History
Wilson began as West High School in 1905 on what was then the edge of Rochester. It was renamed the Joseph C. Wilson Junior High School in 1972, in honor of Joseph C. Wilson, CEO of Xerox Corporation, a longtime pillar of the Rochester economy.
During the 1970s, Wilson became plagued with a poor academic record, a high suspension rate, high teacher turnover, and the lowest attendance in the district. In an effort to turn the school around Wilson was converted into a "magnet school" in 1980 with a School of Performing Arts, an "Academy of Excellence" focusing on the Humanities, and the Academy of Science and Technology. School of Performing Arts was later moved to its own wing of Monroe High School, and the Academy of Excellence has also since been dropped, leaving the focus now solidly on the Academy of Science and Technology.
By 1985 the school was named one of the 10 best senior high schools in New York. In 1998 it was in the top 1.5 percent of high schools in the nation based on percentage of enrollment taking AP exams.
In May 1989, four months after taking office, as part of his campaign to be known as "the education president", President George Bush visited Wilson for an hour, praising the school. "You are an example for the entire world," Bush told students. Wilson was chosen because of its national reputation as an urban school, which had become academically excellent through the help of private industry. The Secret Service had arrived at Wilson two weeks ahead of Bush, and spent that time covering many of the windows with black tape, installing metal detectors, and making other security precautions. Ironically, Bush's visit to promote education overlapped with and disrupted the AP Physics exam.
Twenty Wilson 9th-10th. graders and 20 Xerox Corp. engineers on the Wilson robotics team called the "X-Cats" met with President Bush at the White House in 1992 to celebrate their victory in the U.S. FIRST Design Engineering Competition and to receive the Chairman's Award for most outstanding partnership between a high school and its mentor company. The Rochester-based corporation, XEROX, has been actively involved with the X-Cats, organizing and funding the club and providing senior engineers that volunteer with the team.
Read more about this topic: Wilson Magnet High School
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