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| James A. Garfield High School | |
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| Location | |
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| Garfield Building Location: 400 23rd Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1920 |
| Principal | Theodore Howard II |
| Faculty | 92 (October 2005) |
| Enrollment | 1,595 (October 2005) |
| Color(s) | Purple & White |
| Mascot | Bulldog |
| Information | (206) 252-2270 |
| Website | http://www.ghs.seattleschools.org/ |
James A. Garfield High School is a public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle, Washington, USA.
Located along 23rd Avenue between E. Alder and E. Jefferson Streets in Seattle's urban Central District, Garfield draws students from all over the city. Garfield is also known as the magnet school for the school district's Accelerated Progress Program for especially gifted students. As a result it has many college level classes for students to take ranging from calculus-based physics to Advanced Placement studio art.
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History
James A. Garfield High School was founded in 1920 as East High School at its current location. Its original class consisted of only 282 students, transferred from Broadway High School. In just three years, however, the school's enrollment grew enough that the 12-room building was replaced with a brand-new, Jacobean-style building designed by Floyd Naramore. In 1929, the city commissioned the architect to design an addition for the school as enrollment peaked at 2,300 students.[1]
Garfield High School has long played a key role in its neighborhood, and as what is now known as the Central District has changed, so has the school's population. In its early decades, the school was noted for its Jewish, Japanese and Italian populations. After World War II, the neighborhood evolved into a predominantly African-American one[2] and by 1961, 51 percent of Garfield students were black, compared to only 5.3 percent of the general Seattle school district population.[3] In the late 1960s and 1970s, Garfield was at the center of the school district's attempts to avoid forced busing through various schemes, including turning it into a "magnet" school. This began the focus on music and science that have continued to this day.
Remodel
The buildings have lasted for over eight decades, but was partially demolished in a sweeping redesign of the school which began in June 2006. The remodel was mostly completed by the fall of 2008, making the class of 2009 the only class to attend both the old and new Garfield. There was a fight to hold off the remodel to preserve the building's history including a city initiative to preserve the Quincy Jones auditorium as a historic site, thereby blocking the remodel.[4] The new design has a new state-of-the-art performing arts center. After its renovation, Garfield had become the second most expensive high school in the state, after Stadium High School, with Stadium High at 106M and Garfield at $105M.
James A. Garfield High School reopened for the 2008 school year for the first day of class on 3 September. Faculty and students vacated their temporary quarters at Lincoln High School at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.[citation needed]
Terracotta work
The design of Garfield High School makes extensive use of terracotta. Among the many terracotta details worked into the design of the building are emblems of botany, the trades, arts and crafts, industry, intelligence, and the sciences.
 "Botany" (south face) |
 "Trades" (south face) |
 "Arts & Crafts" (west face) |
 "Industry" (east face) |
 "Intelligence" (east face) |
 "Sciences" (west face) |
Academics
Each year there are dozens of valedictorians, most of whom go on to the top universities.[5] In June 2005, 44 valedictorians graduated.[5] In recent years, however, the school has faced widespread complaints that white students are served through Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors programs, and black students are not supported.[6] During the 2006-2007 school year Garfield offered over 120 different classes across 9 departments, including an extensive array of advanced classes. A growing number of Garfield students also take classes from local Community Colleges through a program called Running Start, online from Stanford's EPGY, online from Johns Hopkins University's CTY program, or on-campus at the University of Washington.[7]
Athletics
Garfield basketball teams have won many regional and state titles, including a stretch from 1980 to 1991 during which time the Bulldogs won five Class AAA titles, eight Seattle Metro League championships, qualified for the state tournament nine times, and won the state tournament five times. The boys' basketball team has been state champions a total of eleven times and runner-up five times since 1949. The team has had several notable alumni, including Brandon Roy (GHS c/o 2002), and University of Washington alumni Will Conroy.[8] Both the girls' and boys' teams were state champions in 1980 and 1987. More recently, the girls' team was state champions in 2005. The boys' team reached the state championships in 2009, but lost to Federal Way High School. [9][10]
Garfield's tennis teams have been very successful recently in the KingCo 4A division. The Boys were and undefeated League Champs in 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2007.[11]
In 2007, the girls swimming and diving team won their conference, district title and state championship.[citation needed]
Garfield track & field teams have won multiple metro, district & state titles. Garfield won state titles in boys & girls track in 1987.
Famous Bulldog alumni also include Olympic Gold Medalist Debbie Armstrong, who won the giant slalom at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
Programs, clubs, and activities
Drama
In 2005, Garfield's performance of Cabaret won the Outstanding Program and Poster Design award and Special Honors in Educational Impact and Student Achievement from the 5th Avenue Theatre.[12] Subsequent musicals have been unable to enter the 5th Avenue Awards due to scheduling.
Newspaper
The Messenger is Garfield's bi-weekly student-run newspaper. The Messenger has been awarded by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association: placing in Best of Show in the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Conventions and winning their most prestigious honor, the Pacemaker Award, in 1997 and 2006.[13] A column from the paper was reprinted by All About Jazz in 2004.[14] In 2006 and 2007, staff reporters won the NSPA's Brasler Prize.[citation needed]
Outdoor Education
Post, Garfield's Outdoor Education Program, is a student-led organization which leads a variety of outdoor trips available to all students in the Seattle School District. Trips include rock climbing, snow camping, kayaking, backpacking, survival skills, wilderness navigation, ski/snowboarding and canyoneering. [15] The program is entirely staffed by Garfield students, who have each completed a 30-hour Mountaineering Oriented First Aid Course. [16]
Music
The music program at Garfield High School has won numerous awards. It has seen several noted artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, and Ernestine Anderson.
Vocal Dept.
The choirs at Garfield include a concert choir and a vocal jazz group.[17] In 2009, Vocal Jazz received a special commendation for their performance at Lionel Hampton.[18]
Orchestra
The orchestra program includes a symphony orchestra, a concert orchestra, and a chamber music program which is conducted by Marcus Tsutakawa .
Every year around 20 students from the Orchestra play in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, often in principal positions. Garfield students also play in the Youth Symphony's Junior and Debut Orchestras, the Seattle Conservatory of Music Starling Scholar Chamber Orchestra, and many community ensembles. Garfield Orchestra members have had their original compositions debuted by the Seattle Symphony and the Youth Symphony. In 1995, Garfield guest conductor Gerard Schwarz, Music Director of the Seattle Symphony, said, "I don’t recall hearing a high school orchestra perform anywhere in this country on such a high level."[19] Garfield has won numerous first-place awards in festivals all around the world, and even the Best Orchestra for Downbeat Magazine both in 1999 and 2006 [20] The Garfield Symphony Orchestra has toured and performed in areas all around the world, including Japan, Europe, Boston, Chicago, and Carnegie Hall at New York.
Jazz
Garfield's jazz program has won many state, national, and international awards and accolades in big band, combo, and individual categories. The Jazz Ensemble has toured Europe at least five times, most recently in the Montreaux and North Sea Jazz Festivals, and has attended the International Association of Jazz Educators' conference, as well as the Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City. It is the only band to win the 'First Place' trophy in consecutive years (2003-04) and the only band to have been invited to Essentially Ellington for ten years straight.[21] Overall showings at Essentially Ellington have included 1999 (honorable mention), 2000 (honorable mention), 2002 (2nd place), 2003 (1st place), 2004 (1st place), 2006 (3rd place), 2008 (2nd place), and 2009 (1st place). Its consistent placement in national competitions and long history of national recognition indicate its status as one of the best high school jazz bands in the country.[22]
Among their many other awards are multiple division & sweepstakes awards at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (Moscow, Idaho), over a dozen first place finishes at the Reno Jazz Festival, at least five sweepstakes awards at the Clark College Jazz Festival (Vancouver, Washington), numerous sweepstakes or first place awards at the Viking Jazz Festival (Poulsbo, Washington), half a dozen sweepstakes awards at the Bellevue Jazz Festival, half a dozen first place awards at the Mount Hood Jazz Festival, and first place in the "Heavy" (top) Division at the 1995 Fullerton College Jazz Festival.[citation needed]
In addition, the band has toured Europe several times, visiting the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and Italy.
Notable alumni
- Jimi Hendrix, rock musician
- Quincy Jones, music producer
- Dave Lewis, rock musician
- Linda Lee Cadwell, author and widow of martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee
- Debbie Armstrong, alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist
- Brandon Roy, current NBA All-Star for the Portland Trail Blazers
- Isaiah Stanback, NFL player for the New England Patriots
- Ben Slivka, Software Engineer
- Yasser Seirawan, chess grandmaster
Notes
- ^ http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3222
- ^ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/neighbors/centralarea/cent26.html
- ^ http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3939
- ^ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/270196_garfield15.html
- ^ a b http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002336475_garfield15m.html
- ^ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/176577_garfield07.html
- ^ http://ghs.seattleschools.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&pageid=337
- ^ http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/basketball/pastchamp/4aboyschamps.html
- ^ http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/basketball/pastchamp/4agirlschamps.html WIAA Past '4A' Girls' Champions
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.kingcoathletics.com/KingCo_Conference/Tennis_page_files/Tennis_page.htm
- ^ http://www.5thavenuetheatre.org/edu_awards.shtml
- ^ http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/npm97.html
- ^ http://www.allaboutjazz.com/seattle/aaj_seattle_200401.pdf
- ^ http://www.ghspost.org/events
- ^ http://www.ghspost.org/about
- ^ http://ghs.seattleschools.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&pageid=960§ionid=124
- ^ http://www.garfieldmessenger.com/news/2009/03/13/when-in-moscow/
- ^ http://www.garfieldorchestra.org/awards.html
- ^ http://www.garfieldorchestra.org/awards.html
- ^ http://garfieldjazz.org/handbook.html
- ^ http://garfieldjazz.org/History.html
References
- "James A. Garfield High School 2005 Annual Report". http://www.seattleschools.org/site/siso/reports/anrep/high/14.pdf. Retrieved 2005-01-22.
- "Garfield High School opens as East High School in 1920". History Link. http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3222. Retrieved 2005-01-22.
- "The Benaroya Gift". http://www.seattlesymphony.org/benaroya/about/gift.aspx. Retrieved 2005-01-22.
- Gregory Roberts (2002). "Chess champ Seirawan has all the right moves". Seattle Post-Intellegencer. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/53957_chess10.shtml. Retrieved 2005-01-22.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Garfield High School (Seattle) |
- Garfield High School
- Garfield High School Foundation
- Garfield School Design Team (Guiding the 2006-2008 redevelopment of Garfield)
- Garfield Messenger
Coordinates: 47°36′18″N 122°18′6″W / 47.605°N 122.30167°W
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