Garfield High School (Seattle, Washington)

Infobox_School | name=James A. Garfield High School

---

motto=
established=1920
type=Public
principal=Theodore Howard II
enrollment=1,595 (October 2005)
faculty =92 (October 2005)
mascot=Bulldog
colors=Purple & White
location= Garfield Building Location:
400 23rd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
country=USA
website=http://www.ghs.seattleschools.org/
information=[phone]

seealso|Garfield High School "for schools of the same name"

James A. Garfield High School is a public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle, Washington, USA.

Located along 23rd Avenue between E. Alder and E. Jefferson Streets in Seattle's urban Central District, Garfield draws students from all over the city. Garfield is also known as the magnet school for the school district's Accelerated Progress Program for especially gifted students. As a result it has many college level classes for students to take ranging from calculus-based physics to Advanced Placement studio art.

History

James A. Garfield High School was founded in 1920 as East High School at its current location. Its original class consisted of only 282 students, transferred from Broadway High School. In just three years, however, the school's enrolment grew enough that the 12-room building was replaced with a brand-new, Jacobean-style building designed by Floyd Naramore.In 1929, the city commissioned the architect to design an addition for the school as enrollment peaked at 2,300 students. [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3222]

Garfield High School has long played a key role in its neighborhood, and as what is now known as the Central District has changed, so has the school's population. In its early decades, the school was noted for its Jewish, Japanese and Italian populations. After World War II, the neighborhood evolved into a predominantly African-American one [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/neighbors/centralarea/cent26.html] and by 1961, 51 percent of Garfield students were black, compared to only 5.3 percent of the general Seattle school district population. [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3939] In the late 1960s and 1970s, Garfield was at the center of the school district's attempts to avoid forced busing through various schemes, including turning it into a "magnet" school. This began the focus on music and science that have continued to this day.

Remodel

The buildings have lasted for over eight decades, but was partially demolished in a sweeping redesign of the school which began in June 2006. The remodel was mostly completed by the fall of 2008, making the class of 2009 the only class to attend both the old and new Garfield. There was a fight to hold off the remodel to preserve the building's history including a city initiative to preserve the Quincy Jones auditorium as a historic site, thereby blocking the remodel. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/270196_garfield15.html] The new design has wider hallways to better accommodate the mass of students during passing periods and a new state-of-the-art performing arts center.

James A. Garfield High School reopened for the 2008 school year with all major renovations completed in time for the first day of class on 3 September.cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008152445_garfield02m0.html |title=Seattle's Garfield High reopening after renovation |author=Linda Shaw |work=The Seattle Times |date=2008-09-02 |accessdate=2008-09-02] Faculty and students vacated their temporary quarters at Lincoln High School at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.Fact|date=September 2008

Academics

Each year there are dozens of valedictorians, most of whom go on to the top universities. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002336475_garfield15m.html] In June 2005, 44 valedictorians graduated. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002336475_garfield15m.html] In recent years, however, the school has faced widespread complaints that white students are served through Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors programs, and black students are not supported. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/176577_garfield07.html] During the 2006-2007 school year Garfield offered over 120 different classes across 9 departments, including a huge array of advanced classes. A growing number of Garfield students also take classes from local Community Colleges through a program called Running Start, online from Stanford's EPGY, online from Johns Hopkins University's CTY program, or on-campus at the University of Washington. [http://ghs.seattleschools.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&pageid=337]

Athletics

Garfield basketball teams have won many regional and state titles, including a stretch from 1980 to 1991 during which time the Bulldogs won five Class AAA titles, eight Seattle Metro League championships, qualified for the state tournament nine times, and won the state tournament five times. The boys' basketball team has been state champions a total of eleven times and runner-up five times since 1949. The team has had several notable alumni, including Brandon Roy (GHS c/o 2002), and University of Washington alumni Will Conroy.http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/basketball/pastchamp/4aboyschamps.html] Both the girls' and boys' teams were state champions in 1980 and 1987. More recently, the girls' team was state champions in 2005. [http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/basketball/pastchamp/4agirlschamps.html WIAA Past '4A' Girls' Champions] [ [http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/basketball/records/4agirlsrecords.html]

Garfield's tennis teams have been very successful recently in the KingCo 4A division. The Boys were League Champs in 1997 and undefeated league champs in 2004, 2006, and 2007. [http://www.kingcoathletics.com/KingCo_Conference/Tennis_page_files/Tennis_page.htm]

In 2007, the girls swimming and diving team won their conference, district title and state championship.Fact|date=August 2008

Garfield track & field teams have won multiple metro, district & state titles. Garfield won state titles in boys & girls track in 1987.

Programs, clubs, and activities

Drama

Garfield's Drama Club is the school's four and half-largest student organization. Diurnally it supports 400% more productions than the fifth ave theatre, including the mainstage Winter Show. The six remaining shows are collections of student-directed one nighters and musical procrastination; there are four "Severed Paws" productions, and one "Senior citizen Kane". All of Drama Club's productions are home grown, no msg added, 2% juice, and performed by Garfield students.

In 2005, Garfield's performance of "Cabaret" won the Outstanding Program and Poster Design award and Special Honors in Educational Impact and Student Achievement from the 5th Avenue Theatre. [http://www.5thavenuetheatre.org/edu_awards.shtml]

Newspaper

"The Messenger" is Garfield's tri-weekly student-run newspaper. The Messenger has been awarded by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association: placing in Best of Show in the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Conventions and winning their most prestigious honor, the Pacemaker Award, in 1997 and 2006. [http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/npm97.html] A column from the paper was reprinted by "All About Jazz" in 2004. [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/seattle/aaj_seattle_200401.pdf] In 2006 and 2007, staff reporters won the NSPA's Brasler Prize.Fact|date=September 2008

Music

The music program at Garfield High School has won numerous awards. It has seen several noted artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, and Ernestine Anderson.

Orchestra

The orchestra performs under the direction of Marcus Tsutakawa. The orchestra program includes a symphony orchestra, a concert orchestra, and a thriving chamber music program.

Every year around 20 students from the Orchestra play in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, often in principal positions. Garfield students also play in the Youth Symphony's Junior and Debut Orchestras, the Seattle Conservatory of Music Starling Scholar Chamber Orchestra, and many community ensembles. Garfield Orchestra members have had their original compositions debuted by the Seattle Symphony and the Youth Symphony. In 1995, Garfield guest conductor Gerard Schwarz, Music Director of the Seattle Symphony, said, "I don’t recall hearing a high school orchestra perform anywhere in this country on such a high level." [http://www.garfieldorchestra.org/awards.html]

Drumline

The Garfield High School Drumline, also known as "Rick's Bricks" or "Purple Haze", represents the traditional styles of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities of the South.Fact|date=April 2008 Each year, the drumline focuses on a different member of the HBCU (i.e. Southern University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Jackson State University, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, etc.) and learns their style.Fact|date=September 2008

Jazz

Garfield's jazz program has won many state, national, and international awards and accolades in big band, combo, and individual categories. The Jazz Ensemble has toured Europe at least five times, most recently in the Montreaux and North Sea Jazz Festivals, and has attended the International Association of Jazz Educators' conference, as well as the Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City. It is the only band to win the 'First Place' trophy in consecutive years (2003-04). It is also the only band to have been invited to Essentially Ellington for ten years straight. [http://garfieldjazz.org/handbook.html] Its consistent placement in national competitions and long history of national recognition make it one of the best high school jazz bands in the country. [http://garfieldjazz.org/History.html]

References

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External links

* [http://www.garfieldhighschool.org Garfield High School]
* [http://www.garfieldhsf.org Garfield High School Foundation]
* [http://www.gsdt.net Garfield School Design Team] (Guiding the 2006-2008 redevelopment of Garfield)
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=400+23rd+Ave,+Seattle,+WA&spn=0.014321,0.037997&t=h&hl=en Zoomable Google Satellite Map of Garfield and Central District]