North Community High School | |
---|---|
Address | |
1500 James Ave North , Minnesota 55411 United States | |
Coordinates | 44°59′39″N93°18′03″W / 44.99418°N 93.3007°W |
Information | |
Type | Public |
Established | 1888 |
School district | Minneapolis Public Schools |
Principal | Mauri Melander Friestleben |
Teaching staff | 33.92 (FTE) [1] |
Grades | 9–12 |
Enrollment | 487 (2022-23) [1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 14.36 [1] |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Royal Blue and White |
Athletics | Minneapolis City Conference |
Nickname | Polars |
Rival | Camden Patriots |
Newspaper | Polaris |
Yearbook | Polaris |
Website | http://north.mpls.k12.mn.us/ |
North Community High School, or simply North, is a four-year public comprehensive high school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The school has existed for over 120 years in several buildings all located on the city's northside. Minneapolis North once had a predominantly Jewish student body but by 1982, the school and the neighborhood it is located in had become mostly African American. [2] Desegregation efforts, such as magnet school programs, have attempted to attract students from throughout Minneapolis and nearby suburbs. [2] KBEM-FM, established by Minneapolis Public Schools in 1970, is operated partially by North students and has been located at the school since 1985.
North has occupied four buildings. The first housed three grades when North opened in 1888. Three years later the first class graduated. [3] The school outgrew the building and a new facility was built at a new site, opening in 1896. On June 18, 1913, a fire burned down most of the school. A new building was built over the destroyed structure and was completed in 1914. [4] Additions were made in 1921, 1923, and 1939. [5]
In 1963 it was determined that if the building was "to be retained as a secondary educational facility over a long period of time by the Minneapolis Public School system, it needs extensive rehabilitation and modernization to meet present day health, safety and educational adequacy.". [5] Instead of improving the building, a new school was built on a new site and funded as part of a 1964 $18 million bond referendum that also funded improvements to other Minneapolis public schools. The new—and current—North opened in 1973. [6] [7] The building was described as "resembling a giant bunker with few windows, double doors that are often locked from outside during the day to keep out unwanted visitors and painted-over graffiti on outside walls." [8] Another description calls it a "series of brick boxes arranged around a courtyard" that "doesn't allow it to connect well with the community". [9] North used to house adult education classes, a school for teenage mothers and a separate charter school, Dunwoody Academy. [10] [11] All of these programs have relocated to other buildings.
As the North Side neighborhood has changed, so has North High. During the 1920s and 1930s, the North Side was the center of Minneapolis' Jewish population. [12] In 1936, almost half of the students were Jewish. [13] The North Side has since transitioned into a diverse working-class neighborhood. North at one time had high enrollment and was overcrowded with more than 2800 students attending in 1931. [14] Now, students are able to choose which schools they attend, and as a result only about half of the North Side's students attend local schools such as North. [15] The Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education's decision to close several North Side middle and elementary schools in the early 2000s led to North's enrollment plummeting from 1,143 students in 2004–2005 to 265 students in 2010. On October 11, 2010, Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson recommended to the Board of Education the phasing out of North High Community High School beginning in the 2011–2012 school year. [16] [17] However, this decision resulted in backlash from the North Minneapolis community. It was decided that North Community High School would remain open, but change its curriculum standards to focus more on arts and communications. It is now called North Academy of Arts and Communications (NAAC).
Since the 1970s, the school has been known for its strong boys and girls basketball programs. Both teams have enjoyed numerous state tournament appearances and won state championship titles. North offers several college preparatory classes, and owns and operates KBEM-FM. [18] The school has often struggled with graduation rate and state standardized tests. [19]
964 students attended North during the 2006–2007 school year. [20] Minority enrollment rose to over 60% in 1991. [21] In 2010, 3% of students were white, with 69% black. 82% qualified for free or reduced price lunch (an indicator of poverty), 16% had limited English proficiency, and 22% qualified for special education. [19]
During the 2012–2013 school year and with its inaugural class of freshman, North Academy of Arts and Communication (NAAC), began as a small college preparatory school.
North's framework is based on the Seven Guiding Principles of the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA): [22]
The school has an Advanced Placement program that offers several different courses. [23]
North is opened a second academy in the fall of 2016—N-STEM (North Academy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)—which is an iteration of the school's successful Summatech program that closed in 2007. [24]
Local politicians criticized North's low academic results in the 2000s. [25]
North High School is home to KBEM-FM, a radio station owned by the Minneapolis Public Schools. The station signed on the air in October, 1970, and moved to North in 1983 when the Minneapolis Area Vocational Technical Institute, where the station had been located from its launch (as Vocational High School), closed and the building sold. Students are responsible for much of the station's operation, and 35 hours of airtime a week is devoted to student programming. Approximately 150 students are involved in the radio station's operation, with the majority attending North. [18] Students typically enroll in the program as ninth-graders and are prepared for on-air duties by their junior or senior year. [26]
The station broadcasts traffic reports for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area with data provided by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. From 1989 to 2005, the station was paid approximately $400,000 by the DOT for this service. [27] MnDOT had planned to cancel the contract, but due to public demand the state continued the relationship. [28] [29]
North offers a variety of musical programs. A beginning band, concert band, Jazz ensemble and drum line are offered. Choir, varsity choir, vocal ensembles and a gospel choir are available. [23] Other extracurricular activities include a variety of academic competitions, a chess club, culture-specific clubs including an award-winning Asian Club, [30] debate and mock trial teams, a school newspaper and yearbook, science club and student government. North's Math team competes in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League. The school has a chapter of National Honor Society. [23]
North is a member of the Minnesota State High School League. [31] North offers eleven boys' and twelve girls' varsity sports. [32] These include football (boys), wrestling (boys), tennis (boys and girls), basketball (boys and girls), baseball (boys), softball (girls), golf (boys and girls), soccer (boys and girls), volleyball (girls), swimming (boys and girls), gymnastics (girls), badminton (girls), ice hockey (boys and girls), cross country (boys and girls) and track and field (boys and girls). North has Adapted Bowling. [33] Both boys' and girls' teams are called "Polars". All of the sports teams participate, like all public high schools in Minneapolis, in the Minneapolis City Conference. North has won the state title in Boys' Track and Field in 1943 and 1948.
The boys' basketball team was dominant in the 1980s. Coached by Tony Queen, the team won eight of ten Minneapolis City Conference championships and went to the state tournament eight times, winning in 1980 and placing second in 1984 and 1985. [34] In 1988 Queen was suspended from coaching for one year following attempts to recruit basketball players, which is illegal under Minnesota State High School League rules. [35] [36] He lost a battle to be rehired in U.S. District court. [37] Queen was fired in 1990 for having sex with a student in the early 1980s. [38] [39] In the mid-1990s the boys' team had a dominating resurgence. Led by Khalid El-Amin, North tied a state record with three state championships in a row, from 1995 to 1997. [40] The boys' teams have also won championships in 2003, 2016, and 2017.
The girls' team went to the state title game every year except for one from 1997 to 2005. They won in 1998, 1999, and had three straight wins in 2003, 2004 and 2005. [41] [42]
The four-part Showtime docuseries "Boys in Blue" that debuted in 2023 followed the challenges faced by the North football team in the aftermath of protests over the murder of George Floyd. The series included the fatal shooting of North student-athlete Deshaun Hill Jr. in 2022. [58]
KBEM-FM is a public radio station broadcasting a jazz format based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, the station serves the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The station is operated by the Minneapolis Public Schools system and has been partnering since 1989 with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), providing traffic congestion reports for commuters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. KBEM also broadcasts live headliner performances from the Twin Cities Jazz Festival each June. KBEM is a member of Minnesota's AMPERS network.
Minnetonka High School, or MHS, is a four-year public high school in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States, a western suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The school enrolls about 3,540 students, and offers four interchangeable academic curricula: International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Honors, and G (general). Newsweek ranked the school 123rd on its list of America's Top High Schools. Nicheranked it 3rd among Minnesota public high schools.
Wayzata High School is a comprehensive public high school in Plymouth, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The high school, operated by Wayzata Public Schools, had about 3711 students in grades 9 to 12 as of 10/1/23, making it Minnesota's largest secondary school by enrollment. It is also Minnesota's largest secondary school by size, with an interior of 658,000 square feet (61,100 m2). The district boundaries include all or part of eight municipalities: Corcoran, Maple Grove, Medicine Lake, Medina, Minnetonka, Orono, Plymouth, and Wayzata. The school finished an expansion project in 2017 with the new capacity of 3,900. It is part of the Lake Conference. Scott Gengler is the principal.
Centennial High School is a public high school located in Blaine, Minnesota, United States. The mailing address uses the Circle Pines, Minnesota Post office. The school services students in the 9th through 12th grade in the cities of Lexington, Blaine, Centerville, Lino Lakes and Circle Pines, as part of the Centennial School District.
Downers Grove North High School is public high school situated in the city of Downers Grove in the Illinois state of the United States. The school was established in 1928.
Saint Paul Central High School is the oldest continuously operating high school in the state of Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866 in downtown Saint Paul, Central has educated many leaders in business, government, literature, arts, sciences, and education throughout the state of Minnesota and the United States.
Minnehaha Academy is a Christian private school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, for students in preschool through 12th grade, and established in 1913. There are two campuses, the South Campus for preschool through 8th graders, and the North Campus, for 9th through 12th graders. It is a ministry of the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, and is located in the Cooper and Hiawatha neighborhoods on West River Parkway. The student body is drawn from Minneapolis, St. Paul, and throughout the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, as well as several international students.
Edina High School is a four-year public high school located in Edina, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The current student population is 2,720.
Breck School is an independent college-preparatory preK–12 school in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. It was founded in 1886 and is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school includes a Lower School consisting of grades preschool through four, a Middle School consisting of grades five through eight, and an Upper School consisting of grades nine through twelve. Breck School is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools.
Harding Senior High School is a public comprehensive high school located on the East Side of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The school is one of the nine high schools in the Saint Paul Public School District and is the largest high school in the city of Saint Paul, with enrollment at approximately 1,908. The school was opened in 1926 as the second high school on the East Side, after Johnson Senior High School. Harding is part of the IB Diploma Programme. Harding is a member of the Minnesota State High School League and the athletic teams compete in the Saint Paul City Conference.
Benilde-St. Margaret's is a Catholic, co-educational private prep school for grades 7–12 located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that draws its over one thousand students from throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Seton LaSalle Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Arlington Senior High School was a public high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was located in the city's North End neighborhood, north of Downtown Saint Paul. Arlington opened on September 3, 1996, and was the districts first new high school since Humboldt Senior High School opened twenty years earlier.
Camden High School, or simply Camden, is a public secondary school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is located and named after the city's Camden neighborhood. It had a student population of about 1,000 by the early 2020s. In 2023, the school board approved renaming the building from Patrick Henry High School to Camden High School, effective July 1, 2023. The school is sometimes still referred to as Patrick Henry or Henry High School.
Highland Park Senior High School is a public secondary school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States serving grades 9 through 12. It is located in the Highland Park neighborhood.
Washburn High School is a four-year public high school serving grades 9–12 in the Tangletown neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. By enrollment, Washburn is the second-largest high school in Minneapolis Public Schools.
Totino-Grace High School is a private Catholic high school in Fridley, Minnesota. It is an archdiocesan co-educational Catholic high school in the Lasallian tradition.
North High School is a public 9-12 high school located in North Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is one of two high schools in the ISD 622 District. The other high school in ISD 622 is Tartan Senior High School in Oakdale, Minnesota.
Humboldt Senior High School is a public high school located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States which serves students in grades 6-12. The school is the smallest of the nine high schools in the Saint Paul Public Schools district with an enrollment of 858 students. It is the only high school located on the West Side of Saint Paul. The school was founded in 1889 and is one of the oldest in Saint Paul. A founding member of the Saint Paul City Conference, Humboldt fields regular and adapted sports teams.
The University of Minnesota Armory is a building on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Armory was constructed in 1896 after the previous space for military training on the campus burnt in a fire in 1894. The facility served as the primary home for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team as well as the University of Minnesota Marching Band after its construction. The basketball team moved to the Kenwood Armory in Downtown Minneapolis in 1925 while the band moved to the newly completed Music Education Building in 1922. Fielding H. Yost, Michigan Wolverines football coach, forgot the Little Brown Jug, one of the oldest college football traveling trophies, in the locker rooms of the Armory in 1903. The Armory was also the facility used for the University of Minnesota physical education department until 1935. The school's football team played some of their early games on the open field next to the Armory.