H.S. 435 Theodore Roosevelt High School
500 East Fordham Road BRONX, NY 10458
Phone: (718) 733-8100 | Fax: (718) 584-6695 Principal: Ms. Cynthia G. List
Parent Coordinator: Jose Vazquez (347) 563-4840

At a Glance
Grade levels: 9 to 12
Class size: 34
Enrollment: 885
Ethnicity %: 2 W 33 B 65 H 2 A
Attendance: 55%
Graduation rate: 31.8%
7-year graduation rate: 47.4%
College admissions: Poor
Region 1
Neighborhood: Belmont
Admissions: No new admits

More info

What's special: Good location near Fordham University and the Bronx Botanical Gardens
Downside: Frequent fights, high drop-out rates

Theodore Roosevelt High School is a large, gloomy school with metal detectors at the entrance, bare beige walls, and security guards patrolling the halls with walkie-talkies. Class changes are noisy, with kids sometimes pushing and shoving each other and security guards blowing whistles and shouting: "Out of the hallway! Let's go!" in an unsuccessful attempt to get students to class on time.

There are pockets of cheer and serious learning: the day of our visit, we saw 12 students take the Advanced Placement exam in Spanish in a corner of the library, a gracious room decorated with mahogany-colored wood columns.

But the vast majority of students enter Roosevelt with reading and writing skills that are so poor that it's hard for them to do high school work. Barely eight percent of entering ninth graders read at grade level. Attendance is low. The school suffers from rapid turnover and low morale among the teachers. Although Roosevelt is across the street from Fordham University, and walking distance from the Bronx Botanical Gardens and the Bronx zoo, there doesn't seem to be any connection between the school and those institutions.

Happily, Roosevelt is being reorganized into four mini-schools in what one administrator called a "reclamation project." These four schools, Belmont Preparatory High School, Bronx High School for Law and Community Service, Fordham High School for the Arts, Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology, opened in 2002 with just 60 ninth graders in each. Together, they make up the Roosevelt Education campus.

No more students will be admitted to the old Roosevelt, although those who are there may stay until they graduate. Each of the small schools will accept a new class of students each year, until they serve all the students in the building in grades 9-12. The day of our visit, the administration and staff of the mini-schools seemed optimistic and energized. See also reviews for each of the mini-schools. (Clara Hemphill and Jacquie Wayans, May 2003)

azangelbaby47@aol.com

Just read your post...could not believe all the things you wrote about Roosevelt...what a shame,,,so so very different when I attended from '61-'64

The kids today are a totally different breed than we were.......I thank God my kids are all in their 30's, married and happy and smart.....and of course, healthy.......but I guess the values and morals we grew up with and taught our children have somehow disappeared.....

Ginny

Roosevelt was beginning to change when I entered in 64. There was an element there that was like cancer cells....growing all the time. I was beaten up and had lunch money stolen from me. Another kid was murdered near the school. Gangs were on the rise, and the Bronx, sad to say, was going downhill fast. I refused to go back there, though I was in some honor classes. I remember girls getting into fights with razorblades in their hair...stuck throughout their beehive hairdos. It wasn't for me. I wasn't a fighter or a gang member. I left the Bronx,finished HS in Florida, and did wind up back a few years later, but not for long. It just wasn't a safe place to live anymore. I could deal with it not having been aesthetically pleasing, but could no longer deal with the increasing violence and crime. Still, I have fond memories of earlier days, like in the fifties, when it was nice, and people were friendly. God bless. Kris

I can't believe all this about Theodore Roosevelt High School now. That's awful. I graduated in 1942. Yep! I'm a real oldie.

Those were wonderful days. At that time Roosevelt H.S. was one of the most prestigious schools in the Bronx. The student body was 100% caucasion. (I don't mean to sound like a racist here. I'm just stating a fact that it was a completely caucasion area in those days).

Mr. Rogers was the principal. In those days there were no drugs, no guns, no knives. Very very few girls wore makeup. I didn't start to wear makeup till after I graduated high school.

Hi there, Sometimes I feel I was born too late. The Woman's Lib thing didn't sit well with me either, because so many women back then were downright hostile to men, and I didn't see any cause for that. Wanting equal pay, etc, is one thing, but when a fellow held a door open, some gal would say, "I can do it myself". Times were much more hostile. Yes, from what you say, that school did change drastically, and it's okay to say it was all white...that's the truth. They did have a good musical department, and the teachers were fine, however, it was a time of rumblings of racial unrest, and believe me, I didn't ask for it, but was beaten up anyway. Not good. Sorry to say, the world has even gotten worse since then. Thanks for your input. God bless. Kris

GRADUATED THEODORE ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL IN JUNE 1954 GREAT SCHOOL THEN. WENT IN THE ARMY FROM THERE IN SEPT 1954 TO SEPT 1956.
WENT TO FORT DIX AND FROZE MY PALOONS OFF, 16 WEEKS OF INFANTRY AND HEAVY WEAPONS INFANTRY TRAINING FOR 'COLD WEATHER FIGHTING' THEY TOLD US WE WERE GOING TO KOREA AS THE WAR WAS STILL ON.
I WOUND UP IN THE JUNGLES OF PANAMA FOR TWO YEARS.

JIMMY

I might sound like a simpleton, but it irks me how we're always sending out soldiers all over the darned world to police it. Nam being the worst, and now this fiasco in Iraq. Bush may go down in history as being one of the most hated presidents, ever...along with Nixon, and if I'm not mistaken Hoover! I hope you made it out of there okay and remained healthy, mentally and physically. My hat's off to you. God bless. Kris

I walked past Theo Rsvlt HS three days ago in the middle of the day on Tuesday... It seemed very quiet and "normal"... no weidos/thugs/etc outside.

-Michael

quote:

Originally posted by mtbny7:
I walked past Theo Rsvlt HS three days ago in the middle of the day on Tuesday... It seemed very quiet and "normal"... no weidos/thugs/etc outside.

-Michael

All the thugs and weirdos must have been in the school that day. lol

Yvonne-

Maybe they saw me coming with all my bundles from Arthur Ave and got scared and ran!

LOL!

-Michael

When I was at Roosevelt, I was a gym leader for a short time. We wore maroon gymsuits instead of bilious green....how I hated gymsuits...getting in and out of them was for a contortionist! Anyway, when playing any sports, some of the girls were really out to hurt other players. They played aggressively and were gloating and hateful, as they caused injury. I got knocked around and dropped leader gym pretty quickly. If you so much as looked at some of these girls, they'd start a fight with "What are you looking at GIRLIE?!" It wasn't worth the so called honor of being a "leader". Fights broke out and invariably there would be hair pulling and blood because of the nasty razors in the hair. I just wasn't about that. I'd have to say, that except for a very few classes, and Glee Club, with Mrs. Tiefer and Mr. Bustin, I thoroughly hated Roosevelt. I finished HS in a safer, more peaceful place.