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 andmiddle 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]
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 inCollegiate Gothic style byMalcolmson and Higginbotham withAlbert 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 theHigh 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 byFord outside school hours, and the auditorium was used as a practice hall by theDetroit Symphony Orchestra.[7] The 1922 building was added to theNational 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]
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]
In 1984, Cass Tech was honored by theU.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]
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 forPatti LaBelle, Sinbad, andJay-Z as well as various college and university homecomings.[citation needed] The marching band was also a part of the 2007Orange Bowl inMiami, Florida, but was not televised. In 2008, the band performed atTexas 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 ofHarry 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 theSymphony in B-flat byPaul Hindemith and La Fiesta Mexicana byH. Owen Reed.[citation needed]
TheCass 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]
Cass Tech's track and field history goes back to 1926 whenEddie Tolan and his teammate Loving won the interscholastic track meet atNorthwestern 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]
A new campus opened in May 2005 in an adjacent lot on Grand River Avenue to the north of the original building.[6][7]
Daphnee Denis ofSlate stated that the previous building had "classic and imposing architecture" that "made high-schoolers feel like they belonged to something great."[31] She cited the words ofJack White,[31] who stated: "Going to school there at age 14 was like all of sudden you were going toHarvard or something. It seemed like you were going to college."[32]
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.[33] The school district listed the building for demolition later that year. Demolition began in December 2010 and was completed in August 2011.[6][34][35] 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.[36]
The indie rock bandMattiel's 2017 song, "Cass Tech", laments the building's 2011 demolition.[37]
As of 2022[update], 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]
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]
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