When was the Philip Livingston Magnet Academy established?
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The former Philip Livingston Magnet Academy is located along Northern Boulevard in the West Hill neighborhood of Albany, New York, United States. It is a large brick building predominantly in the Colonial Revival architectural style, with some Art Deco touches inside, erected during the 1930s. Additions were made in the 1960s. In 2014 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Philip Livingston Junior High School, the only purpose-built public school building in the city so recognized.
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In response to the protesters' concerns, the school district applied for grants from the Magnet Schools Assistance Program, established by the federal government under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The intent was to remake the school as a magnet school and thus ease racial segregation. By the early 1970s this had been done and the school was officially renamed Philip Livingston Magnet Academy.
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Cultural activities were also held in the auditorium. The recently established Albany Symphony Orchestra, then known as the People's Symphony of Albany, rehearsed there and sometimes performed concerts. In 1934, its founder John Carabella, premiered his original work "The Helderbergs", "a symphonic poem dedicated to the citizens of Albany", at Philip Livingston.
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However, over the last quarter of the 20th century the school itself began to decline. The building began showing signs of aging, at the same time as financial shortfalls led to maintenance being deferred. Within it, educational achievement began to decline as disciplinary problems rose. By the end of the century it was on the state's Persistently Dangerous Schools list. Pressure from parents in Arbor Hill led to the establishment of private charter schools in the area, and enrollment at Philip Livingston began to fall as that option became available to parents.
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The building did more than just educate students through early adolescence. Until the city canceled the program at Philip Livingston in 1938 due to declining enrollment, it hosted night school classes as well. Arbor Hill residents came to the school to cast their votes in election.
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Philip Livingston soon became one of the city's distinctive buildings, despite its location away from downtown. "Because of its great size, impressive appearance and splendid location," a 1936 guidebook to the Albany schools said, "it is considered Albany's outstanding school building ... It is the embodiment of the ideals of beauty and utility."
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The school was built in response to increasing demands on the educational system, and changes in educational theory. During the 77 years it was open, it went from being a junior high school to a magnet school.
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The school continued in its role as a community and cultural center throughout the postwar years. Despite its access to larger and better space, the orchestra continued to give concerts there as late as the mid-1950s. For years, a local church raised money through performances of its gospel choir. A performance of "The Mikado" was staged there in 1958, and touring glee clubs and a cappella groups found the Philip Livingston auditorium an ideal venue.
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Albany established its public school system in 1796, shortly after American independence. In 1832 it built it first school building. Over the next century the state expanded the funding options available for local schools if they expanded their offerings in turn, such as providing secondary education. By the 1920s Albany's school district operated 25 elementary schools and its high school.
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In 2005 the district diverted $19 million meant for maintenance to Philip Livingston to other schools instead. Two years later the superintendent proposed remodeling the building into a high school dedicated to engineering, nanotechnology and environmental science, but the school board rejected the idea. Parents, believing that the district was unwilling to make the necessary investments in the aging school, increasingly chose to send their children to the new charter schools in the Arbor Hill neighborhood.
Philip Livingston Magnet Academy