Columbus Alternative High School

Columbus Alternative High School is a public high school located on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. It is a part of the Columbus City Schools district. The school is a magnet school for college-bound students in Columbus, with both AP and IB programs. While most Columbus City schools are assigned a neighborhood to whose residents they guarantee admission, places at CAHS are available exclusively through the district's school lottery.

Historically, CAHS has not fielded sports teams, and students have had the option to play sports at the schools in their home neighborhoods. As of 2009-2010, CAHS has an Ultimate Frisbee team that plays in the Central Ohio Ultimate League. CAHS also fields a nationally-rated chess team, as well as In The Know and Robotics teams.

The school is often referred to by its abbreviation, CAHS (pronounced "cause"). The school's mascot is Pegasus of Greek mythology.

Academics

CAHS students participate in an internship program beginning their junior year. The program, which fulfills the community-service requirements of the district, is designed to provide real-world experience. Students choose their own sponsors, who range from local artisans to politicians to teachers. Students report to their site on Wednesdays in place of attending classes. Also, CAHS has offered an International Baccalaureate diploma program for 11th and 12th graders since the 2005-2006 school year. Students are required to take an AP, IB, or Post Secondary course at least one time before their graduation.

History

The Columbus Alternative High School was conceived in 1977, initially as part of a plan to save the original Columbus North High School from closure.

As part of its plan to comply with a 1977 court order to desegregate Columbus high schools, the Columbus Board of Education had announced that many students would be bussed to other neighborhoods beginning in the fall of 1978, and that certain schools, including North High School, would be closed.

A group of teachers, led by would-be principal Timothy Ilg, proposed a new magnet school to occupy the North High School building, featuring independent study and a rigorous curriculum. Nearly 700 students (mostly freshmen and sophomores) from around metropolitan Columbus applied for entry. Then, in the summer of 1978, a temporary stay was placed on the court order. The desegregation plan was postponed, North High School was saved, and the CAHS plan was shelved.

That summer, a call went out to all applicants interested in saving the alternative school idea. Since the majority of applicants and teachers had been from the North High School neighborhood, fewer than 75 applicants and families expressed interest. However, Ilg sought and obtained assurances from the Columbus Board of Education that if he could recruit 100 students and funding via outside grants, space would be provided for the school.

In the fall of 1978, with enough money to operate for only one semester, and a reported enrollment of exactly 100 students, the Columbus Alternative High School opened as a half-day program on the third floor of Mohawk Elementary School in downtown Columbus. CAHS students spent their mornings at Mohawk Elementary and were bussed to their neighborhood schools in the afternoons for science and physical education programs. As a half-day program, CAHS was not able to grant degrees to its eight seniors.

The following year, enrollment surpassed 100 students, and CAHS was moved to the top floor of McGuffey Elementary School (its current location), where the half-day program again shared space with a grade school. In 1980, bolstered by a number of high-profile academic awards and a growing reputation for excellence, requests for enrollment surged, and the school received a $300,000 federal grant, permitting it to expand and become a full-time program. The first CAHS degrees were granted to the class of 1981.

Accomplishments

Columbus Alternative High School has received a silver medal from U.S. News & World Report magazine as one of the nation's top high schools. Columbus Alternative High School has earned the Central Region Triple Crown Award from the Ohio School Boards Association, the only high school of 300 in the l4-county central region to be honored by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report and to be designated by the Ohio Department of Education as a School of Promise. This is the third consecutive time CAHS has won this award. Over ninety percent of CAHS graduates attend college afterward, and each graduating class has earned millions of dollars in scholarships. The College Board recognized Columbus Alternative High School as one of seven schools in the country for the advancement of higher level math and science for minority students.

National Chess champions

CAHS chess teams have won eleven consecutive city and state championships from 1998 to 2010. In December 2008, CAHS's four-member senior chess team won the 12th Grade National Chess Championship title at the National Grade Level Chess Championship in Orlando, Florida. The same players had won the 10th Grade National Chess Championship two years earlier, making this the second National Chess Championship for the same team.

References

External links

• Official School Website
• District Website
• CAHS PTA (foCAHS)
• Article about CAHS in Principal Leadership Magazine
• Columbus Alternative High School Case Study
• Case Study: School of Distinction Case Study - May 2006
• Article from May, 2011 Columbus Monthly Magazine