WALTON High School, 2790 Reservoir Avenue, was founded as an all-girls high school in 1923, became “co-ed” in 1977 and closed in June 2008. Today the building that housed Walton is home to several schools, including Discovery High School and PS 86. The design is nearly identical to that of Abraham Lincoln High School and Samuel J. Tilden High schools in Brooklyn. Throughout much of its history Walton High carried a good amount of prestige, with many graduates going on to Ivy League schools and prominent professions. Among its graduates are Congresswoman Bella (Savitsky) Abzug (1938), and comedienne/film director (Carole Marsciarelli) Penny Marshall (1960). Comedienne/singer/dancer/ventriloquist Shari (Hurwitz) Lewis also attended classes at Walton.
The school was named for Mary Walton, who was married to Declaration of Independence signer Lewis Morris; the Morris family was prominent in the Bronx in the colonial and postcolonial eras. Mary Walton was mother of four Revolutionary War veterans and is buried in the churchyard of St. Ann’s Church in Mott Haven. Walton High was founded by educator Mary Conlon as one of the first all-girls’ schools in New York City; its first graduating class was in 1926.
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7/31/26
4 comments
Something tells me some of their graduates dont go on to Ivy League schools
anymore.How do I know?Oh,I dont know.Just a feeling I have
Some have the privilege of undertaking post-graduate studies in license plate and metal wall locker production at the Attica and Dannemora campuses.
I think my mother went there in the late 1920s…
My mother graduated from Walton in the late ’50s. It certainly didn’t sound like a high-prestige school for her: They pushed her to get a “commercial” diploma even though she qualified for the “academic” (Regents) diploma, because it was better for getting a secretarial job like all the other girls. She did go to college, but a long time later.