City High-Middle School

City High-Middle School is a secondary school operated by the Grand Rapids Public Schools for academically talented students in the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area.

History

City High School was established in the early 1970s as an alternative school for Grand Rapids Public Schools students in grades 9-12 who were "highly motivated and academically gifted" but were not being served adequately by the district's larger high schools. Enrollment in its early years was about 100 students. The school expanded in 1979 to include grades 7 and 8 as City Middle School, roughly doubling its enrollment. The school was originally located on the campus of what was then Grand Rapids Junior College on Bostwick Avenue. It has since moved twice: first in the 1990s, when GRJC separated from the GRPS, to a building adjacent to Grand Rapids Central High School and Fountain Elementary; and in 2006, to the site of the former Northeast Middle School at 1400 Fuller Avenue NE. In 2009, after several years at the bronze level, City was given a silver medal rating by U.S. News and World Report in its annual ranking of America's best public high schools.

Admissions

Admission to City is competitive; students are accepted based on mathematics and writing tests administered by the school, as well as teacher recommendations. Many students come to City following enrollment in the GRPS' programs for academically gifted sixth-graders: John Ball Zoo School, the Center for Economicology at City, and the Blandford Environmental Educational Program.

Programs

City's curriculum is focused on the humanities. The school's courses are accelerated and advanced in comparison to other high schools in the area; the school is also notably smaller, with an average student body of about 600 students in grades 7-12. A sixth grade classroom was added to the former technology classroom in 2010.

The school offers core curriculum classes such as English, mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, and social studies; students can also take fine arts classes, such as drama, choir, jazz band, band or orchestra, and participate in government, debate (legislative and policy), broadcasting, and creative writing courses. In addition, the forensics team is very highly ranked. City maintained a block schedule for many years, but switched to a trimester system for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years. This decision was reversed and the block schedule was reinstated in the fall of 2010. At this time, a sixth grade program was added to City's technology wing.

In recent years, additional Advanced Placement courses in subjects such as United States history, English literature, French, Spanish, and biology, have been added in an attempt to keep City's graduates competitive. The school has also been accepted into the International Baccalaureate program, and initiated an "Economicology" program for its sixth graders in the fall of 2008.

City High School has no athletic teams of its own; students wishing to participate in sports may play for the Grand Rapids Public high school nearest their home: Creston, Union, Central, or Ottawa. The school's mascot, selected in the early 1980s, is a Pegasus.

Mission statement

The school's mission statement, as of 2009 was^[1]:

"At City High/Middle Center for Economicology, our goal is to increase ecocultural sustainability throughout all aspects of our lives.

Our interdisciplinary curriculum engages students by encouraging wonder, creativity, cooperation, collaboration, and compassion while promoting and maintaining high academic and social expectations. We are dedicated to helping students identify gaps between their stated values and their daily actions by encouraging critical questioning, learning from mistakes, integrating reason and emotion, and reflecting on how their daily life decisions have ripple effects throughout their community and the world.

We believe that in order to create a more balanced, sustainable world where all beings may flourish, learning communities must be created where individuals celebrate diversity, question, learn, and grow into open-minded, integrated, vital life-learners. This is the community we create at City."

Alumni

Notable City High graduates include actress Gillian Anderson, a member of the class of 1986.

References

1. ^ City's Mission Statement http://www.grpublicschools.org/city/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39&Itemid=191&lang=en

External links

• The City High-Middle website