North Division High School (now North Division Virtual University High School) is one of the major

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, part of the

Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is the largest school district in Wisconsin. As of the 2015–16 school year, MPS served 75,568 students in 154 schools and had 9,636 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions. The Milwaukee Public Schools system i ...

. It began operation in 1906, was abolished in 2006, and was reinstituted in 2011.

Flourishing years

By 1915, it had the highest enrollment of any high school in Milwaukee, at 1082, even though it had just lost almost 200 students to the newly opened Riverside High School.

"Save North Division" drive

After a $20 million renovation program (the new building, just to the east of the old site, opened in September 1978) failed to lure white students to North Division, the

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

voted to turn the school into a

magnet school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

specializing in medical and science

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

. A "Coalition to Save North Division" was formed, arguing that this school which had produced many

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

leaders for Milwaukee was being abolished, displacing black students and continuing a process of placing the burden of

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

on them (at the time, the student body was 96.6% black). The Coalition eventually won: on May 1, 1980, the school board reversed itself, and North Division remained heavily African-American in composition.

Abolition

North Division was abolished, and its old campus divided into three smaller

charter schools 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 autono ...

, in 2004. In 2009 the Milwaukee School Board voted to return to a single, large, comprehensive high school in the old building and under the old name, effective in September 2010. In Fall of 2011, it was announced that it was back in operation as North Division Virtual University High School, with " w classes, teachers and administrative staff for the 2011 - 2012 school year!".

Athletics

NDHS won state championships in boys' cross country in 1958 and 1960.

Notable alumni

* Rudolph Beyer, glassblower and

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

state senator *

Gil Brandt Gil Brandt (born March 4, 1932) is an American former football executive who was the vice president of player personnel in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsi ...

, Vice President of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1988 *

Angna Enters Anita "Angna" Enters (April 18, 1897 – February 25, 1989) was an American dancer, mime, painter, writer, novelist and playwright.Biographical note, Angna Enters Papers, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. The New York Public Library for the Perform ...

, artist and performer *

Frank Glazer Frank Glazer (February 19, 1915 – January 13, 2015) was an American pianist, composer, and teacher of music. Career details Glazer was born in Chester, Wisconsin on February 19, 1915, the sixth child of Benjamin and Clara Glazer, Jewish emig ...

, pianist and composer *

Frank Gatson Jr. Frank Gatson Jr. is an American director and choreographer. He is the creative director for En Vogue, Brandy, Kelly Rowland, Muni Long, Jussie Smollett, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé, a position he has held since her tenure with Destin ...

, Director/Choreographer * Lowell C. Kilday, United States diplomat *

Oscar Koch Oscar W. Koch (January 10, 1897 – May 16, 1970) was a brigadier general in the United States Army. He was most notable for his service as Third Army's Intelligence officer (G-2) under General George S. Patton in World War II. A native of Mil ...

, U.S. Army brigadier general *

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

Gwen Moore Gwendolynne Sophia Moore (born April 18, 1951) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2005. In 2016, Moore was elected to serve as caucus whip of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 115th United States Congres ...

, Congresswoman *

Vel Phillips Velvalea Hortense Rodgers "Vel" Phillips (February 18, 1924 – April 17, 2018) was an American attorney, politician, jurist, and civil rights activist, who served as an alderperson and judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as secretary of Stat ...

, pioneering African-American politician *

Dave Quabius David Quabius (March 16, 1916 – June 19, 1983) was an American basketball player who played in the National Basketball League (NBL). From Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Quabius played for North Division High School and Marquette University. Following ...

, basketball player *

Philip D. Reed Philip D. Reed (1899–1989) was president and chief executive officer of General Electric Company from 1940 to 1942 and from 1945 to 1959. Education and early career Reed was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from North Division High ...

, president and CEO of GE *

Harvey Scales Harvey Scales (September 27, 1940 – February 11, 2019) was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and producer. Scales had been active in the music industry since the 1960s, and composed songs for groups such as The Dells, The Dramatics, a ...

, R&B musician * Martin E. Schreiber, State Representative and Milwaukee alderman * Glenn P. Turner, lawyer and Socialist state representative *Rabbi

Abraham J. Twerski Abraham Joshua Heshel Twerski (אברהם יהושע העשיל טווערסקי, Hebrew & Yiddish); ) was an Israeli-American Hasidic rabbi, a scion of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty, and a psychiatrist specializing in substance abuse. Earl ...

Annette Polly Williams Annette Polly Williams (January 10, 1937 – November 9, 2014) was an American counselor, clerical worker and politician from Milwaukee who served 10 terms as a Democratic Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing her assembly d ...

, state representative

References

External links

NDHS website
{{authority control High schools in Milwaukee Educational institutions established in 1906 Public high schools in Wisconsin 1906 establishments in Wisconsin