The Pelham Memorial High School is the only high school within the town of Pelham, New York, United States. It is part of the Pelham Union Free School District.
The district (of which this is the sole comprehensive high school) includes The Town of Pelham, which has Pelham Village and Pelham Manor Village. As of 1997 a small portion of land that is between Pelham and Pelham Bay Park, with a total of 35 houses, is a part of the Bronx but is cut off from the rest of the borough due to the way the county boundaries were established. The New York City government pays for the residents' children to go to Pelham Union Free School District (UFSD) schools, including Pelham Memorial High School, since that is more cost-effective than sending school buses to take the students to New York City Public Schools. This arrangement has been in place since 1948. As of 1997 one student at Pelham Memorial lived in this section, and New York City paid Pelham UFSD $15,892.86 per year for that student.
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History
Prior to 1918, the Siwanoy School housed elementary and secondary students in Pelham. However, the population was growing, and the facility was no longer able to accommodate all of the students. It was decided that the Pelham Memorial High School would be a memorial to World War I and all wars in which Pelham residents fought. "Honor Here the Ideals for Which They Fought" is the inscription above the main auditorium stage.
PMHS, which cost $373,000 to build, was dedicated on May 6, 1922. At the time it was completed, it was the biggest high school with the biggest field in Westchester County. This was the first of three sections that would later be constructed and attached as the number of students continuously increased. The second section, facing Corlies Avenue, was completed in 1924, costing $350,000. The third section, facing Franklin Place, was completed in 1929 with a cost of $575,000. The building continued to be enhanced throughout the years, including a new annex in 1963 that allowed for more classrooms and new science laboratories.
Later in the 20th century, the auto mechanic and other show classrooms were removed from the annex and converted to modern computer laboratories and art rooms. Wiring was also upgraded for new technology.
Community donations resulted in a new modern language lab, a biotechnology lab, and state-of-the-art sound and lighting equipment in the auditorium. Recently, the school has been significantly renovated with an upgraded library, auditorium, and science laboratories.
Academics
Pelham Memorial High School students take a college preparatory curriculum that includes several mandatory classes for graduation. This includes four years of English, four years of social studies, three years of a foreign language, three years of math, three years of science (earth science is taken in eighth grade at Pelham Middle School, and Living Environment and Chemistry are required classes), and one art or music class in order to qualify for an Advanced Designation Regents Diploma, as opposed to a Regents Diploma. Health must be taken for one semester, and physical education must be taken for all four years.
Pelham currently offers Advanced Placement courses, with the intention of adding more as the budget allows. Among the courses offered are AP Art History, AP Art, AP European History, AP US Government and Politics, AP Statistics, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology, AP World History, AP US History, AP Spanish, AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, and AP Computer Science Principles, AP English Language and Ap English Literature. Most of these classes are only available to juniors and seniors. Also, as AP Chemistry has a reputation in the school for being the most difficult class at Pelham, it is only offered once every two years due to the low number of students willing to take it.
The social studies department provides courses that follow the New York State core curriculum. Students are provided an honors program, which includes four Advanced Placement courses and multiple Syracuse University Project Advance courses, in addition to regents courses. At the culmination of the two-year Global History and Geography Courses the respective regents exam is taken, typically in tenth grade. The United States History and Government regents exam is typically administered in 11th grade. For students taking AP United States History, a concurrent Political Process Seminar is given in podcast form to satisfy the government requirement for graduation. Otherwise, students may take any of the Participation in Government, American Law, Criminal Justice, Sociology, or Politics and Public Policy courses as a senior to complete the requirement. AP European History and AP U.S. Government and Politics are also available to seniors. Students enrolled in AP European History complete their state economics requirement by enrolling in an Economics Seminar course. Otherwise an Economics course can be taken as a senior.
In grades nine and ten, students can take either regents or honors English courses. As of the 2015–16 school year, honors classes are open enrollment, and students who wish to take an honors class do not need to meet any criteria to do so. As a junior, either regents or Advanced Placement English Language and Composition can be taken. Finally in a student's senior year, they may take Advanced Placement Literature and Composition. During a student's freshman year, they must take Freshman Writing Seminar to graduate. This is a course designed to improve individual writing and learning abilities.
Rankings
In Niche's 2021 ranking, Pelham Memorial High School was ranked as the third-best school in Westchester County and the 20th best public high school in the state. In addition, Pelham's Science Research program is routinely recognized in competitions such as the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
Honor societies
Pelham Memorial High School's Knight and Lamp Chapter of the National Honor Society is guided by the four principles of scholarship, leadership, character, and service. Juniors and seniors with an unweighted average of 89 and a weighted average of 91 are eligible for consideration. Students must exercise positive influence on their peers and contribute to the school environment. They should be leaders in the classroom, at work, and in extracurricular activities. A candidate should be able to demonstrate respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, caring and citizenship. Students must have completed ten hours of service to the school or community during grades 9 and 10 for juniors, and during grades 9, 10 and 11 for seniors. Once inducted, 40 hours must be completed by the end of the academic year. NHS students provide free tutoring to any students who request it through their guidance counselors.
Language honor societies include the French Honor Society, Latin Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and Italian Honor Society. The French Honor Society chapter is the Pelham Memorial High School Chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français. The Latin Honor Society Chapter is simply a local chapter. The Spanish Honor Society is The Federico Garcia Lorca Chapter. The Italian Honor Society is the Vittorio Emmanuele Chapter of the Società Onoraria Italica. These societies require an 80 average GPA and a 90 average in the year of induction. Students are eligible based on their grades in the first two quarters of their level IV and V years. Students must provide tutoring services upon request.
The school also has a chapter of the New York State Mathematics Honor Society for students with one and one half years of high school math while enrolled as a student in a high school only. Students must also presently be enrolled in an honors or AP course with an 85% average in all math courses and an 85% GPA.
The school has a chapter of the New York State Science Honor Society. This requires students to have completed four semesters of high school or college science. Candidates must have an 85% science course average and an 80% GPA. They must also have a 75% average in high school or college mathematics courses. Peer tutoring is strongly encouraged.
Pelham Memorial High School's chapter of Tri-M Music Honor Society requires students to maintain a minimum of 90% in their music class, achieve a score of 90 or better at Level 5 or 6 at NYSSMA Solo Festival, maintain a scholastic average of 80% or better, and work toward improving the Music Program. Tri-M members musically help younger students as well as their peers. Tri-M members perform in recitals at school. They also helped raise funds to build houses for the needy in the US as well as abroad.
Sports
Pelham's hockey team has competed at the state level multiple times, and officially won a state title in 2017. More recently, its hockey team won a second state title in 2022.
Notable alumni
Alessandra Biaggi (born 1986), New York State Senator
Nick Bollettieri (born 1931), tennis coach
Felix Cavaliere (born 1942), lead singer of rock band The Rascals
Kate Douglass (born 2001), Olympic swimmer
Emily Greenhouse (born 1986), journalist and editor of The New York Review of Books
Arthur Jaffe (born 1937), professor of mathematics at Harvard University
Michael Schwerner (1939–1964), civil rights activist killed by the KKK
Gary Scott (born 1968), professional baseball player
Gene Stone (born 1951), writer
James Stone (born 1947), business executive
Jason Woliner (born 1980), comedy director
Joseph Cross (born 1986), actor