| Booker T. Washington High School | |
|---|---|
| Motto | We're tops! We lead and others follow. |
| Established | 1873/1926 |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Principal | Alisha Kiner |
| Students | 700 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee, USA |
| District | Memphis City Schools |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | BTWHS Website |
Booker T. Washington High School (also known as BTW[1]) is a public secondary school located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Part of the Memphis City Schools, it serves grades 9-12. The school gained national attention when U.S. President Barack Obama delivered the school's 2011 commencement address as a reward for winning the 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge.
Contents |
The school was originally founded as the Clay Street School in 1873 and was among the first public high schools for African Americans in Memphis.[2] It was renamed Kortrecht High School in 1891. In 1926 a new building was constructed and the school was renamed in honor of American educator and civil rights leader Booker T. Washington.[3][4] Further expansions were completed in the years since, including the Blair T. Hunt Gymnasium, dedicated in 1950.[5]
The school entered and won the 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, a competition that "invites public high schools across the country to demonstrate how their school best prepares [students] for college and a career."[6] Among the required application materials were student essays and videos that demonstrated the school's innovation in education. The accomplishments of the school included increasing graduation rates from 55% in 2007 to 82% in 2010 through the use of same-gender freshman classrooms and increased teacher effectiveness.[7] BTW also suffered from and overcame high teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS rates.[7] The school beat out more than 450 other applicant schools, and as a reward for this achievement, President Barack Obama delivered the school's 2011 commencement speech.[7][8]