The change was the result of test scores given to the school, as well as to offer a two-year college preparatory program within the city.

As of fall 2014, Roosevelt has reverted to a name closer to its old name, as it is now "Roosevelt High School - Early College Studies" although the home team is now "The Sharks" (changed from the former school mascot "The Indians"), and the team colors are no longer red and white; they are now blue and white.

Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist David Halberstam graduated from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers in 1951.

Other famous alumni include astronaut Ron Garan, Hall & Oates bass player Tom Wolk aka T. Bone Wolk, actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild Richard Masur, screenwriter Irving Brecher,[6] and 1976 Miss America, Tawny Godin.

Eugene Lent Church, theoretical physicist, graduated in 1942 at 16; he earned an AB from Princeton and a PHD from Harvard, and also served in the US Navy in WWII.