New York City's public high school was born in the City of Brooklyn and carried to the merged City of Greater New York in 1898 by William H. Maxwell, first City Superintendent of Schools in New York City and former head of Brooklyn's schools. Under his direction, high school enrollments grew ten-fold between 1898 and 1914 to nearly 63,000 students. The Brooklyn high school model had the following characteristics: (1) Democratic admission; (2) open enrollment to all elementary graduates; (3) a common core curriculum for all students but with high schools that specialized in college preparatory, commercial, manual or vocational programs; and (4) building designs that reflected the instructional needs of the curriculum. The Brooklyn model of elementary, secondary and collegiate levels with a one-year bridge of preparatory school. The Brooklyn model reflected the American educational mainstream at that time. Sixty related reference notes are appended. (CFR)