Pioneer High School

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Pioneer High School is a public school located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that is widely known for its strong academics, sports, and music programs. Pioneer was designated the National GRAMMY Signature High School for 2005-2006.[Performing Arts (2006)]. AAPS: Pioneer High School. This award signifies that the Grammy foundation has determined Pioneer to have the best music program in the United States.

Pioneer's musical and athletic excellence (and similarly that of Huron High School) is undoubtedly related to possessing a large student body. However, the quality of teachers coaches and others should not be forgotten; the reputation of excellence creates a cycle that regularly draws excellent instructors to all departments.

Currently, Pioneer High School is the largest public school in the state in terms of student body, although the new high school that is set to open in Ann Arbor in the fall of 2008[Ann Arbor Public Schools 2004 Instruction and Facilities Initiative (2006)]. Ann Arbor Public Schools. will probably reduce the number of students attending Pioneer and Huron High School, the other main Ann Arbor public high school.

History

Pioneer High School has held several names and occupied various buildings in its 150 years of existence. First known as the Union School, the institution opened on October 5, 1856. The school was later renamed Ann Arbor High School, and its yearbook, The Omega, was first published in 1884. In 1904, Ann Arbor High School burned down, and the rebuilt high school opened in 1906 at the corner of Washington and State Streets in downtown Ann Arbor. This structure is now known as the Frieze Building and belongs to the University of Michigan. Through a local essay contest run by the Ann Arbor News, the mascot nickname, the Pioneers, was chosen in 1936, and this name was applied to the school when Ann Arbor High School moved in the 1950s to its present quarters on West Stadium Boulevard at South Main Street.[Official Pioneer High School History]

The land on which the school currently resides, sitting directly southwest of the University of Michigan Football Stadium, was purchased in 1953. After construction of the new high school was completed, Pioneer High School opened its doors in the fall of 1956. By the 1960s, the new building had already reached capacity, and thus, in 1967, the school board established Huron High School, the city's second comprehensive high school, on the city's east side. Reaction against Pioneer's "factory-like" architectural design was a large factor in Huron's organic curvolinear form. In 1968, before Huron's building was completed, students from the old and new schools shared the Pioneer building in a split schedule, with Pioneer students attending classes in the morning and Huron students in the afternoon.

In 1971, Pioneer II, an experimental off-shoot of Pioneer High School, was established. The school utilized a small, self-selected group of Pioneer faculty and students working under "free-school" principles, and eventually became Earthworks High School before merging with Community High School in 1978.Sharon Woodson, "'Free school' stresses 'learning' rather than 'teaching'," Ann Arbor News, 19 Sept. 1971; Sharon Woodson, "Pioneer II: a close-up look at what goes on," Ann Arbor News, 17 Jan. 1972.

Overcrowding at Pioneer and Huron led to discussions to reduce this problem. As of 2000, Pioneer had an official capacity of approximately 1,800 students, but had an enrollment approaching 2,300. A failed ballot initiative to fund expansion of the presently existing schools was followed by a successful initiative to fund a new, third comprehensive high school for Ann Arbor, set to open on Maple Road north of M-14 in 2008.[Ann Arbor News coverage of the new high school]

Alumni

Nationally recognized alumni of Pioneer High School (including graduates under the school's former name of Ann Arbor High School) include:

• Ken Burns, ??year??: documentary filmmaker
• Jack Robert Lousma, 1955?: astronaut
• Bob Seger, 1963: rock musician
• Neil Oliver Staebler, 1922: U.S. Congressman from Michigan, 1963-65
• David Shayman (a.k.a. "Disco D"), 1998: ghetto tech DJ and producer

References