Dear Fort Hamilton Community:
Striving for excellence is the ongoing mission of Fort Hamilton High School. When there are challenges, such as the pandemic and quick transition to remote learning, we face them together and build upon the strength of our caring and committed community.
Fort Hamilton High School is a culturally diverse community with students from over 60 countries. Our dedicated staff members prepare students to meet, even exceed, the academic challenges of New York City and the New York State Education Department’s performance standards and assessments. All curriculum is aligned with the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards (NGLS), and we set our instructional focus on literacy based on the needs of our students. We engage them with a variety of learning choices and opportunities to guide their development as positive and productive citizens of the 21st century.
Parents and families are an integral component in a child’s education. They are part of the Fort Hamilton community, and we share information and decision making to better enable participation and input. Preparing our students for college and/or career necessitates that we work together to maximize every learning opportunity for all students. We encourage active participation in the Parent Teacher Association in addition to the use of PupilPath, an online gradebook and communication system that helps students and families monitor academic progress.
During the 2019-2020 school year, Fort Hamilton continued to reach excellence. In addition to a large comprehensive athletic department, our music and performing arts department is known throughout the Bay Ridge community and around the city. The Marching Band is in demand at parades and other New York City events. Our Joffrey Ballet Academy, finishing its seventh year, has significant audiences and opportunities for students to perform in various venues. We look forward to our growing Drama Academy with the fourth screened class in the Fall of 2020.
Our Virtual Enterprise teams competed in the Citywide Business Plan Competition, and our JROTC cadets won Distinction in both academic and physical competitions throughout the year.
Fort Shadowing, a program that began three years ago, offers seniors an opportunity to shadow someone at their workplace and/or to learn about careers of interest with professionals visiting Fort Hamilton High School. The nearly ninety partners represent a variety of professions that help expose our seniors to one or two career experiences. Our students learn better what a career entails, our partners appreciate our wonderful students, and it is a true collaboration between school and community. Community service remains a core value of Fort Hamilton, as exhibited by Leadership, the National Honor Society, JROTC, and dozens of clubs that contribute to the broader community.
At Fort Hamilton High School, our focus is quality instruction provided in an environment safe and conducive to learning with mutual respect for all. Fort Hamilton is known as the “jewel in the crown” of Bay Ridge community and a highly regarded large comprehensive New York City public high school. We are proud to share it with you as we continue to set the standard for excellence and prepare students for college and career.
Very truly yours,
Kaye Houlihan, Principal
