Top 100 Best High Schools 2013 – The Wheatley School – Newsweek – 92/100
Top 100 Best High Schools 2013 – The Wheatley School – Newsweek – 92/100
The Wheatley School
Overview
The Wheatley School is ranked 19th within New York. Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams. The AP® participation rate at The Wheatley School is 83 percent. The student body makeup is 52 percent male and 48 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 11 percent. The Wheatley School is the only high school in the East Williston Union Free School District.
The Wheatley School is a public high school serving grades 8 through 12 located in Old Westbury, Long Island, New York and part of the East Williston Union Free School District.[20] The school district encompasses all of East Williston and parts of Mineola, Albertson, Old Westbury, and Roslyn Heights.
The Wheatley School Front Entrance
Opened in 1955, Wheatley recently completed an extensive refurbishment and celebrated its 50th anniversary. In spite of its small size, Wheatley has a very competitive athletic program including the state championship in boys’ soccer in 2005 and the runner up in girls’ soccer in 2006. School spirit is reflected in the fact that over 65% of students play on at least one sports team. Recently Wheatley’s football team has joined with Carle Place.
The Wheatley School is consistently ranked among the top high schools in the nation by Newsweek’s “America’s Top Public High Schools” survey, http://www.newsweek.com which is published every year. In 2008, it was ranked #67. It also ranks highly in the U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best High Schools” list, at #40 in 2013. Also in 2011 Newsweek’s “America’s Top Public High Schools” it rated at number 55 out of 1,000.
In 1966, Wheatley introduced an innovative program called “Freedom of the Grounds”, or “FOG”. This was a privilege given to certain students allowing them to leave study halls and other free periods at will, unsupervised and on their own recognizance. Issued as an actual card carried by a student, it was a universal hall pass as well. This was considered a very modern idea, breaking with traditional high school tenets that all students should be locatable at all times.
The Wheatley School Alumni Association, *www.wheatleyalumni.org, was founded in 2007 by Art Engoron,’67.
