Pioneer High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ann Arbor Pioneer High School
Image:A2PioneerLogo.gif
Home of Purple Pride
Location
Ann Arbor, MI, US
Information
Locale Ann Arbor Public Schools
Type Public secondary
Grades 9-12
Mascot Pioneers
Established October 5, 1856
Homepage http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/pioneer.home

Pioneer High School is a public school in the Ann Arbor Public School District in Michigan. Pioneer is known for its strong academics, sports, and music programs. Pioneer was designated the National GRAMMY Signature High School for 2005-2006.[1] This award signifies that the Grammy foundation has determined Pioneer to have the best music program in the United States for the 2005-2006 school year.

Pioneer's musical and athletic successes can reasonably be tied to possessing a large and diverse student body; more students logically results in more talent (and having a diverse population helps the school excel at many types of sports). At the same time, successes can also be attributed to the school's reputation which draws a wide selection of teachers, coaches, and other faculty.

Ann Arbor Pioneer has the largest enrollment of any high school in the state of Michigan, with 3,204 students (2007).

The new Skyline High School that is set to open in Ann Arbor in the fall of 2008[2] will probably reduce the number of students attending Pioneer and Huron High School, the other main Ann Arbor public high school.

Contents

[edit] History

Founded in 1856 by Spencer MacDonald, Pioneer High School has held several names and occupied various buildings in its 150 years of existence. First known as the Union School, the institution opened on October 5, 1856. The school was later renamed Ann Arbor High School, and its yearbook, The Omega, was first published in 1884. In 1904, Ann Arbor High School burned down, and the rebuilt high school opened in 1906 at the corner of Washington and State Streets in downtown Ann Arbor. This structure was later known as the Frieze Building after it was sold to the University of Michigan; it was demolished by the university in early 2007 to make way for the new North Quad residence hall.[3] Through a local essay contest run by The Ann Arbor News, the mascot nickname, the Pioneers, was chosen in 1936, and this name was applied to the school when Ann Arbor High School moved in the 1950s to its present quarters on West Stadium Boulevard at South Main Street.[4]

The land on which the school currently resides, sitting directly southwest of the University of Michigan Football Stadium, was purchased in 1953. After construction of the new high school was completed, Pioneer High School opened its doors in the fall of 1956. By the 1960s, the new building had already reached capacity, and thus, in 1967, the school board established Huron High School, the city's second comprehensive high school, on the city's east side. In 1968, before Huron's building was completed, students from the old and new schools shared the Pioneer building in a split schedule, with Pioneer students attending classes in the morning and Huron students in the afternoon.

In 1971, Pioneer II, an experimental off-shoot of Pioneer High School, was established. The school utilized a small, self-selected group of Pioneer faculty and students working under "free-school" principles, and eventually became Earthworks High School before merging with Community High School in 1978.[5]

Overcrowding at Pioneer and Huron led to discussions to reduce this problem. As of 2000, Pioneer had an official capacity of approximately 1,800 students, but had an enrollment approaching 2,900. A failed ballot initiative to fund expansion of the presently existing schools was followed by a successful initiative to fund a new, third comprehensive high school for Ann Arbor, set to open on Maple Road north of M-14 in 2008.[6]The new high school will be named Skyline.

In 2006, the women's swim team had been named the best team in the country three of the last four years, while setting three national records. The athletic department has been one of the best in Michigan for the last five years, producing championship teams in multiple sports.

In the fall of 2006, the Pioneer Theater Guild was the first high school theater company to do a stage production of Disney's High School Musical. Pioneer Theater Guild has put on several popular productions including Les Misérables, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, and Hair.[7] �

[edit] Notable alumni

This list includes graduates under the school's former names of Union School and Ann Arbor High School:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Performing Arts (2006). AAPS: Pioneer High School.
  2. ^ Ann Arbor Public Schools 2004 Instruction and Facilities Initiative (2006). Ann Arbor Public Schools.
  3. ^ University of Michigan: Regents approve request for site preparation for North Quad. Frieze building's planned demolition.
  4. ^ Official Pioneer High School History
  5. ^ Sharon Woodson, "'Free school' stresses 'learning' rather than 'teaching'", Ann Arbor News, 19 September 1971; Sharon Woodson, "Pioneer II: a close-up look at what goes on", Ann Arbor News, 17 Jan. 1972.
  6. ^ Ann Arbor News coverage of the new high school
  7. ^ Pioneer Theater Guild Past Productions

[edit] External links