History
The first legal public high-school in Kalamazoo, and in the state of Michigan began operating in 1858, and graduated its first class, consisting of five men and three women, in 1859. Charles E. Stuart sued the Kalamazoo School Board in 1874 alleging that the school-board's use of taxpayer money to fund secondary education was unconstitutional (up until that point taxpayers money was only for elementary schools). The School Board prevailed, setting a precedent allowing publicly funded secondary education throughout the country. In 1925, the school moved to the building currently known as Old Central High School. On the fourth floor of the Old Central High School is currently located the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, or KAMSC. Following the largest graduating class of 799 students in 1960, some Central High School students transferred to the newly-opened Loy Norrix High School in 1961. Central High School moved to its current location in 1972.
After the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise scholarship program, the school (and the Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) system) was placed into the national spotlight highlighted with a Katie Couric visit. Enrollment in KPS has risen significantly, and the surrounding area has begun to find economic benefits.
Read more about this topic: Kalamazoo Central High School
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of this country was made largely by people who wanted to be left alone. Those who could not thrive when left to themselves never felt at ease in America.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–117)