IowaCity High School is a public high school in Iowa City, Iowa. The present high school was completed as part of the Public Works Projects started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide jobs. The first classes were held in the fall of 1939. The previous high school building, built in 1909, was converted to a junior high school after the new building opened. It was located where Mercy Medical Plaza now stands. The current building sits on a hill on the east side of Iowa City. The school motto is "The School that Leads."
History
Iowa City has had public education called "high school" at least as far back as 1858, when M.B. Beals was hired as principal; though Beals' records do not show where classes were held, there were 35 boys and 35 girls attending in 1860. Buildings that held "high school", which included junior high school, included the Grammar School, built in 1893 on the southwest corner of the Centre Market block; and the 1903 Iowa City High School on the northeast corner of the same block. A gymnasium in the northwest corner of the block was built in 1911, and included a swimming pool earlier than the university had its own pool. The 1903 building's last high school graduating class was 1939, and the building was renamed Central Junior High School when the new City High School opened in 1939. City High School was built through the Public Works Projects, one of many other programs formed in Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal package. City High would become the second high school to be built in Iowa City, as the older one was becoming overcrowded as the population of the city increased. To determine the new location of the school, Iowa City residents had to vote whether to build the school in a central location, closer to the existing high school, or in a Morningside location, which was the name of the street which it would be built by, out of town on the city's east side. The Morningside location was favored, and the school was built on top of a large hill outside of town. Over time, the city's suburban expansion reached the school, enclosed it, and the expanded past it. Now, the school is contained entirely by Iowa City's east side.
Academics
After graduation, 70% of City High graduates continue their education. Sixty percent attend four-year colleges, 5% junior or community colleges, and 5% trade and technical schools. City High ranks in the top ten schools for academic performance in Iowa.
Athletics
named City High the top sports school in the state of Iowa, citing the school's dominant cross country, track, and football teams. The boys' and girls' cross country teams have won more than 20 state championships since 1990. State titles for Boys' Cross Country include titles from 1991-'94 and in '96, '97, '99, and 2000. Football, Boys' Basketball, Girls' Basketball, Wrestling, Boys' Tennis and numerous Boys' and Girls' Track state titles.
Performing arts
2008-2009 "Teahouse of the August Moon" and "Evita"; 2009-2010 "Almost Maine" and "The Wizard of Oz"; 2010-2011 "The Odd Couple", "Fools", and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"; 2011-2012 "Peter Pan", "Crimes of the Heart", and "Chicago: The Musical" City High has been named a Signature School by the Grammy Foundation three times.. City High is one of only three schools nationwide to accomplish this. In 2004, Dr. Greg Grove and Bill Pringle were flown to Washington D.C. for a congratulatory event by the Grammy Foundation.
Journalism
City High is home to three student publications, The Little Hawk, The City Review and Red and White. Both "The Little Hawk" and the "Red and White" are in the NSPA Hall of Fame. The Little Hawk, a monthly newspaper, has earned twelve National Pacemaker Awards, more than any other high school student newspaper in the country. "The Red and White" has won one National Pacemaker Award. "The Little Hawk" has won the NSPA Best of Show at the National Conference eleven times. "The Little Hawk" and the "Red and White" were advised by Jack Kennedy from 1980-1999, and are currently advised by Jonathan Rogers. Kennedy was named the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year in 1993 and inducted to the Iowa High School Press Association Hall of Fame in 1996. The Little Hawk website earned Pacemaker finalist in 2011 and 2012. In November 2012, it received 5th Place Best of Show at the JEA/NSPA San Antonio National Journalism Conference. "The Little Hawk" Newspaper was the first high school publication to create an app for smartphones. The app was developed by student Jonathan Myers.
