Highland Park Community High School | |
---|---|
Address | |
![]() | |
15900 Woodward Avenue , 48203 | |
Coordinates | 42°24′45″N83°06′01″W / 42.4126°N 83.1002°W |
Information | |
Type | Public High |
Motto | "Striving for Excellence; Learning for Life" |
Established | Early 1900s |
Closed | 2016, bulldozed sometime before October 2016 according to Google Maps images [1] |
School district | Highland Park Schools |
Principal | Belvin Liles |
Grades | 9-12 |
Enrollment | 775 (approx.) |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Blue and White |
Mascot | Polar Bears |
Accreditation | North Central Association |
Affiliation | Independent |
Highland Park Community High School (often known as Highland Park High School) was a public high school in Highland Park, Michigan. About 775 students attended Highland Park in about 2012. Its mascot is the polar bears, and its school colors are blue and white.[ citation needed ] It was a part of Highland Park Schools, but had been operated as a charter school by Leona Group as the Highland Park Renaissance High School from August 2012, [2] until the end of the 2014–2015 school year, when it was scheduled to close. It was later bulldozed and is now a vacant lot.
The final Highland Park High School was built in 1977 to better accommodate students than the old facility had. In the 1970s Highland Park lost over 20% of its population. The previous high school building was closed in 1978 so the students could attend classes at the new building. [3]
The high school had direct access to Highland Park Junior College (later Highland Park Community College), attracting students; Jack Martin, who later became the Detroit Public Schools emergency manager, said that the community college "was harder to get into than Wayne State." [3] During its prime, it had graduating classes of 300 students each. Students continued to enroll despite the move of Chrysler to the suburbs. Many African-American families sent their children to the school so they could get an education comparable to that of schools in suburbs without having to move to the suburbs. The school had a pool used to train swimmers for Michigan state championships. [3]
The school began to decline in the 1990s. The student population decreased and academic programs and after school activities decreased. The community college closed in 1996. The school pool closed during that decade. In 2000 the school district began operating on a deficit. In a five-year period before 2012, enrollment plummeted, with 450 students in 2012. [3]
When Martin visited the school he encountered many empty and unused classrooms and various kinds of damage and wear, including water damage, exposed concrete beams, missing and falling ceiling panels, and exposed wiring. Doors had knocked out glass panels and missing doorknobs. Some lockers had fire damage because students had set the lockers on fire. The school budget did not have sufficient finances to fix all of the damage. [3]
As of 2012 the district continued to maintain the former Highland Park High School and considered opening it to students for the 2012-2013 school year. [3] At the time it had almost 400 students. [4]
In 2014 the high school moved to the Ford School campus. By 2015 enrollment had fallen to 160 students, and in May 2015 it was announced that the high school would close in June, with the district negotiating an agreement that could allow students to attend the Detroit Public Schools. [4] In addition to DPS schools, students are eligible to attend charter schools, Education Achievement Authority schools, and suburban schools which accept transfers. [5] In June 2015 representatives of schools from DPS schools and other Metro Detroit schools attended a high school fair to convince Highland Park students to attend their schools. Highland Park High School was scheduled to close on at the end of June 2015. [6] In fall 2015 160 students who formerly attended Highland Park High were enrolled in other area schools; 72 were in DPS schools, including Detroit Collegiate Preparatory High School at Northwestern, which became the zoned high school for Highland Park. Other students moved on to the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) Central Collegiate Academy. [7]
Bert Johnson, a member of the Michigan Senate; and LaTanya Garrett, a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, said that they were trying to reopen the high school. [8]
In 2012 the school had 450 students; many of them lived in Detroit. Aaron Foley of MLive.com said "For many, however, Highland Park Community High School still remains a better alternative to unproven charter schools, outlying suburban schools and the state-controlled Detroit Public Schools." [3]
Highland Park Community High School was recognized by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and was slowly improving its academic perception in the Metro Detroit area.[ citation needed ]
In 2011 the school had a 67% four-year graduation rate; the statewide rate is 76%. In 2011 the mean ACT score for the school was 14.9. The statewide mean ACT score was 19.3. [3]
Highland Park in the eighties and early nineties had powerful swim teams that were all African American male and female swimmers, Coach by Marion Hayes and Coach John Hodge. The swim team won three SEC championships. The swim program shut down after 1993. Notable SEC champions for Highland Park: John Mayes (1986), John Smith (1987), Eric Smith (1987) William Thomas (1989), Bruce Pearson(1989) (diving).
Highland Park was a Class B athletic school and was independent of a conference since 2009. In recent years, Highland Park had athletic success, including two state semi-final finishes in Football in 2005 and 2006, a district championship in girls softball in 2006. The baseball team had a remarkable season in 2008 as it went 20-7 and were Michigan Mega Conference Champions. The school also has 2 state championships in Boys basketball (1952, 1975). They also had 7 individual wrestling championships by Jarod Trice (2006, 2007), Anthony Jones (2007), Marcell Dubose (2005, 2006), and Quean Smith (2010, 2011). Highland Park had multiple runner up appearances in wrestling and boys basketball. The school offered:
This section needs additional citations for verification .(November 2012) |
Highland Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Highland Park is located roughly 6 miles (9.7 km) north of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 8,977.
Thomas M. Cooley High School is an abandoned high school located at the intersection of Hubbell Avenue and Chalfonte Street, on the northwest side of Detroit, Michigan. The three-story, Mediterranean Revival-style facility opened its doors on September 4, 1928.
Milford High School, a public high school in the Huron Valley School District serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, is located in Highland Township in Oakland County, Michigan, near Highland. The school was founded in 1861. After over a century in Milford, the school moved to its present location in Highland Township in 1956. The new high school would survive the 1976 opening of Lakeland High School and has been renovated and expanded several times since. The athletic teams were originally called the Trojans when the school was located in downtown Milford, Michigan. Later the teams were renamed "the Redskins". The mascot was later changed to the Mavericks during the 2002–2003 school year which in turn meant the last graduating class for the Redskins was in 2005. The new athletic team name—the Mavericks—was adopted after a school-wide vote.
Saginaw High School is located in Saginaw, Michigan, USA. The student enrollment is 593 students.
Beloit Memorial High School is a public, four-year comprehensive high school in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that serves Detroit, Michigan and high school students in Highland Park, Michigan. The district, which replaced the original Detroit Public Schools (DPS) in 2016, provides services to approximately 50,000 students, making it the largest school district in the state. The district has its headquarters in the Fisher Building of the New Center area of Detroit.
The Catholic High School League (CHSL) is a school athletic conference based in Detroit, Michigan, led by director Victor Michaels. Most member schools are also members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), the governing body for Michigan scholastic sports, except for the five schools from Toledo, which are members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Unlike many similar leagues, the CHSL governs secondary, middle, and elementary sports for most of the parochial schools in the Detroit area. Most league schools are Catholic, but there are other religious denominations as well. Every school in the CHSL is a private school. In 2019, the CHSL council voted to rename the AB/ Division I/II championship to the Bishop division championship, and the CD/ Division III/IV championship to the Cardinal Division championship.
Clarkston High School is a public high school located in Independence Township, Michigan. It is the only high school in the Clarkston Community Schools.
Samuel C. Mumford High School is a public high school located on the near-northwest side of Detroit, Michigan. It was operated by the Detroit Public Schools, and had been operated by the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan (EAA). DPS re-assumed control of Mumford High in fall 2017.
Southwestern High School was a high school in Southwest Detroit, Michigan. It was part of the Detroit Public Schools district. The school's area, Southwest Detroit, has the majority of Detroit's Latino population. The school was located in a three-story building. It closed in 2012.
Detroit Collegiate Preparatory Academy at Northwestern is a public high school in Detroit, part of Detroit Public Schools, the re-named successor to Northwestern High School. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000.
Mackenzie High School was a public high school in Detroit, Michigan.
Detroit St. Martin de Porres High School was a co-educational college preparatory school in Detroit, Michigan and belonged to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.
Highland Park Schools, officially the School District of the City of Highland Park, is a school district headquartered in Highland Park, Michigan, United States in Greater Detroit. The district serves the city of Highland Park, a total of 2.98 square miles (7.7 km2) of land.
Central High School, previously Central Collegiate Academy and originally named Central High School, is the oldest public high school in Detroit, Michigan; it is part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
Henry Ford High School is located at 20000 Evergreen Road, on the northwest side of Detroit, Michigan. The facility is staffed and operated by Detroit Public Schools. Ford High opened its doors on September 5, 1957; it was constructed to accommodate an overflow of students from nearby Cooley, Mumford, and Redford high schools. In 2007, DPS closed Redford High School. As a result, Henry Ford now serves the Detroit sub-community of Old Redford. DPS will re-assume control of Ford High in fall 2017.
Kettering High School was a four-year high school within the Detroit Public Schools system. The school, located in the low-income Gratiot Town/Kettering neighborhood, was around 1,200 students under capacity at its closure in 2012.
Osborn High School, also known as Osborn Academy of Mathematics is a public high school in the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), located in Northeast Detroit.
Southeastern High School of Technology and Law is a public coeducational secondary school in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is operated by the Detroit Public Schools. DPS will resume control of Southeastern High in fall 2017.
Detroit International Academy for Young Women (DIA) is a PK-12 school in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's sole public girls' school, located in the former Northern High School.