- Benton Harbor High School
"Benton Harbor High School" serves 9th through 12th Grade Students From The City Of
Benton Harbor , located inBerrien County, Michigan . Some or All Students from this school participate in free or reduced lunch programs.Fact|date=September 2008History
In the early 1870s, Justice Cooley of the Supreme Court of Michigan, handed down a decision stating that high school education was elementary education and should be supported by taxes.Fact|date=September 2008
A city resolution provided for the establishment of Benton Harbor High School in 1872.Fact|date=September 2008 The first location of Central School, which included the elementary and high school grades, was on Pipestone Street, near Broadway. In the early years, Benton Harbor High School was a college preparatory school. English, Latin, mathematics, history, and natural philosophy (chemistry & physics) were required and no elective subjects were offered.Fact|date=September 2008
The first class to graduate was in 1876, with six members.Fact|date=September 2008 In the first twenty year period from 1876 to 1896 the total graduated students numbered 175. From 1896 to 1916 the total was 637, an increase of 462. In the period 1916 to 1936, 2,515 graduated, an increase of 1,878. Between 1965 and 1975, 3,265 have graduated, an increase of 1,110.Fact|date=September 2008
In 1892, the high school was moved into a new building, three blocks from Central School on Broadway Street. A few years later, damage caused by fire forced students to set up school in the Saltzman Hotel. The kitchen became a chemistry lab and partitions divided the larger rooms into classrooms. In 1921, students moved into the present building on Colfax Avenue.Fact|date=September 2008
Throughout the years Benton Harbor has attained a high scholastic record.Fact|date=September 2008 An average of twenty percent of her graduates go on to schools of higher education. In 1942, Benton Harbor High School was given an award for the high scholastic records of its students at the
University of Michigan .Fact|date=September 2008 It was the first "Class A" school to receive this honor.
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