School in New York, , NY, United States
The Norman Thomas High School for Business and Commercial Education was a
public
high school (closed in June 2014) in the
Murray Hill neighborhood of
Manhattan ,
New York City under the
New York City Department of Education . Formerly known as Central Commercial High School (CCHS), and before that, the Central School of Business and Arts, its former location was on
42nd Street in a structure constructed with a 20-story office building in the
air rights above it. It was renamed after
Presbyterian
minister and
Socialist activist
Norman Thomas and moved to occupy the first nine floors of
3 Park Avenue , a 42-story
skyscraper on East 33rd Street at
Park Avenue in 1975.
The high school was originally designed to train students for
secretarial and commercial occupations such as
accounting ,
bookkeeping ,
merchandising and
salesmanship ,
clerical skills ,
stenography and
typing . As of 1940, every senior at Central Commercial High School was required to complete four weeks of work in an office during the last semester.
[4] In later years, this expanded to include such topics as
data processing
[5] and
physical distribution .
[6]
Notable alumni
Front entrance
Barbara Alston , (1943–2018), a lead singer for the girl group
the Crystals attended briefly before transferring to
William H. Maxwell Vocational School .
[7]
[8]
Kool Moe Dee , (b 1962) American rapper, writer and actor, considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop
Luis Flores , (b 1981) Dominican professional basketball player and is
top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League
Aurelia Greene , (1934–2021) represented District 77 in the New York State Assembly,
Special K , (b 1963) American old-school hip hop emcee from the Bronx.
John Kerwin , talk show host
Armelia McQueen , (1952–2020) American actress best known for her roles in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin' and the film
Ghost (1990)
Louise Meriwether , (b 1923) American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist
Tito Puente , (1923–2000)
Latin jazz and
salsa musician and
composer
[9]
Khadimou Rassoul Cheikh Fall , better known as
Sheck Wes , American rapper, singer, songwriter, model, and professional basketball player for
Paris Basketball .
References
^
"Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for New York City Geographic District # 2" .
National Center for Education Statistics .
Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved July 12, 2012 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Search for Public Schools - Norman Thomas High School (360007702039)" .
National Center for Education Statistics .
Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved July 12, 2012 .
^
"Welcome - Norman Thomas High School - M620 - New York City Department of Education" . The New York City Department Of Education. Retrieved July 12, 2012 .
^ School and college placement . Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Association of School and College Placement, 1940; Vol. 1, p. 64.
^ Johnson, Bob. "Data Processing Finding Place in NYC Schools",
Computerworld , July 6, 1981; p. 18.
^ Handling & Shipping Management Cleveland: Penton/IPC, 1983. Volume 24, pp. 35, 89.
^ Clemente, John (2013-06-24).
Girl Groups: Fabulous Females Who Rocked the World . Author House. p. 137.
ISBN
9781477281284 .
^ Slotnik, Daniel E. (2018-03-06).
"Barbara Alston, Who Sang With the Crystals, Dies at 74" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-04-29 .
^ Loza, Steven Joseph. Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1999; p. 1.
External links
Buildings
14th–23rd Sts 23rd–34th Sts Former
Culture
Shops, restaurants, nightlife Theaters, galleries, art venues Hotels Clubs Former
Education
Primary and secondary education Higher education
Transportation
Subway stations Other transport Streets
Buildings
8th Av – 5th Av 5th Av – 3rd Av (
incl.
Murray Hill ) Former
Culture
Shops, restaurants, nightlife Museums/cultural centers Hotels Venues and theaters Former
Other points of interest
Green spaces Education Religion
Transportation
Subway stations Railroad/bus Streets and intersections