Myers Park High School

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**Myers Park High School**
Established	1951
Type of institution	Public
Faculty	172
Principal	Thomas L. Spivey
Enrollment	2700
Location	Charlotte, North Carolina,
Colors	Green and White
Mascot	Mustang
Information	(704) 343-5800
Website	http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/allschools/mphs/index2.htm

Myers Park High School is a public secondary school and one of 17 high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system. Recent rankings in Newsweek magazine based on IB and AP tests named Myers Park High as the 16th best secondary school in America. With a 62 acre campus and 13 individual buildings, students are able to learn in an environment similar to a small college. Myers Park High School hosts a diverse body of students (66% White, 23% Black, 7% Asian, 8% Latino) and students from 37 countries.

1 The Campus
2 Students
3 Faculty
4 Extracurricular Activities
5 Curriculum
6 External links

[edit] The Campus

Myers Park High School is located at 2400 Colony Road in the Myers Park neighborhood. Two entrances are on Colony Road; a third is on Runnymede Avenue. The front circle contains a monument to the World Trade Center Towers, dedicated in 2002 by Senator Elizabeth Dole.

The campus is centered around a quadrangle, commonly known as the "quad". The Student Center (SC), Math Building, Social Studies Building, Auditorium, and Language Arts Building (LA) all open on this large grassy area where many students eat lunch. Behind LA are buildings that house science, vocational, and mobile classrooms. The campus was built in the collegiate mold, with the entire campus revolving around an open quad area. The campus is about 62 acres(CMS).

Most of the buildings are brick with green trim. Only the Social Studies and CB buildings have two stories; the rest are single-story buildings.

[edit] Students

The class of 2004 received over $4.2 million in scholarships and the class of 2005 received over $4.9 million. In 2005, 90% of graduating seniors pursued further education after high school. 77% went to a four year college and 14% went to a community or technical college. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Faculty

The faculty consists of 172 teachers, the principal, assistant principals, counselors, and specialists.

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

The school mascot[1] is a green mustang. The school's official colors are kelly green and white.

Myers Park has 29 junior varsity and varsity sports for men and women. Thirty-three special interest clubs are also available. There is also a marching band program directed by Mr. C. Whit Blunt. The marching band supports the varsity football team at all their games by playing fight songs, cadences, and plays a halftime show at the games.

In addition, Myers Park is nationally known for its speech and debate program. The team, the largest in the state of North Carolina, has many nationally ranked debate and speech students. The team has won the State Championship 6 out of the last 9 years, most recently in 2006. The team also succeeds in its NFL district, having won the district championship every year for the past seven years. This accomplishment comes with qualifying at least ten students to the NFL national tournament annually. The Myers Park Speech & Debate Team hosts the annual Laird Lewis Invitational every year. The team is coached by Andrew West, one of the nations most respected debate coaches, Jason Kline, Karen Justice, Katie Parry, and Angelica Acosta. In 2006, they have taken first place at two tournaments, and have taken home trophies in the top five at all tournaments that give such trophies except for one. One such achievement is a 4th place overall trophy from the University of Florida Blue Key debate tournament.

Also, Myers Park High School has a top (Army) JROTC program. For every year it has been eligable, the "Mustang Battalion" has won the Honor Unit with Distinction award. It is run by First Sergeant George Powell and Major Doug Willie. The battalion has both a drill team and a rifle team.

[edit] Curriculum

The curriculum provides for different levels of instruction: Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and honors courses. General courses and remedial courses are also available. Myers Park is a shining example of what CMS is aiming to do in other Charlotte schools in an effort to improve the quality of NC schools.

The IB program stresses challenging students at the college level in a variety of disciplines. Students must take examinations in International History, English, a math, a science (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or Environmental Science), a foreign language (German, Spanish, French, or Latin), and an elective (Latin, Art, Theater, Computer Science or Psychology). The IB curriculum requires three of these to be taken at a higher level; Myers Park requires that History and English comprise two of those. Typically, these examinations are taken at the end of senior year, but can be taken at the end of the junior year.

The IB program also has three other components. First, students must write an extended essay of 3200-4000 words; at Myers Park, this also functions as the Senior Exit paper. Second, students must complete the course Theory of Knowledge in their junior year; this course covers philosophical and epistemological topics in various disciplines. Finally, students are required to complete a total of 150 hours of community service. The 150 hours is divided into three different areas: service, action, and creativity.

The IB coordinator of Myers Park is currently Dr. Ron Thomas. He guides many student intiatives, service projects, and awareness campaigns on campus. The percent of IB diplomas awarded was 88% compared to a world average of 81%.