Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School


Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was a private, Catholic high school in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Open from 1962 through 2014, it closed following a period of steeply falling enrollment and with an estimated $4 million in outstanding debt. Now called the Bishop Ford Educational Complex, the building is used by New York City Department of Education to house a pre-kindergarten school and two middle schools.
WWW bishopfordhs.org

History

Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was established in 1962 by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. It was named after Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, a Brooklyn native and Maryknoll missionary who was martyred in China in 1952. It was decorated in a Chinese-themed style, with a large red pagoda on its roof, signs with letters in a font meant to suggest Chinese characters, and a red-and-gold tiled lobby with light fixtures shaped like pagodas.
The school was built on the site of the former 9th Avenue bus and trolley depot, used until 1956 for trolleys, and for buses until 1959 following a fire, with bus routes moved to the 5th Avenue & Ulmer Park Depots.
Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School was a Division I high school and had an active PTA and many clubs, activities, and sports. Some of the clubs included the International Society; Martial Arts Club; Science Club; Art Club; Student Activities Committee; Student Council; Newspaper and Yearbook. Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School's sports included cross-country, track and field, swimming, basketball, baseball, football, bowling, soccer, cheerleading, volleyball, and softball as junior varsity and varsity teams.
Following a period of falling enrollment that saw the student body decrease 75%, from 1,347 students in 2006 to 499 in 2014, the school abruptly closed at the end of the 2013-14 school year. It was one of a number of Catholic schools to close around that time, faced with increased competition from public and charter schools.
The school building is now used by the New York City Public School system for pre-k and middle schools. The religious symbols, such as a large cross that once stood above the entrance of the school, have been removed from the school building.

Notable alumni

Filming Location

The building was used as a filming location for several commercials and music videos.

Bishop Ford Educational Complex

The building now houses three public schools: