With school now open, this week we asked past and present students and teachers their thoughts on the troubling performance numbers for DeWitt Clinton High School.*

I am surprised. I know in my day they had a really great Macy’s program, which was an elite program. At one point it was a really good school. I don’t know what happened over the years, but I’m sorry to hear that. My son won’t be going to Clinton because by the time he’s of high school age we won’t even be in New York. It’s a shame.
Michelle Matias, former student
Van Cortlandt Park

I love Clinton even though we have a bad reputation, it’s still a nice environment. It’s a fun school. You can’t believe everything the media says about a school or even believe test results, not everyone performs well on tests. [Santiago] Taveras (the principal) does a really good job of running the school.
Joshua Echevarria, 2016 grad
Norwood

The problem is the public persona brought on by the changing Department of Education’s policies on making it (several) smaller schools. In 1998 we were in U.S. News & World Report as one of the top schools in America. What changed? When Mayor Bloomberg took over and they went to the ‘Business as Schools’ policy and they started to break down the school, I watched them start sending us kids that were under-performing in overwhelming numbers. They forced us, but we are now on our way back as a school. The last three classes coming here have been excellent kids and we’re turning it around right now and we’re going to survive.
Howard Langley
Physical Education teacher
I don’t really agree that it’s such a low performing school. The problem is the kids. The teachers are good, but the kids are out of control. I don’t like the idea of mandatory school uniforms. It’s so hot and they’re ugly. I feel like everyone should be able to wear what they want. It will be mandatory starting next month and all of a sudden the school sold out of uniforms; they’re all gone. So you have to go to Yonkers to get them. One problem here is when a student is being bad or disruptive they get a call home, but they should be expelled.
Melanie Martinez, student
Fordham

I think that ever since Clinton became a campus with three schools, it’s changed drastically. I’m actually a part of the first class when the new schools opened up in 2013, so I will actually be in the first graduating class since this started. Overall I feel the school is very safe; everyone is connected in their own way. I don’t believe the statistics. I think it’s wrong and the school has turned around from its past. I don’t like the uniforms. Only World View (a co-located high school on campus) is getting them. Clinton doesn’t have uniforms and at Bronx Collaborative (another co-located high school on campus), our dress code is casual.
Anthony Ajodha, student
Fordham 

*A review of the New York City Department of Education’s High School Directory and High School Progress Report results shows the graduation rate at DeWitt Clinton H.S. at 45 percent, significantly lower than the average 69 percent citywide.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.