Benjamin N. Cardozo High School


Benjamin N. Cardozo High School is a public high school in Bayside, Queens of New York City, United States, and is operated by the New York City Department of Education. The school was named for Benjamin N. Cardozo, who served as justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals.
Cardozo High School is known for its Mentor Law and Humanities program, offering classes in such subjects like criminal justice, contract law, constitutional law, homeland security as well as a legal internship course. The school's DaVinci Science and Research Institute program provides students an emphasis on science and mathematics. The Performing Dance program, for which students are selected through an audition process, provides instruction in many different forms of dance.
The school also has a wide variety of extracurricular clubs, activities, and athletic and academic teams.
In May 2008, Newsweek ranked Benjamin N. Cardozo High School among the top 5% of high schools in the United States.

Academics

Cardozo High School offers a wide variety of Honors and Advanced Placement Courses, including, but not limited to, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Spanish Language and Culture, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP U.S. History, AP World History, AP European History, AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Microeconomics. In addition, Cardozo High School also offers dual-enrollment courses with St. John's University in United States History, United States Government, Introductory Journalism, College Writing, and American Literature. Cardozo High School also offers college-credit bearing classes via its College Now partnerships with Queensborough Community College and Queens College.

Extracurricular Activities

Robotics

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School has an extracurricular Robotics program, lead by coach and lead mentor Bernard Haggerty. Founded in 2014, The Sentinels have participated in various robotics programs and won numerous awards. The program is entirely student-funded through its students' own fundraising efforts and a marketing division, responsible for organizing larger fundraising events and attracting sponsors from businesses and colleges.
The program consists of five core engineering divisions and three marketing and media divisions. Students are taught hands-on mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic engineering as well as computer science and computer aided design. The marketing and media divisions are responsible for organizing team events and fundraisers, budgeting, sponsor outreach, managing a team blog and newsletter, and creating teaser, reveal, and recruitment videos for the season.
A Mentorship program was created in 2017, allowing many alumni to return as volunteers or mentors. The program provides access to a number of scholarships, volunteer opportunities, and internship connections through FIRST, the U.S. Navy, and the school's PTA.

FIRST® Robotics Program

The school has a FIRST® Robotics Team founded in 2014,.
In 2014, the team was awarded the Future Glory Award at the Brunswick Eruption 2014 off-season competition. In 2015, the team took home the Rookie Inspiration Award from the New York City 2015 Regional Competition. In 2017, the team was the leading alliance in finals at the Hudson Valley Rally off-season competition in Yonkers, New York. In 2018, the team played in the quarter-finals in the New York City 2018 Regional Competition on an alliance with specialized school Brooklyn Technical High School and Long Island City High School. At the time Vice-Captain and Director of Marketing, Danielle Louie, was a Dean's Lists Award semi-finalist. At the 2019 SBPLI Long Island Regional Competition , Nazifa Prapti was a Dean's List Award semi-finalist, and was also awarded the MVP Achievement in recognition of their "Individual excellence, contribution, and achievement" during the competition season. At the New York City 2019 Regional, Nazifa was a finalist, one of the highest acclaimed awards in the entire FIRST Robotics program. The team placed in the semi-finals during the 2019 Half Hallow Hills Robotics Invitational off-season event.

SeaPerch Program

The High School's Robotics team once included an underwater robotics division that participated in the United States Navy's SeaPerch program, a program created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and sponsored by Office of Naval Research. The SeaPerch team placed third in the 2017 season, their first time competing in the program. The SeaPerch program was disbanded in 2018.

Science Olympiad

The school's Science Olympiad team consistently ranks in the top five at the New York City Regional Competition. The team won second place in 2008, third place in 2009, and fourth place in 2010. On February 5, 2011, the school's Science Olympiad team ranked first for the first time since 1999 at the New York City Regional Science Olympiad Competition, ranking above several private and specialized high schools renowned for their academic rigor. In 2012, the team ranked second at the regional competition.

Debate

The Debate team won the NYC championship in 2008.

Future Business Leaders of America

Cardozo's chapter of FBLA consistently places among the top students/schools on the city-level and on the state level of the competitions in various competitive events such as Marketing, Economics, Personal Finance, Business Math, Cyber Security, Parliamentary Procedures, Networking Concepts, Business Procedures, Hospitality Management, Accounting I, Sports Management, and more. Students place in the top of their competitive events. In 2011, Cardozo FBLA went on to the national level of the competitions in Orlando, Florida.

Athletics

Cardozo also has a large number of acclaimed sports teams, which are:
As of the 2018–2019 school year, Cardozo High School's enrollment was 3,617 students, and there were 176.89 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 20.45:1. There were 1,938 students eligible for free lunch and 310 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School opened in 1967. The building was designed by the firm of Eggers & Higgins. It was built for $7.571 million, and it was designed for a capacity of 3,213 students. In 1968, the Queens Chamber of Commerce gave Cardozo High School an award for excellence in design and civic value.
In March 1970, the Black Students Union gave Principal Benjamin Michaelson a list of ten requests. The students wanted Black History and Art to be added to the curriculum, they wanted several racist teachers to be fired, and they wanted to have more input on which classes they took. They also wanted more teachers who were black, as there was only one at that time. The following month, the students had a sit in. A week later, twelve members of the Black Students Union met with Michaelson about the list. When Michaelson tried to postpone the discussion to another time, the students would not allow Michaelson to leave the office and prevented others to enter the room. The principal's assistant called the police, and four students were arrested.
In March 1992, then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton met with Cardozo students and answered their questions. Clinton returned in January 1998 and helped paint classrooms in Cardozo, along with many volunteers from Americorps.

Notable alumni