Columbus Alternative High School - History

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.