Coolidge Senior High School (Washington, D.C.)

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Calvin Coolidge Senior High School
275px
Coolidge Senior High School
"Integrity"[1]
Address
6315 Fifth Street Northwest[2]
Washington, DC 20011
United States
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Information
School type Public high school
Established 1940
School district District of Columbia Public Schools
Principal Jackson[1]
Faculty 51.0 FTE[3]
Grades 9 to 12[1]
Enrollment 689 (as of the 2010-2011 school year)[1]
Student to teacher ratio 11.39[3]
Campus type Urban
Color(s)      Orange
     Grey
Mascot Colts
Feeder schools LaSalle-Backus Education Campus, Takoma Education Campus, and Whittier Education Campus[1]
Website School Website

Calvin Coolidge High School is a public high school located in the Northwest quadrant of the District of Columbia.

History

In order to relieve crowding at Roosevelt High School, Superintendent Frank W. Ballou proposed building a new high school for students living in Manor Park and Takoma Park.[4] Dr. Ballou suggested that the new high school should be built at Fifth and Sheridan streets NW,[4] on property that the District of Columbia had purchased five years earlier[5] and across the street from Whittier School, which had been built in 1925.[6]

Temporarily named Northern Senior High School,[7] the building of the school was supported by many Takoma Park, Manor Park, Chillum Heights, and Sixteenth Street Heights residents and North Dakota Senator Lynn Frazier.[5][8] The finance committee of the Board of Education approved the plan soon after Dr. Ballou's recommendation.[9] The House of Representatives originally appropriated $450,000 for the building of the school,[10] but a Senate subcommittee reduced the appropriation to $350,000, despite protests by Senator Frazier.[11]

In 1937, the question of a permanent name for the school was raised.[12] The Manor Park Citizens Association and the Brightwood Citizens Association wanted to name the school for Calvin Coolidge, the only former president without a school named after him.[12] Other residents favored using the name Northern High School because it would fit in with existing schools named Eastern, Western, and Central.[12] Those favoring Coolidge won out.[13]

The Board of Education planned to build a two-story brick school with a flat roof.[13] Local citizens associations said the planned school would look like a factory.[13] They preferred a colonial style similar to that of nearby Roosevelt High School.[13] The Manor Park Citizens Association held firm, and the plans were modified to include three stories, a pitched roof, and a cupola.[14][15] Architect Nathan C. Wyeth changed the design to a modern Georgian style.[16]

Jeffress-Dryer Inc. won the bid to build the school, and construction began in 1938.[17] The original plans called for one boys' gymnasium and one girls' gymnasium.[17] Because two gymnasiums could not be afforded with the funds appropriated by Congress, the girls' gymnasium was eliminated from the plans.[17] After the Takoma Park Citizens Association petitioned Congress,[18] the District's Board of Commissioners agreed to appropriate an additional $16,000 in order to build the girls' gymnasium.[19] Construction was completed in February 1940,[20] at a cost of $1,500,000.[21]

Coolidge opened its doors on September 23, 1940.[20] Its first principal was Thomas J. Holmes, previously the assistant principal of Eastern High School.[20] Holmes did not end up completing his first year as principal, as he took a leave of absence to serve as an officer at Fort Meade in April 1941.[22] During its first school year, Coolidge had 31 teachers,[20] 750 students enrolled, and a capacity of 1,801.[23]

Academics

Coolidge High School offers Advanced Placement courses in science, English, math, and history.[24] It has an art room, a media center, a computer lab, and a science lab.[1]

According to the 2011 District of Columbia's Comprehensive Assessment System, 32% of students met or exceeded math standards, and 42% of students met or exceeded reading standards.[25] In 2010, the school's graduation rate was 95%, and 47% of graduating students registered at a college or university in the following fall semester.[25]

Athletics

The school's athletic teams are named the Colts.[26] Coolidge was the first high school in the District to require physical education classes five period per week.[27] Because the school was so new, it could not organize any athletic teams in time for the 1939-1940 school year, but it did have teams organized for the 1940-1941 school year.[28] In December 1940, The Colts' first basketball game was played against Woodward Prep.[29] Because the delivery of its basketball hoops was delayed, the game was played at a local Y.M.C.A.[30] Coached by the former head coach of Anacostia High School, Julian Colangelo,[31] Coolidge beat Woodward Prep, 42 to 19.[32] Coolidge also won its second-ever basketball game, winning an away game against Briarley Military Academy by a score of 25 to 17.[33] Coolidge's third basketball game was the first game played in its own gymnasium; it was a 19-to-12 win against Anacostia High School.[34]

The Colts first baseball team played its first game in April 1941, playing against Briarley Military Academy.[35] Coolidge lost the game 13 to 7 after committing six errors and walking nine batters.[35]

Coolidge's football team, coached by Sherman Rees and Gil Roberts, began playing in September 1941.[36] Coolidge lost its first game 27 to 0 against John Handley High School.[37] Coolidge played its second football game, and its first home game, against National Training School. Coolidge won the game 7 to 6.[38]

The 1946-1947 school year was particularly successful at Coolidge, with the school's baseball, basketball, football, golf, rifle, and archery teams all bringing in District championships that year.[39]

After years without a stadium, the District's Board of Education and the District's Board of Commissioners approved construction of a stadium behind the school at Third and Sheridan streets in 1945.[40] The land was owned by the federal government.[41] Coolidge did not want to build a stadium on federally owned land so it would not have to share ticket revenue with the federal government.[41] The federal government ended up giving the land to the District Board of Education, allowing Coolidge to continue plans for a 10,000-seat stadium, football and baseball field, and a quarter-mile track.[42] President Harry Truman cut the stadium's construction from the District's 1952 budget in order to keep the District's budget balanced.[43] The District's Board of Commissioners approved a 1955 budget that included Coolidge's stadium.[44] Congress ended up appropriating funds for the stadium's construction in the 1955 budget.[45]

In 2007, Coolidge opened its new football field, including a digital scoreboard, a press box, and a new public-address system.[46]

In 2010, Coolidge hired Natalie Randolph as its football coach, making her the only female head football coach in the nation.[47] Randolph had previously played wide receiver for the D.C. Divas women's professional football team.[48] Randolph also teaches environmental sciences.[49]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ GNIS entry for Calvin Coolidge Senior High School; USGS; December 31, 1981.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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