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Cass Technical High School

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Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a magnet high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.[3] It was established in 1907 and is part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District. It is named after Lewis Cass.[4]

Cass Technical High School
The school in 2010
Address
Map
2501 Second Avenue

Detroit
,
Michigan
48201

United States
Coordinates42°20′19.815″N 83°3′37.379″W / 42.33883750°N 83.06038306°W / 42.33883750; -83.06038306
Information
Other nameCass Tech
TypeMagnet high school
MottoCass Tech #1, Second To None
Established1907 (1907)
School districtDetroit Public Schools Community District
NCES School ID260110304669[1]
PrincipalLisa Phillips
Teaching staff99.20 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,485 (2023–2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio25.05[1]
Color(s)Forest green and white
  [2]
NicknameTechnicians[2]
NewspaperCT Visionary
Websitewww.detroitk12.org/casstech

Until 1977, Cass was Detroit's only magnet school and the only non-neighborhood enrollment school in Detroit. It remains one of few magnet schools in Detroit. Entrance is based on test scores and middle school grades. Students are required to choose a curriculum path—roughly equivalent to a college "major" —in the ninth grade. Areas of study include among others arts and communication, business management and marketing, engineering and manufacturing, human services, and science and arts.[5]

History

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The school was founded in 1907 on the third floor of Cass Union School on Grand Union Avenue, subsequently moving to its own wing. After that school was mostly destroyed by a fire, a building for Cass Tech was built on the site and opened in October 1912, but was soon overcrowded. A new building nearby on Second Avenue was designed in Collegiate Gothic style by Malcolmson and Higginbotham with Albert Kahn as construction architect; construction began in 1916,[6] the cornerstone was laid in 1917,[7] and after delays caused by World War I austerity measures, the building opened in September 1922. It had a capacity of 3,600 students and was connected to the High School of Commerce, which opened earlier the same year in Cass Tech's former building, by Victory Memorial Arch, a pedestrian bridge over Main Street that was a memorial to students killed in the war.[6][8][9] By 1942 the school had more than 4,500 students and was the largest in Michigan.[6] In 1985, an addition on the south side was opened, designed by Albert Kahn & Associates, which included performing arts facilities, a new pool, and a student cafeteria, and a wing of the building was remodeled for computer and business classes.[6][7] Departments in the 1922 building were grouped by floor; facilities included a foundry and machine shops that were used for training by Ford outside school hours, and the auditorium was used as a practice hall by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.[7] The 1922 building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March 2011.[10][11]

In 2008, due to declining enrollment, teacher staffing was reduced and some classes that were not very popular with students were removed.[12]

Academics

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Student assessments
2021-22 school
year[13]
Change vs.
prior year[13]
M-STEP 11th grade proficiency rates
(Science / Social Studies)
Advanced %6.5 / 3.0
Proficient %19.8 / 25.8
PR. Proficient %18.6 / 59.1
Not Proficient %55.0 / 12.1
Average test scores
SAT Total952.0
(  −30.4)

Cass offers over twenty advanced placement courses including language composition, history, chemistry, calculus, and physics.[14] Cass Tech students' strong academic performances draw recruiters from across the country, including Ivy League representatives eager to attract the top minority applicants.[15] However, in 2019, Cass Tech was not among the 78 Michigan high schools with the highest average SAT scores.[16] In 2021, U.S. News ranked Cass Tech 84th among Michigan high schools, and reported a 62.9% percentile score on the SAT.[17]

Awards

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In 1984, Cass Tech was honored by the U.S. Department of Education among 262 schools that should "shine as inspirational model for others," a list that included public and private schools.[18]

In 2006, Cass represented DPS at the National Academic Games Olympics and won the Team Sweepstakes award.[citation needed]

Music

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Harp and vocal

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The school's Harp program was established in 1925.[19]

Bands

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There are beginner, intermediate, advanced and jazz band classes, as well as a marching band. The CTMB (marching band), under the direction of Sharon Allen, has performed for Patti LaBelle, Sinbad, and Jay Z as well as various college and university homecomings.[citation needed] The marching band was also a part of the 2007 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, but was not televised. In 2008, the band performed at Texas Southern University.[citation needed] In 2010, the CTMB participated in Norfolk State University's Homecoming and won first place in the McDonald's Battle of the Bands.[citation needed] The CTMB went to the 2013 inauguration for President Barack Obama.[20]

The concert band program rose to prominence under the direction of Harry Begian, who led the Cass Tech bands from 1947 through 1964. Under his baton, the concert band performed twice at the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic, and played literature at a level far beyond that normally performed by a public high school band[according to whom?], including the Symphony in B-flat by Paul Hindemith and La Fiesta Mexicana by H. Owen Reed.[citation needed]

Athletics

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Football

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Cass Tech helmet.

The Cass Tech Technicians football team (also referred to as the Technicians) is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing Cass Technical High School.

Cass Tech won the 2011, 2012, 2016,[21] and 2024 MHSAA Division I state championships.[22]

Basketball

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  • 1956 Boys Class A State Champions[23]
  • 1975 Boys Class A State Champions[24]
  • 2023 Boys Division 1 State Champions

Track and field

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Cass Tech's track and field history goes back to 1926 when Eddie Tolan and his teammate Loving won the interscholastic track meet at Northwestern University.[25] Tolan came to be known as the "Midnight Express". He set world records in the 100-yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100 meters and 200 meters events.[citation needed] He was the first African-American to receive the title of the "world's fastest human" after winning gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters events at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In March 1935, Tolan won the 75, 100 and 220-yard events at the World Professional Sprint Championships in Melbourne, Australia to become the first man to win both the amateur and professional world sprint championships. In his full career as a sprinter, Tolan won 300 races and lost only 7.[26]

Northwestern Interscholastic Track Meet

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  • March 1926: 1st Place – National Champions[27]
  • March 1927: 3rd Place[28]
  • March 1928: 3rd Place[29]

Campus

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Architecture

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Lewis Cass Technical High School
(former Cass campus)
 
1922 building, 2007
 
 
 
 
Location2421 Second Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, United States
Coordinates42°20′15″N 83°3′36″W / 42.33750°N 83.06000°W / 42.33750; -83.06000
Built1922
ArchitectMalcolmson and Higginbotham, Albert Kahn
DemolishedJuly 2011
MPSPublic Schools of Detroit MPS
NRHP reference No.10000644[10][11]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 29, 2011
Removed from NRHPDecember 2, 2024[30]

A new campus opened in May 2005 in an adjacent lot on Grand River Avenue to the north of the original building.[6][7]

The former building, including the extension, was left vacant (with classroom fittings and supplies inside).[7] The alumni association announced plans in April 2007 to renovate it as a multi-use center including arts spaces, retail, and residences,[6] but in July 2007 a fire damaged the 1922 section.[31] The school district listed the building for demolition later that year. Demolition began in December 2010 and was completed in August 2011.[6][32][33] At the time of demolition, the school building was approximately 830,000 square feet (77,000 m2) and weighed more than 100,000 short tons (91,000 t). Over 90% of the material in the building was recycled for other uses or as backfill.[34]

The indie rock band Mattiel's 2017 song, "Cass Tech", laments the building's 2011 demolition.[35]

Students

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Demographics

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As of 2022, approximately 2,400 students attended Cass Technical High School: 583 students in the ninth grade, 637 students in the tenth grade, 606 in the eleventh grade, and 575 in the twelfth grade.[1]

In 2022 MJ Galbraith of Model D Media stated that "a sizable" group of students of Bengali heritage attend Cass Tech.[36]

Ethnicity distribution

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Of the students attending Cass Technical High School in 2021–22, 1,832 (76.2%) of them are Black, 277 (11.5%) are Hispanic, 223 (9.3%) are Asian, 57 (2,4%) are White, 6 (0.2%) are American Indian or Alaska Native, and 9 (0.4%) are multi-racial. 65.0% of the students are female.[1]

Notable alumni

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Art, architecture, design

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Arts and entertainment

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Business

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Educators

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Fiction/non-fiction

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Journalism/publishing/broadcasting

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Law, government, and public policy

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Library and Information Science

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Military

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Sports

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Search for Public Schools - Cass Technical High School (260110304669)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "MHSAA > Schools".
  3. ^ Midtown location from the University Cultural Center Association, retrieved June 9, 1001
  4. ^ "Whitmer strips name of slave owner Lewis Cass from state office building". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. ^ "Lewis Cass Technical High School" (PDF). Detroit Public Schools. October 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Dan Austin. "Cass Tech High School (old)". Historic Detroit. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Cass Technical High School After Closing". Detroit Urbex (exterior and interior images). 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "High School of Commerce". Historic Detroit. May 22, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  9. ^ 3D interactive diagram of 1922 building at detroiturbex.com.
  10. ^ a b "WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: March 28, 2011 THROUGH April 1, 2011". National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
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  12. ^ Orlandar Brand-Williams (September 23, 2008). "Cass Tech will lose some less popular classes". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  13. ^ a b "MI School Data Annual Education Report". Mi School Data. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "About Us". Cass Technical High School. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
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