- Columbus Alternative High School
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Columbus Alternative High School Address 2632 McGuffey Road
Columbus, Ohio, (Franklin County), 43211
United StatesCoordinates 40°1′10″N 82°58′50″W / 40.01944°N 82.98056°WCoordinates: 40°1′10″N 82°58′50″W / 40.01944°N 82.98056°W Information Type Public, Coeducational high school Motto Rise Above The Mundane Established 1978 School district Columbus City Schools Superintendent Dr. Gene Harris CEEB Code 361-526 Principal Sharee N Wells Vice principal Davin Dodrill Grades 9-12 Color(s) Black and Silver Song The CAHS Anthem Mascot Pegasus Nickname CAHS Accreditation(s) North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [1] Publication Shades Newspaper The CAHS & Effect Website http://www.cahs.info Columbus Alternative High School is a public high school located on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. It is a part of the Columbus City Schools district. The school is a magnet school for college-bound students in Columbus, with both AP and IB programs. While most Columbus City schools are assigned a neighborhood to whose residents they guarantee admission, places at CAHS are available exclusively through the district's school lottery.
Historically, CAHS has not fielded sports teams, and students have had the option to play sports at the schools in their home neighborhoods. As of 2009-2010, CAHS has an Ultimate Frisbee team that plays in the Central Ohio Ultimate League. CAHS also fields a nationally-rated chess team, as well as In The Know and Robotics teams.
The school is often referred to by its abbreviation, CAHS (pronounced "cause"). The school's mascot is Pegasus of Greek mythology.
Contents
Academics
CAHS students participate in an internship program beginning their sophomore year. The program, which fulfills the community-service requirements of the district, is designed to provide real-world experience. Students choose their own sponsors, who range from local artisans to politicians to teachers. Students report to their site on Wednesdays in place of attending classes. Also, CAHS has offered an International Baccalaureate diploma program for 11th and 12th graders since the 2005-2006 school year. Students are also encouraged to take AP and Post Secondary courses.
History
The Columbus Alternative High School was conceived in 1977, initially as part of a plan to save the original Columbus North High School from closure.
As part of its plan to comply with a 1977 court order to desegregate Columbus high schools, the Columbus Board of Education had announced that many students would be bussed to other neighborhoods beginning in the fall of 1978, and that certain schools, including North High School, would be closed.
A group of teachers, led by would-be principal Timothy Ilg, proposed a new magnet school to occupy the North High School building, featuring independent study and a rigorous curriculum. Nearly 700 students (mostly freshmen and sophomores) from around metropolitan Columbus applied for entry. Then, in the summer of 1978, a temporary stay was placed on the court order. The desegregation plan was postponed, North High School was saved, and the CAHS plan was shelved.
That summer, a call went out to all applicants interested in saving the alternative school idea. Since the majority of applicants and teachers had been from the North High School neighborhood, fewer than 75 applicants and families expressed interest. However, Ilg sought and obtained assurances from the Columbus Board of Education that if he could recruit 100 students and funding via outside grants, space would be provided for the school.
In the fall of 1978, with enough money to operate for only one semester, and a reported enrollment of exactly 100 students, the Columbus Alternative High School opened as a half-day program on the third floor of Mohawk Elementary School in downtown Columbus. CAHS students spent their mornings at Mohawk Elementary, and were bussed to their neighborhood schools in the afternoons for science and physical education programs. As a half-day program, CAHS was not able to grant degrees to its eight seniors.
The following year, enrollment surpassed 100 students, and CAHS was moved to the top floor of McGuffey Elementary School (its current location), where the half-day program again shared space with a grade school. In 1980, bolstered by a number of high-profile academic awards and a growing reputation for excellence, requests for enrollment surged, and the school received a $300,000 federal grant, permitting it to expand and become a full-time program. The first CAHS degrees were granted to the class of 1981.
Accomplishments
Columbus Alternative High School has received a silver medal from U.S. News and World Report magazine as one of the nation's top high schools. Columbus Alternative High School has earned the Central Region Triple Crown Award from the Ohio School Boards Association, the only high school of 300 in the l4-county central region to be honored by Newsweek and US News and World Report and to be designated by the Ohio Department of Education as a School of Promise. This is the third consecutive time CAHS has won this award. Over ninety percent of CAHS graduates attend college afterward, and each graduating class has earned millions of dollars in scholarships. The College Board recognized Columbus Alternative High School as one of seven schools in the country for the advancement of higher level math and science for minority students.
CAHS Clubs
- Black Cultural Awareness Club
- Chess Club
- Columbus Future Educators
- Feminist Literature Club
- Film Club
- Fine Arts League
- Frisbee Club
- Future Educator Club
- Gay-Straight Alliance
- In The Know
- International Thespian Troupe #270
- Latin Club - functions as a local chapter of both the Ohio Junior Classical League (OJCL)[2] and National Junior Classical League (NJCL).[3]
- National Honor Society
- Ohio Mock Trial
- Shades Literary Magazine
- Spanish Club
- Thespian Society
- Youth to Youth
National Chess champions
CAHS chess teams have won eleven consecutive city and state championships [1998-2010]. In December 2008, CAHS's four member senior chess team won the 12th Grade National Chess Championship title at the National Grade Level Chess Championship in Orlando, Florida. The same players had won the 10th Grade National Chess Championship two years earlier, making this the second National Chess Championship for the same team.
References
- ^ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". http://www.advanc-ed.org/schools_districts/school_district_listings/?. Retrieved 2010-02-17.[dead link]
- ^ "Executive Board Pre-File Application". OhioJCL.org - June 2007. Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. 2010. Archived from the original on June 17, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070617024347/http://ohiojcl.org/prefile.shtml. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
- ^ "OJCL Constitution". OhioJCL.org - July 2002. Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2002. http://web.archive.org/web/20020721140258/http://www.ohiojcl.org/resources/constitution.html#c31. Retrieved August 16, 2010. "... by paying both OJCL annual chapter dues and any annual chapter membership dues required by NJCL."
External links
Categories:- High schools in Columbus, Ohio
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