Myers Park High School

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Myers Park High School

Image:MPHSLogo.PNG
Established	1951
Type of institution	Public
Faculty	172
Principal	Mr. Thomas L. Spivey
Enrollment	2700
Location	Charlotte, North Carolina,
Colors	Kelly Green and White
Mascot	Mustang
School district	Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Information	(704) 343-5800
Website	http://www.myersparkhigh.org

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.

Contents 1 The Campus 2 Students 3 Faculty 4 Extracurricular Activities 5 Curriculum 6 TIME'S Controversy 7 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 of the school contains a garden housing a brick wall in the shape of a pentagon. In the middle of the front circle stand two marble statues as a monument to the World Trade Center Towers, dedicated in 2002 by Senator Elizabeth Dole. The garden was designed and built by teacher Mr. Randall and his Horticulture III class of 2002 in memory of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The area attracts a unique combination of students in the mornings as they exit their buses.

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 onto 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.

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.

The quad has four designated class trees. Many preps choose to eat under their class tree, but most students prefer not to. The freshman tree is the most recognizable due to the large amounts of garbage scattered about the area.

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

Myers Park has 29 junior varsity and varsity sports for males and females. 33 special interest clubs are available. There is also a marching band program directed by Mr. C. Whit Blount. The marching band supports the varsity football team at all their games by playing fight songs, cadences, and a halftime show at the games. The Marching Mustangs won Grand Champion at a competition at Fred T. Foard High School in October 2006.

In addition, the Myers Park Speech and Debate team is recognized nationally. The team, the largest in North Carolina, has many nationally ranked debate and speech students. The team has won the State Championship six out of the last nine 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 nation's most respected debate coaches, Jason Kline, a member of the national Public Forum committee, Karen Justice, Katie Parry, and Angelica Acosta. In 2006, they have taken first place at three 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 third place overall trophy from the University of Florida Blue Key debate tournament. The team also placed third overall at Harvard University in 2006 and 2007.

Also, Myers Park High School has a top (Army) JROTC program. For every year it has been eligible, 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.

[edit] TIME'S Controversy

Currently TIME magazine published an article about Myers Park High School claiming that from 2001 to 2005, Myers Park "tinkered" with underachieving students' statuses in the school. It claims that Myers Park suspended and expelled those students who were underacheiving in order to keep the school's status as one of the nation's most elite high schools, based on the Newsweek Magazine. On March 14 superintendent Peter Gorman held a press conference and discussed the article. He claimed all Charlotte-Mecklemburg Schools treat their students equally, and he does not take such comments lightly. An internal investigation is expected to take place sometime during March. Parents living around Myers Park received e-mails notifying them of the article's content.

[edit] External links

• Myers Park Parent Teacher Student Association Homepage
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Myers Park High School Page
• Myers Park IB Homepage: Tolerance Matters
• Myers Park Speech & Debate Team
• Myers Park Bands Website