Highland Park Community High School
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Highland Park Community High School (often known as Highland Park High School) was a
public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
in
Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,977 at the 2020 census. Along with its neighbor of Hamtramck, Highland Park is an enclave city surrounded by the city of Detroit. History The area tha ...
. About 775 students attended Highland Park in about 2012. Its mascot is the polar bears, and its school colors are blue and white. It was a part of
Highland Park Schools 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.
, but had been operated as a
charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...
by
Leona Group The Leona Group (TLG) is a private company operating charter schools in the states of Arizona, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It was founded in 1996 in Michigan by Dr. William Coats and operates 66 schools. History In 1996, Cesar Chavez Academy in ...
as the Highland Park Renaissance High School from August 2012,Banchero, Stephanie and Matthew Dolan.
Michigan City Outsources All of Its Schools
" ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. August 2, 2012. Retrieved on November 5, 2012.
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.


History

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. 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 Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...
emergency manager, said that the community college "was harder to get into than Wayne State." During its prime, it had graduating classes of 300 students each. Students continued to enroll despite the move of
Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
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. 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. 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. 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. At the time it had almost 400 students. () 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 Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...
. In addition to DPS schools, students are eligible to attend charter schools,
Education Achievement Authority The Education Achievement Authority (EAA or Authority) was the governing body of the Education Achievement System (EAS or System), a Michigan statewide school system for failing schools. It was discontinued in 2017 and the schools were returned t ...
schools, and suburban schools which accept transfers.Bethencourt, Daniel.
Highland Park parents seek options as high school shuts

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. ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
''. June 8, 2015. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.
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. 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 The Education Achievement Authority (EAA or Authority) was the governing body of the Education Achievement System (EAS or System), a Michigan statewide school system for failing schools. It was discontinued in 2017 and the schools were returned t ...
(EAA) Central Collegiate Academy. Bert Johnson, a member of the
Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...
; and
LaTanya Garrett LaTanya Garrett is a Democratic politician from Michigan currently representing the 7th District in the Michigan House of Representatives after being elected in November 2014. Education and early career Garrett attended schools in the Detroi ...
, a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, said that they were trying to reopen the high school.Neher, Jake.
As schools open across state, lawmakers work to reopen Highland Park high school

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.
Michigan Radio Michigan Radio is a network of five FM public radio stations operated by the University of Michigan through its broadcasting arm, Michigan Public Media. The network is a founding member of National Public Radio and an affiliate of Public Radio ...
. September 7, 2015. Retrieved on November 24, 2015.


Demographics

In 2012 the school had 450 students; many of them lived in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
. Aaron Foley of ''
MLive.com MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers in the state of Michigan. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold to Advance Publications ...
'' 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 Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...
."


Academics

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. 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.


Athletics

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: * Football * Boys Baseball * Girls Softball * Girls Volleyball * Boys and Girls Track and field * Boys and Girls Cross Country * Boys and Girls Basketball * Girls Cheerleading


Notable alumni

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MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
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Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
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, singer/actress * Doug Hollie, football player * Bobby Joe Hill, basketball player, point guard of the 1966
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Texas Western University The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...
championship team * Reggie McKenzie, NFL football player for the
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, film critic *
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MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
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Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
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Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
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and acting Lieutenant Governor of Michigan * Martha G. Scott, former member of the
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and Michigan House of Representatives *
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References


External links


Highland Park Renaissance Academy
- Webpage for all Highland Park public schools, now operated by
Leona Group The Leona Group (TLG) is a private company operating charter schools in the states of Arizona, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It was founded in 1996 in Michigan by Dr. William Coats and operates 66 schools. History In 1996, Cesar Chavez Academy in ...

Highland Park High School's Website
(Archive) {{authority control Defunct schools in Michigan Highland Park, Michigan Public high schools in Michigan Schools in Wayne County, Michigan 1978 establishments in Michigan 2016 disestablishments in Michigan Educational institutions established in 1978 Educational institutions disestablished in 2016