Marianas High School

Marianas High School
Location
Beach Road, Susupe, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Information
Type	Public Secondary
Motto	Team Effort Towards Excellence
Established	1969
Principal	Craig Garrison
Faculty	92
Number of students	1,200+
Color(s)	Blue and Yellow
Mascot	Dolphin
Website	www.pss.cnmi.mp/MarianasHigh

Marianas High School is a public high school located on Saipan in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It is one of five high schools operated by the CNMI Public School System, and the largest of three public high schools serving the island of Saipan.

Built in 1969, the school is the oldest of the five high schools on Saipan, and is currently undergoing remodeling and restoration under the leadership of new principal Craig Garrison, formerly of Saipan Southern High School. As of fall 2010, Principal Garrison has reorganized the teaching team and bell schedule to better serve the population's increasing student body.

Further changes are planned, including the addition of a new front drop-off area for school buses and the opening of its Alternative Education program on the school's campus in the coming months, a program that will serve the entire district's at-risk students.

In June 2011, Marianas High School proudly announced it has achieved above average scores on 5 of the 8 Stanford Achievement Test Series (SAT 10). The overall average score puts MHS in the 51 percentile. This was the first time a CNMI high school has outperformed the national average. [1]

Controversies

• In 2008, a security guard was brutally murdered on campus by teens stealing laptops. [2]
• In 2010, a Craig Garrison was named principal. In 2011, a teacher, James Yangetmai, publicly protested his harsh management style. [3],[4] Principal Garrison answered the accusations against him. [5] This controversy has brought to public view many ugly and unprofessional happenings at MHS amongst faculty and staff, including theft of public property, gross overstaffing, teachers unqualified in their subject matter, teachers cursing at students, poor teacher attendance, no substitute teacher system and more. This has triggered CNMI legislative hearings on the problems at MHS, despite being an internal matter of the CNMI Public School System and the Board of Education.

Notable alumni

• Miguel S. Demapan, current Chief Justice of the Northern Mariana Islands Supreme Court
• Gregorio Sablan, Delegate to the United States House of Representatives (2009–present)