Carver Vocational-Technical High School – fully George Washington Carver Vocational-Technical High School – also known as Carver Vo-Tech, is a

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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

located in the western part of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States and part of the

Baltimore City Public Schools Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a public school district in the city of Baltimore, state of Maryland, United States. It serves the youth of Baltimore Ci ...

system. Founded in 1925, it was the first African-American (then labeled the "Colored" or "Negro") vocational-technical public high school) then established in the State of

. Carver Vo-Tech serves grades 9-12. It was named for the famous African-American scientist / botanist and inventor

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American Agricultural science, agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent bla ...

(1860s-1943).

History

The establishment of a "Colored Vocational High School" in 1925, then joined the recently renamed Frederick Douglass High School which had been previously founded in 1865 as the private Douglass Institute, located on East Lexington Street (between North Calvert and North Streets (now Guilford Avenue) across from the

Battle Monument Square The Battle Monument, located in Battle Monument Square on North Calvert Street between East Fayette and East Lexington Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, commemorates the Battle of Baltimore, with the British fleet of the Royal Navy's bombardm ...

, then moved two blocks northwest to East Saratoga Street by St. Paul Street/Place at Preston Gardens", where it was finally absorbed into the newly established "Colored High School and Grammar School" by the then 54 year old city public schools system in 1883. After several other name changes, building locations and curriculum variations, the emergent alumni, faculty and concerned citizens, with the help of the local "

Baltimore Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...

" newspaper campaigned for the "Negro High School" to have its own new building which was constructed in 1924–1925, on a city block at Carey and Baker Streets, in West Baltimore's Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood. The new school was built of red brick with stone trim in the English Tudor/Gothic architectural style with all the features of a modern high school. Newly named for the famous abolitionist/writer/ editor/statesman/political activist

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

(1818-1895), the school moved from its older structure which although of beautiful heavy Romanesque/Renaissance Revival style brickwork which had originally been built a half-century earlier for the city's elite female Western High School, now it was to revert to the lower level of the newly established "junior high schools" system, which would be renamed for "

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

" (1856-1915), for continued black students in the still segregated city schools system and would last another century almost with numerous renovations but noting its landmark architecture in the Druid Hill/Upton neighborhoods in old inner West Baltimore. new Dunbar High on the other east side of town also received an art deco style building by the early 1930s. At the conclusion of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of the '30s and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a new building and name was also planned for the vocational school as the city's several other Vo-Tech high schools were reorganized, merged and realigned. The result was the establishment of two Vocational-Technical High Schools, with Carver Vo-Tech at Prestman Street on the west side and the newly merged old Boys and Samuel Gompers into a new

Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School (commonly referred to as "Mervo" or "MerVo-Tech") is a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is one of the two premiere vocational-technical high schools in the city, the othe ...

, being built two years later in 1955 on Hillen Road. Beginning in the Fall of 1954, following that May's Supreme Court decision of "Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas", Baltimore's "colored schools" system was dismantled gradually but increasingly year by year during the rest of the decade of the 1950s with small numbers of black students entering all the city's neighborhood/regional public high schools. However, "de facto" segregation replaced the "de jure" official policies and some schools still maintained their prior racial make-up. At Carver and Mergenthaler Vo-Techs, despite their advanced programs, opportunities and curriculums, Carver remained almost exclusively all-black, while "Mervo" gradually increased its integration all through the next few decades and remains racially split / somewhat integrated today. The student body is approximately 1000 students, and the student to teacher ratio is about 14:1. In 2010, Carver Voc-Tech made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), which is accomplished when the school has met minimum improvements in student progress and other accountability measures set by Maryland State under the

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a 2002 United States Act of Congress promoted by the presidential administration of George W. Bush. It reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and included Title I provisio ...

References

External links

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Carver Vocational-Technical High School at Baltimore City Schools

Carver Vocational-Technical High School - Maryland Report Card
{{Coord, 39.30429, N, 76.65148, W, type:edu_region:US-MD, format=dms, display=title Educational institutions established in 1925 Public schools in Baltimore Public high schools in Maryland Magnet schools in Maryland Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools 1925 establishments in Maryland Brick buildings and structures in Maryland