As many parts of the US (and the world) face the difficult issue
of school closings — often due to funding, changing
demographics, or academic standards — there is tremendous pain
and heartache that comes with each decision, good or bad. Case
in point, the pending closure of the George W. Wingate High
School in New York City, turning the historic school into
several smaller learning academies: When the George W. Wingate
High School opened in 1955, excited students helped unpack the
furniture and baseball legend Jackie Robinson attended the
school’s dedication. Trophy cases soon brimmed with
accomplishments at the Brooklyn school that would graduate a
future U.S. senator. But today is a very different story for
this historic school: All that is little more than a memory now.
The Class of 2006 will be the school’s last. Wingate, a long-
troubled institution, is one of 20 public high schools in New
York City being phased out over seven years, a historic spate of
closures by officials intent on raising student ach