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William A. Shine Great Neck South High School
Address
341 Lakeville Road Great Neck, New York 11020 U.S.
Information
Type	Comprehensive school
Founded	1958
School district	Great Neck Union Free School District
Principal	Christopher Gitz
Faculty	107.25 FTEs
Enrollment	1,222 (2018-19)
Student to teacher ratio	11.39
Color(s)	Orange and Blue
Team name	Rebels
Newspaper	The Southerner
Yearbook	Vista
Website	School website

William A. Shine Great Neck South High School (commonly Great Neck South, South High School, or GNSHS) is a four-year public high school located in the Lake Success village of Great Neck, New York. The school serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is in the Great Neck school district.

Great Neck South is one of three high schools in the Great Neck school district, the others being Great Neck North High School and Great Neck Village High School. Great Neck South offers its 1,222 students academic acceleration, along with special education classes for students with disabilities. The school opened in 1958 and was named Great Neck South High School until 2006.

As of the 2016–17 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,193 students and 111.56 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.69:1. There were 180 students (15% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 46 (3.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

Campus history and school facilities

In 1949, the School District acquired the 124-acre (0.50 km) South complex in Lake Success from the former estate of Henry Phipps, Jr., steelmaster and one-time partner of Andrew Carnegie. His mansion and 9 acres (36,000 m) were given to the district by the Phipps heirs; the mansion is now the Phipps Administration Building. The rest of the property was purchased for $279,000. In 1957, South High School was built on property surrounding the administration building. When the estate was donated, there was a stipulation that part of it be kept in its natural state, a condition that was met during construction.

One of the final remaining intact portions of the Long Island Motor Parkway, the first road in the United States built solely for automobiles, runs through the campus of the High School.

In 1958, Great Neck Senior High School was renamed Great Neck North High School to differentiate it from the district's new Great Neck South High School. Prior to 1979, Great Neck South High School included grades 10 through 12. In 1980, grade 9 was added. In 2006, the school was renamed to honor Dr. William A. Shine for his respected status in the Great Neck School District.

Great Neck South has more restrictions on its open campus than Great Neck North. Rona Telsey, a spokesperson for the district, said that while Great Neck North is near a major shopping center, Great Neck South is further away. In addition, she said that a student would need to use a car to go off-campus for lunch. Prior to 1980, all students had open campus. In 1980, the school decided that younger students at Great Neck needed more restrictions than older students. Beginning in 1980, only 11th and 12th graders at Great Neck South had open campus privileges.

Mascot and flag history

Prior to the early 1980s, South High School used a “Confederate battle flag and a rifle-toting soldier” as its school logo. Great Neck South’s Quarterback David Gurfein, from the Class of 1982, recalled, “We would go down to Middle Neck Road waving these confederate flags. We had so much team spirit, so much unity, so much energy.” While the flag has ties to the Confederate south, the school and town alike did not identify it with this history but rather saw it solely as a representation of their school and spirit. However, a lynching in Alabama in 1982 pushed Gurfein to lead a successful effort to replace the Confederate flag and soldier with an American Revolutionary War rebel.

Academics

Newsweek ranked Great Neck South High School 49th out of 500 in its 2011 list Best High Schools in America. (The school has been cited in Newsweek's public school rankings on several other occasions). Students are offered Advanced Placement, honors, and accelerated courses as well. Great Neck South’s disabled students attend special education classes. One of the Advanced Placement physics courses tested the audience response technology which was successful and the Great Neck School District has expanded the technology to other schools.

The majority of South High students (more than 90%) achieve a B average or better. 98% of the South High School Class of 2019 entered college. 19% were recognized as finalists or received Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Events

Cultural Heritage

One of the most popular events at Great Neck South is Cultural Heritage Night, where students put on a two-hour extravaganza of multicultural art, theater and dance.

Blazing Trails-4-Autism

Great Neck South has hosted the Blazing Trails-4-Autism on their campus. In 2009 the Run/Walk was selected to be a part of the USATF-Long Island Grand Prix of Long Island Road Races.

Enrollment

Demographics

As of the 2018-2019 school year, the student body consists of:

• 0 American Indian or Alaska Native students or 0% of the student body
• 18 Black or African American students or 1% of the student body
• 94 Hispanic or Latino students or 8% of the student body
• 719 Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students or 59% of the student body
• 367 White students or 30% of the student body
• 25 Multiracial students or 2% of the student body

The student population at Great Neck South is predominantly Asian American, with a large White minority and smaller Hispanic and Latino Americans and African American minorities. Approximately 128 students (11%) will be classified as Special Ed. Approximately 103 (8.7%) students will be receiving TESL services.

Great Neck South's total population, as of 2015-2016, is 1,198 (53.5% male, 46.5% female).

• Grade 9: 290 (2015: 271)
• Grade 10: 287 (2015: 302)
• Grade 11: 307 (2015: 299)
• Grade 12: 314 (2015: 328)

From the 2016 senior class, 318 students graduated, while 4 students did not. However, 4 students graduated during the summer of 2016.

Notable alumni

• Dan Ahdoot: comedian, star of Super Fun Night
• Earl Beecham: National Football League player
• Danielle Bernstein (born 1992, class of 2010): fashion designer and social media influencer
• Nikki Blonsky: actress who starred as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film version of Hairspray participated in South's theater program.
• Francis Ford Coppola: Director
• Peter de Sève: illustrator and animator
• Quinn Early (born 1965, class of 1983): National Football League player
• Stuart Ewen: author
• Jamie Gorelick: former Deputy Attorney General of the United States.
• Mark J. Green (class of 1963): politician
• David Gurfein: U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, and CEO of nonprofit organization United American Patriots
• Mark Kelman: Stanford Law School professor
• David Miner: Emmy Award-winning executive producer of NBC's 30 Rock
• Roy Niederhoffer (class of 1983): Founder and President of R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Investments, Inc., and Chairman of the New York City Opera
• Bruce Paltrow: writer, television and movie producer, husband of Blythe Danner, and father of Gwyneth Paltrow
• Hal Richman: game inventor
• David Seidler: playwright
• Talia Shire: actress, starred in Rocky
• Bob Simon: tv correspondent
• Helen Slater: actress, singer, songwriter (transferred to the High School of Performing Arts)
• Dawn Steel: movie studio executive
• Jon Taffer (class of 1972): member of the bar & nightclub hall of fame, star of SpikeTV's Bar Rescue, and inventor of NFL Sunday Ticket.
• Charles Williams (class of 1965): Former major league baseball pitcher for the New York Mets (1971) and the San Francisco Giants (1972–78). Traded from the Mets to the Giants for Willie Mays.
• Alexander Wissner-Gross (class of 2003), research scientist and entrepreneur

See also

• Education in the United States

References

1. ^ "District History". http. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
2. NYS Admin Listing; URL accessed September 26, 2009.
3. Principal's name; URL accessed February 27, 2019
4. ^ "GREAT NECK SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
5. , accessed November 1, 2009
6. ^ "This is Great Neck", (The League of Women Voters of Great Neck).
7. ^ "Lucky 7", (Match, Richard).
8. "History / Henry Phipps and the Phipps Administration Building". http. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
9. Andy Newman (August 8, 2014). "Duo Push For Park Path". Great Neck Record. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
10. ^ Schools Split on 'Open Campus' - The New York Times; URL accessed November 2, 2009.
11. South High To Be Named for Bill Shine; URL accessed July 13, 2006.
12. Saslow, Linda. "Schools Split on 'Open Campus'." The New York Times. October 23, 1988. Retrieved on October 18, 2011.
13. Newman, Andy (June 27, 2015). "Long Island High School Alumni Recall Connection to the Confederate Flag (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
14. "America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com". Newsweek.com. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
15. Page 2; URL accessed July 22, 2011.
16. ^ Great Neck Public Schools Web site, PDF document titled "Great Neck Public Schools: South High School", accessed August 9, 2020
17. Special Education Programs in Great Neck; URL accessed August 9, 2020.
18. Students Click, and a Quiz Becomes a Game; URL accessed July 26, 2011.
19. Surge in Asian Enrollment Alters Schools; URL accessed July 27, 2011.
20. ^ Run/Walk; URL accessed November 6, 2009.
21. Great Neck South High School, accessed December 29, 2015
22. ^ Data Summary for 2015-16, accessed November 15, 2016
23. Great Neck South High School Class Of 2016, accessed November 15, 2016
24. 6 Questions For: Fashion Influencer Danielle Bernstein; URL accessed August 7, 2020.
25. ; Danielle Bernstein, URL accessed April 22,2021.
26. Fischler, Marcelle S "For ‘Hairspray’ Star, ‘My Darn Dream Come True’", The New York Times, July 8, 2007. Accessed July 11, 2007. "In her sophomore year, unable to find her niche, she switched from the John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School to the Village School, the district’s alternative high school, with 50 students. After class, she joined the theater program at the William A. Shine Great Neck South High School..."
27. ;Famous Alumni, URL acceded April 22, 2021.
28. "Famous Alumni From The Eighties and Nineties", Great Neck Public Schools; URL accessed August 8, 2020.
29. "Quinn Early" at ESPN; URL accessed March 29, 2006.
30. ^ "Famous Alumni: Sixties and Seventies". Great Neck Public Schools. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
31. http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2010/comedy-series
32. https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=26978360&privcapId=6100004
33. ;Famous Alumni, URL acceded April 23, 2021.
34. ;Famous Alumni, URL acceded April 23, 2021.
35. ;Famous Alumni, URL acceded April 23, 2021.
36. "Charlie Williams". Baseball-Reference.com.
37. "Zachary Wissner-Gross wins Hertz Fellowship", Hertz Foundation, November 30, 2007. Accessed January 5, 2017. "Wissner-Gross graduated in 2003 from Great Neck South High School, Great Neck, N.Y., where he was a National Merit Scholar."

40°45′49″N 73°42′15″W / 40.763501°N 73.704275°W / 40.763501; -73.704275

• Great Neck Peninsula
• Public high schools in New York (state)
• Educational institutions established in the 1950s
• Schools in Nassau County, New York