlets of Fort Montgomery and West Point.^[7] O'Neill is one of two high schools taking students from the territory of the Garrison Union Free School District (GUFSD), as that district only educates up to 8th grade and pays to send its students elsewhere for high school.^[8] GUFSD includes sections of Philipstown and Putnam Valley towns, with the former portion including Garrison hamlet.^[9] Additionally, USMA sends high school aged students who are dependents of on-base military personnel to O'Neill under contract.^[5]

Notable alumni

• Mike Doughty – musician
• Charles Durning – actor
• Ben Greenspan – college baseball coach^[10]
• Jacob Hard – AT&T student athlete of the year SUNY Binghamton 2020
• Carson Kreitzer – playwright
• Paul Rieckhoff – writer, social entrepreneur and veteran of the United States Army
• Guinevere Turner – film director
• Johnson Wagner – professional golfer
• Fred Wilson – venture capitalist and blogger

References

1. "JAMES I O'NEILL HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
2. "Accountability and Overview Report 2005–06: JAMES I. O'NEILL HIGH SCHOOL" (PDF). New York State Education Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21.
3. Mike Randall. "Contracts awarded for O’Neill HS renovations; work starts May 1". Feb 8, 2019.
4. Fuchs, Marek (2004-09-05). "EDUCATION; Last-Minute Ruling for St. Basil". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
5. Wang, Helu (2021-09-27). "Could Highland Falls lose its West Point students?". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
6. Randall, Mike (2022-03-21). "Highland Falls' contract to educate West Point high school students is renewed". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
7. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Orange County, NY" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
8. Prentice, Anita (2004). "Garrison Union Free School District: A History Primer". Archived from the original on 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-01-24. When children graduate [...] and GUFSD pays tuition to those districts.
9. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Putnam County, NY" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
10. Rodriguez, Justin (August 6, 2001). "Smith eager to get going with Terps". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 29 December 2024.

External links

• Official website
• JROTC