Plymouth-Canton Educational Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Name |
Plymouth-Canton Educational Park |
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| Address |
Canton High School Plymouth High School Salem High School |
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| Town | ||
| Established |
Salem High School: 1970 |
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| Type |
Public Secondary |
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| Religion |
None |
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| Students |
Coeducational |
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| Grades |
9 through 12 |
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| Accreditation |
NCA |
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| Mascot |
Chiefs (Canton) |
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| Colors |
Red and White (Canton) |
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| Website | ||
Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (known by locals as PCEP, "The Park", and "Pee-sep") is a 305-acre (1.2 km²) campus home to the three high schools in the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools in Canton, Michigan, servicing residents of the City of Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Canton Township, and parts of Salem Township, Superior Township, and Northville Township. It acts as one school regarding academic programs, and three schools for athletic programs, although certain sports teams, such as lacrosse, marching band, and women's ice hockey combine as one team. PCEP has over 50 clubs and organizations, including an award-winning radio station, WSDP-FM 88.1 'The Escape'. PCEP is the largest high school campus in the USA.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The original Plymouth High School
The original Plymouth High School was built in the early 20th century on the northwest corner of Main Street and Church Street, opposite from present-day City Hall in present-day downtown Plymouth. The district deemed the facility to be outdated by the 1960s for high school use. When the first new high school opened in the present-day Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, the original Plymouth High School was converted into a middle school, dubbed Central Middle School (in conjunction with the more recently constructed East and West Middle Schools). Central Middle School remains in operation today as part of the Plymouth-Canton Community School District.
[edit] The Centennial Educational Park
During the 1960s the school district purchased a plot of land bordered by Joy, Beck, and Canton Center roads in northern Canton Township. This parcel of land would be used to build new high schools to accommodate the district's ever increasing student population. The successor to the original Plymouth High School would be the first to open, accompanied by another high school soon after. The combined facilities would come to be named the Centennial Educational Park. In the year 2000, the name of the park would be changed to Plymouth-Canton Educational Park.
[edit] Salem High School
In 1970, Plymouth-Salem High School first opened its doors. The school was self-contained, as it was constructed to contain all of the amenities its student body would require at the time. The main entrance to the school, the North Mall, faces Joy Road. The North Mall provides access to a connecting corridor between the principal classrooms on the building's west side, and the athletic facilities and theater on the east side. The administrative offices and cafeteria are also located on the first floor on the west side, as is the school store.
Originally planned to simply remain Plymouth High School, the school's name was changed to Plymouth-Salem High School after Canton's opening. Although the school district services much of rural Salem Township, Salem residents were not necessarily exclusive to Plymouth-Salem.
The history of the original Plymouth High School, along with the "Rocks" nickname for its athletic programs, was transferred to Plymouth-Salem. The school would come to borrow the Rock of Gibraltar logo of Prudential Financial. Plymouth High's colors of red, white, and blue, were split up, with Plymouth-Salem retaining blue and white.
One of the more unique features of the school building was its large ramp at the North Mall, which provided direct access to the second floor of classrooms. What made this ramp strange were the three steps placed at the bottom of the ramp, making wheelchair or vehicle access impractical. Also, the North Mall, and its counterpart, the South Mall, were popular hangouts for delinquents. The ramp was demolished in the early 1990's, and the North Mall was revamped to provide a more appealing façade, while the South Mall was eliminated in favor of an expanded cafeteria. New renovations to the school are scheduled to begin in mid-2006.
In 2002, with the opening of the new Plymouth High School as part of the PCEP, "Plymouth" was dropped from Salem's name. Salem High School retained the "Rocks" nickname, logo, and colors.
[edit] Canton High School
Opening as Plymouth-Canton High School in 1972, Canton has a strikingly darker appearance than its sister school, Salem. Darker bricks and metallic protrusions provide a stark contrast to Salem's lighter bricks and rounded corners. Canton was built without any athletic facilities of its own; these came later, in the form of an independent building just north of the school, dubbed Phase III. Two parallel corridors run north-south through the building, with the library and cafeteria located between them. The administration offices are off the east corridor, near the main entrance. The bulk of the classrooms are located on the first and second floors on the north side of the building, with "shop" classes located at the far south end.
Canton High School's nickname is "Chiefs". Their logo is a reuse of the arrowhead logo of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. Prior to dropping "Plymouth" from its name in 2002, the logo featured the letters "PC" in the same font as Kansas City's "KC"; since 2002, a large italic "C" is superimposed over the arrowhead. The school has also used a secondary logo of a Native American chief's head. The school colors are red and white. Canton provides many clubs and sports.
[edit] Plymouth High School
Opened in 2002, and constructed southwest of Salem High School, the new Plymouth High School was designed by architecture firm French Associates, Inc., as a state-of-the-art facility.
The students selected to be Plymouth High's first senior class, the Class of 2006, were polled to come up with a new nickname for the school. Their selection, the Predators (after the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League), was met with strong opposition with parents, reportedly because of concerns that the nickname could be linked with sexual predators. As a result, the school decided to use the generic "Wildcats" nickname, while still using the saber-toothed tiger logo of the Nashville Predators. Plymouth's school colors are black and silver.
[edit] Additional Facilities
In 2006, there was a bond proposal to add a new theater, gym, soccer fields, and a career tech center to PCEP. This bond issue failed.
[edit] Campus
The campus is 305 acres (1.2 km²), although much of this is empty field. There are four academic buildings (Canton High School, Plymouth High School, Salem High School, and Phase III, also known as Canton North). Students may have classes in all four buildings, even though each student is assigned to one "home school." One advantage to the 3-in-1 idea is cost-cutting. There is only one auto shop, only one varsity football field. Prior to the summer of 2006, the Cady family barn was also a part of the campus. It has since then been moved to the Canton Township Cherry Hill village area next to another historical home. Included on the campus grounds is also a small strip of forest that backs a nearby neighborhood. Various trails are scattered throughout the wooded area. An artesian well can also be found in the wooded area, and is visited by earth science classes yearly. A creek that is part of the Rouge river watershed runs through the campus, separating Salem high school and Phase III (north of the creek) from Canton and Plymouth (both south of the creek). Environmental science classes held at the park regularly take water samples to monitor water quality from this creek.
[edit] Students and faculty
The Park currently has about 5,800 students with a racial makeup of 83% White, 10% Asian, 5% Black, 2% Hispanic, and less than 1% American Indian[1] (figures are rounded and do not add to 100%). The faculty has 280 members.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
The Park has over 50 clubs and organizations, including a radio station. All three Science Olympiad teams qualified for the state level competition in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. PCEP's radio station has won numerous awards, including the Michigan Association of Broadcaster's annual 'Station of the Year' prize, which it has won nearly every year in the past decade. Also, Plymouth's Novice Quiz Bowl team won the championship in the tri-county area in 2007. The other teams (Plymouth JV, Salem Novice, Plymouth and Canton Varsity) did not in their respective divisions.
There are also many clubs dedicated to different languages and cultures, such as the Spanish and Latino Students Association (SALSA), APAC (an East Asian club), Indian-American Student Association for South Asians, and the Diversity Council.
"The Park" also has a Debate Club, a Model United Nations Club, a Mock Trial Team (3 to be exact), a Robotics Team, and an Investment Club, among other clubs geared towards educational incentives. The Park's National Honor Society was recognized by the American Cancer Society for their efforts in supporting and running the community walk for cancer, Relay for Life.
[edit] Athletics
In recent years, Canton High School's football team has finished highly in regional rankings. On November 12, 2005, Canton won its first-ever regional title by defeating Detroit King. They made an appearance in the state finals against Rockford High but lost 21-31. Canton High School's wrestling team won its second straight district title in 2006, and also won its first-ever regioanl title by defeating Detroit Catholic Central High School 34-30. Salem remains the only school out of the three to win a State football championship, doing so in 1974.
Salem men's swimming won the WLAA conference championship for 11 straight years, and Salem women's swimming continues to close the gap between them and Stevenson High School at Conference Finals. Salem's Men's and Women's Cross Country teams are also some of the best in the region, with the men's team making four straight trips to the state championship meet. Salem's boys tennis team won both conferences and regoinals, and took first in States. Salem's coed cheerleading team won awards at UCA National Championships in Florida, including 3rd place in 2004. In 2005, the PCS United Cheer team was formed, composing of cheerleaders from all three schools. Plymouth High School's softball and Wrestling teams won back-to-back District titles. The volleyball team was top in the division, along with the Men's Track & Field and Cross Country teams. In their first year of having a full graduating class, the Plymouth football team made the state playoffs.
[edit] Performing Arts
In the performing arts there are two theater groups: The Park Players ParkPlayers WebSite, based in Salem, and The Second Stage Players[2], based in Canton. The Park Players put on two shows each year, usually a play in the fall and a musical in the spring. Recently, The Second Stage Players worked with Shakespeare's plays, including "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Park also has Spoken Word, an Improv Club and a Puppetry Club.
The Plymouth-Canton Marching Band has placed in the top 12 marching bands in the country at the Bands of America Grand National Championships 17 out of the past 18 years. They have won the Grand National Championship there 3 times; 1990, 1991 and 1999. The group has won the Michigan Competing Band Association Flight or Division I title over 16 times and 9 years in a row. There are also various academic bands and two orchestras as classes to be taken during the regular school day.
[edit] Curriculum
PCEP, with its large size, offers a wide range of classes. Students have the opportunity to run a restaurant (the Rock Cafe in Salem), produce a news program that airs three times a week, work in an auto shop, be involved in either of the two Theatre groups, and work in one of the Park's three school stores. The Park offers numerous band, orchestra, and choir courses, ranging from beginners to pre-professional. Within each of the schools is a writing center, dubbed "The WC", and a math lab, which offers free tutoring service for students' writing, and additional help for students' math respectively. The school offers 14 Advanced Placement classes and various honors classes.
[edit] External links
- http://web.pccs.k12.mi.us/pcep/default.asp
- http://www.parkplayers.org
- http://www.salemrocks.com/
- http://www.cantonchiefs.com/
- http://www.plymouthwildcats.com/
- http://881theescape.com/
- http://www.pcmb.net/ (Marching Band)
- http://www.pcepchoirs.org/ (choir)
- http://www.pcepnews.com/ (The Perspective)
- http://www.pcsladywarriors.com/ (Girls Lacrosse)
- http://www.cantonswimming.com/ (Canton Boys and Girls Swim and Dive)
| High Schools in the Western Lakes Activities Association |
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Western Division Lakes Division |
