Jamaica High School (New York City)

Jamaica High School
Present building completed in 1927
Address
167-01 Gothic Drive Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York USA
Coordinates	40°42′52″N 73°47′54″W / 40.7145°N 73.7982°W / 40.7145; -73.7982Coordinates: 40°42′52″N 73°47′54″W / 40.7145°N 73.7982°W / 40.7145; -73.7982
Information
Type	Public
Established	1897
Closed	2014
Grades	9–12
Color(s)	Red & Blue
Mascot	Beavers

Jamaica High School was a four-year public high school in Jamaica, Queens, New York. The school was administered by the New York City Department of Education, which closed the school in 2014. The school's landmark campus, located at the corner of 167th Street and Gothic Drive, remains open and is now officially known as the Jamaica Educational Campus. It houses four smaller separately-administered public high schools that share facilities and sports teams.

Jamaica High School first conducted classes in January 1897 in a building at 162-02 Hillside Avenue that was designed by William Tubby, a well-known Brooklyn architect, in the Dutch Revival style. At that time, the school was administered by the Board of Education of the independent Town of Jamaica. The school's enrollment grew rapidly along with the population of Jamaica, which became part of New York City in 1898, at which time the school came under the jurisdiction of the New York City Board of Education. Over time, three annexes were added to the school building.

In the early 1920s it was clear that a new, larger building would be necessary. Construction of what would become the school's present building began in 1925, and the school moved there in 1927. The Board of Education retained control of the older building and put it to various uses over the years. It housed the Jamaica Learning Center, an alternative public high school, at the time of its designation as a New York City landmark in 2013.

The present school building, designed by William H. Gompert in the Georgian Revival style, occupies a hilltop location with commanding views on Gothic Drive. At the time of construction, the school building was the largest in the United States; it earned designation as a New York City landmark in 2009. In its heyday in 1950, Jamaica High School's enrollment of 4,600 students was the largest in all of Queens.

In 2009, the New York City Department of Education made plans to close the school, citing a graduation rate that "has stagnated below 50% for years." This decision was challenged in court, but by 2011 the Board of Education began to phase out Jamaica High School, and the school closed permanently in 2014. The building, now officially the Jamaica Educational Campus, remains in use and houses smaller public high schools that share facilities and sports teams.