building exclusively for high school students. Ground broke at the Hillside Avenue site on May 20, 1895. The cornerstone for the new building was laid on October 22, 1895. It was dedicated on November 27, 1896. After construction delays, Jamaica High School opened in its new building in January 1897. The new building was considered more stylish and elaborate than the structure it succeeded. At the time of its opening, the school was administered by the Board of Education of the independent Town of Jamaica. The school's enrollment grew rapidly along with the population of Jamaica, which became part of New York City in 1898, at which time the school came under the jurisdiction of the New York City Board of Education. Until the turn of the century, both Jamaica High School locations were racially segregated, barring African American students from attending. In March 1900, the New York State Legislature passed a bill barring segregation within New York state schools, later signed into law by Governor Theodore Roosevelt. In 1904, due to new city fire codes, the staircases at the sides of the building were installed. In 1909, primary school classes were moved to a separate location. By 1922, the school was considered overcrowded. In September of that year, an annex was opened at the former P.S. 50. A second annex was opened in 1923 in a garage across Hillside Avenue. A third annex was created in P.S. 109 in February 1926. Following the relocation of the high school to Jamaica Hills, the Board of Education retained control of the older building and put it to various uses over the years. It housed the Jamaica Learning Center, an alternative public high school, at the time of its designation as a New York City landmark in 2013. New building The site of the current Jamaica High School building was originally part of the Clark estate. In the 1920s it was clear that a new, larger building for Jamaica High School would be necessary. There was, however, intense community debate over which site in the area should be selected for the new school. Among the sites considered were at Grove Street (now 90th Avenue) and Sutphin Boulevard near the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road station; at Wexford Terrace (87th Drive) just north of Hillside Avenue, known as the "Gracy site"; at Harvard Avenue (179th Place) and Hillside Avenue near Jamaica Estates, called