Garinger High School

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Elmer H. Garinger High School
Location
Charlotte, North Carolina, US
Information
Principal Shelley Hinton
Staff 107 teachers [1]
Enrollment

1673
Students 1786 [1]
Type Public
Motto Where the world meets for class everyday
Mascot Wildcat
Color(s) Blue and Gray
Established 1909 (as Charlotte High School)
1959 (as Garinger High School)
Information (980) 343-6450
Homepage http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/allschools/Garinger/index.htm

Garinger High School (or simply, Garinger) is a high school located in the Shamrock area of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1959, it is one of the oldest remaining schools in Charlotte. Garinger is in essence the relocation of Central High School, Charlotte's first high school. Central Piedmont Community College now stands where Central High once stood; one of CPCC's main buildings is known as the Central High building (and was formerly called the Garinger building). The school is named for Dr. Elmer H. Garinger.

Garinger High's ethnic makeup is 69% Black, 15% Hispanic, 10% White, 6% Asian, and less than 1% other.[2]

In early 2006 the school found itself threatened with closure by the State of North Carolina, but has received backing from the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Garinger's feeder schools are Briarwood Elementary, Devonshire Elementary, Hickory Grove Elementary, Merry Oaks Elementary, Shamrock Gardens Elementary, Windsor Park Elementary, and Winterfield Elementary.[3] The corresponding middle schools are Cochrane Middle School, and some students from Eastway Middle School and Northridge Middle School.[4]

Former National Football League star Dwight Clark is Garinger's most famous graduate.[5]

Contents

[edit] Campus

Garinger is located in northeast Charlotte at 1100 Eastway Drive. The campus can also be accessed from Shamrock Drive, East Sugar Creek Road, or for sporting events Meadow Lane.

Garinger's campus was designed by AG Odell, Jr., and Associates, who also designed several other famous buildings in Charlotte. The campus covers roughly 63 acres and consists of several detached buildings, many of which have interior courtyards. Near the center of campus sits a unique round building with a conical roof, which served as the original library. It has since been converted into classroom space and much of the interior integrity has been lost. A new two-story library was added in the 1970s. [1]

The campus was considered state-of-the-art when it first opened, winning many architectural awards for its unique modern buildings. Garinger was even featured in a 1962 edition of National Geographic as Charlotte-Mecklenburg's showplace high school. [2]

[edit] Traditions

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Garinger has many long standing traditions. There have been teams that wear blue and gray and called themselves wildcats in Charlotte since 1909, the year that original Charlotte High School was founded. This school later became Central High School in 1923, and Garinger High School in 1959

[edit] Alma Mater

Garinger's alma mater is sung to the tune of Das Lied der Deutschen more commonly known as the current national anthem of Germany. The music was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797.

[edit] Fight Song

Garinger's fight song is based on The Washington and Lee Swing

[edit] Willow Tree

The official symbol of Garinger High School is the weeping willow tree. The school's annual literary magazine is called Under the Willow Tree

[edit] Snips and Cuts

Snips and Cuts is the GHS yearbook. It has been published since Charlotte High School's original founding in 1909. There are archived copies in the school library going back to this date.

[edit] The Rambler

The Rambler is the school newspaper. It can also trace its history back to the school's founding.

[edit] Band

Garinger has a highly successful and very proud band program. The Garinger band often wins statewide competitions.

[edit] Programs

Garinger has 5 magnet programs:

  • The Academy of International Studies
  • The Academy of Business and Finance
  • The Academy of Math and Science
  • The Academy of New Technology
  • The Academy of Leadership

[edit] Problems

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[edit] Biggest problems

Like many inner-city schools in the US today, GHS has many obstacles to overcome. Among these are inexperienced teachers, an aging and outdated physical plant and poor student achievement.

Garinger serves a generally low-income and transient population (More than 70% of the student body lives in rental housing) As a result, some in Charlotte have observed that the school gets the "short end of the stick" in the CMS pecking order. While there is no deliberate attempt by the powers that be in the district to undermine Garinger, it can certainly be said that the nature of the population at the school makes success very hard to achieve.

At one point Garinger found itself unable to employ an entire full-time teaching staff and relied on a revolving door of substitutes to fill the void. The full-time teachers usually find themselves having to pay their own money for classroom supplies. This is a problem that plagues many school districts all over the country.

Garinger's aging physical plant has been a source of problems. Despite a renovation in 1997–1998, the plumbing and HVAC systems can be unreliable. There have been cases where the entire school had no central heat. This has been alleviated somewhat when the district started a preventive maintenance program.

As Garinger has a somewhat smaller enrollment than many CMS high schools, it was one of the lowest funded high schools in Charlotte. Until recently, many classrooms were extremely overcrowded, sometimes at a rate of 40 students to a teacher.

[edit] Student behavior

Student behavior problems are typical of an inner-city school.

The school has seen cases of students possessing weapons while on school grounds, though the number of incidents is not the highest in the district. In the 2006 annual student survey given by CMS, only 29% of Garinger students indicated that they felt safe at school, and 11% believed that students were well-behaved (down from 41% and 26%, respectively, in 2005).[6]

[edit] Sports

Garinger's mascot is a wildcat, and the school colors are royal blue and gray. These traditions harken back to the Charlotte High School days. The School competes in the Queen City 3A/4A conference as part of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA)

While competitive and occasionally successful in basketball and golf, the Wildcats have stuggled greatly in other sports, most notably football (discussed below). Garinger often sells out its intimate 600-capacity gym for basketball games against West Charlotte and Independence.

One of Garinger's historic forms, Charlotte (later Central) High School, was a football powerhouse and used American Legion Memorial Stadium as its home field in its latter days.

Garinger's current stadium is Phil Hughston Memorial Stadium, named for a player who died from injuries sustained in a 1971 football game.

[edit] Honors

  • State Championships (21): Baseball (1932*, 1965), Men's basketball (1931*, 1932*, 1933*, 1934*, 1989), Football (1916*, 1917*, 1923*, 1929*, 1930*, 1932*, 1936*, 1937*, 1943*, 1959), Men's tennis (1927*, 1928*, 1940*, 1941*)[7]

(*) As Charlotte or Central.

[edit] Rivals

[edit] Football losing streak

From 2001-2007 Garinger was stricken by North Carolina's longest active losing streak and 2nd longest all-time streak. In September 2007 the streak reached a staggering 51 games before news broke of violations by North Mecklenburg, Providence and Vance High Schools. Garinger was retroactively awarded wins against North Meck and Vance ending the streak. The streak was also reduced to 49 games as a result of having played Vance in August.

The all-time record is 59 losses in a row by the now defunct Gumberry High (consolidated into Northampton County High School - West).

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Historical landmark?

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historical Landmarks Commission is considering placing Garinger High School on their study list. If placed on the study list a motion would go before the city council who would vote on the issue. [8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Garinger High School - School Profile from Fizber.com - Retrieved May 8, 2008
  2. ^ Student Teacher Ratio Garinger High School - Charlotte, North Carolina - NC Retrieved May 8, 2008
  3. ^ http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/studentAssignment06-07/Plan/2006_07High_bdys.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/studentAssignment06-07/Plan/2006_07Middle_bdys.pdf
  5. ^ Dwight Clark
  6. ^ CMS Goals 2006
  7. ^ NCHSAA - North Carolina High School Athletic Association
  8. ^ Garinger - Central Alumni Association - News - Historical Landmarks Commission

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
High schools … full list Ardrey Kell | Berry Academy | Butler | East Meck | Garinger | Harding | Hopewell | Independence | Mallard Creek | Myers Park | North Meck | Northwest | Olympic | Providence | South Meck | Vance | Waddell | West Charlotte | West Meck
Middle schools … full list Alexander Graham | Cochrane | Piedmont | Quail Hollow
Elementary schools … full list Albemarle Road | Shamrock Gardens
Alternative and Exceptional schools … full list Metro School | Morgan | Derita | Hawthorne | Midwood | Morningside at Graham
v • d • e
Queen City 3A/4A
Charlotte Catholic • Garinger • Harding • Olympic • Phillip O. Berry • Waddell • West Meck