Renaissance High School

Renaissance High School is a public high school located within the city of Detroit, Michigan. Renaissance is one of three magnet high schools in the Detroit Public Schools district (the other two being Cass Tech and Martin Luther King Jr.). Founded in 1978 on the previous site of Catholic Central High School, Renaissance's first senior class graduated in 1981. A new building for the school, on the site of the former Sinai Hospital, was dedicated in 2005.

Admissions

As originally envisioned, a test is administered annually to eighth grade students from public and non-public schools in the area. A combination of the student's grades in junior high school and the score the student received on the test determined admission into the school. That policy continues today. Transfer students were not allowed to attend Renaissance. These policies have been somewhat relaxed, however, and transfer students are allowed to attend the school, although they must abide by the same graduation requirements as other students. When Renaissance was initially founded, community members were concerned that reliance on a standardized test would result in the school's admitting too few black students. Quotas were established such that at least 40% of the school's students were black. In 2007, more than 95% of the student body is black. Renaissance opened in 1978 with first-year ("freshman") and second-year ("sophomore") students. Its first four-year graduating class received their diplomas in June 1982.

New campus

In 2005, the school moved into a $100 million+ campus complete with a state-of-the-art language and computer labs, and state-of-the-art football field. The building has been recognized as the first Silver-LEED certified building in the city of Detroit for meeting high environmental standards. Features include solar collectors, a rainwater harvesting system, and innovative cooling systems. The school also has new digital clocks, and a fire drill system that talks to you.

Academics

Renaissance High School has been recognized for its excellence with numerous awards. The school has consistently been the benchmark for academic standards in the city of Detroit. In 1999, US News and World Report highlighted the school in an article about America's top high schools. Renaissance was also awarded the Michigan Blue Ribbon and the National Ribbon of Honor in 2002. In 2007, Renaissance was noted as being the only Wayne County School receiving the Silver Medal for academic and physical sports excellence, and was inducted as being an outstanding school in a survey done by US News and World Report. Nearly 100% of seniors attend a 4-year college or university every year (with the few exceptions coming in the form of military enlistment).

Notable Alumni

• Rickey Paulding
• Joe Crawford
• Malik Hairston
• Tajuan Porter
• Ronald Bartell

External links

• Official page from Detroit Public Schools site
• Welcome to Renaissance High School