Manual High School (Denver)
Encyclopedia
Manual High School is located in the Whittier
neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado
.
Manual is one of the oldest schools in the area, the original building had been located near the current one, and opened its doors in 1896, an institution deeply woven into the fabric of the community.
In the 1970s court-ordered busing for integration was instituted. White students from southeast Denver were bused in to attend Manual, which was predominately black and Latino at the time. They thought that by bringing more white students the school would improve. (Jazmin) It was a successful endeavor, as education worked and overall test scores were good. Then busing stopped.
The students from more affluent communities stopped attending Manual and the subsequent dip in test scores was drastic. In 2006 after several failed attempts to fix the problems, Manual High School was closed. When the decision was made public, several hundred students from Manual High School rallied outside the headquarters of Denver Public Schools to protest. Students were disappointed and angry because they couldn't finish the school year. (Jazmin)
Students shouted "Hell, no. We won't go" and "Go T-Bolts" as they marched for about an hour in sub-freezing temperatures outside DPS headquarters at 9th and Grant. Some students suggested that the decision to close Manual was motivated by race. In the end, the displaced Manual students were given the option of attending other higher performing schools. Busing and bus passes were provided. The school then reopened in fall of 2006 (Anthony)
A 2007 article by Katherine Boo
in The New Yorker
described efforts by then-superintendent of school Michael Bennet
to turn the school around.
Manual will grow into a 9-12 high school starting with a freshman class in the 2007-2008 school year, adding a class of students every year thereafter. In the 2010-2011 school year, Manual will be a fully developed 9-12 grade high school.
Dr. Robert Stein, a Manual graduate and top school leader in Colorado was tapped to lead the new Manual High School. He left the school in 2010, and Mr. Joe Sandoval came in to take his place until they were able to find the right principal for the school. (Bobbi) For the next 2011-2012 school year, the principal selection committee has chosen Mr. Brian Dale, former principal of Bruce Randolf (Bobbi).
Notable students who went to Manual include the first black mayors of Denver, Wellington Webb
, and Seattle, Norman Rice; boxer, poet, and activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales; writer Ted Conover
and National Public Radio correspondent Scott Horsley. Manual has excelled at basketball and baseball where they have produced players such as Micheal Ray Richardson
, Billy Lewis, Daniel Banuelos/Cortez, who went on to play college baseball, and LaVon Williams, who went on to a second career as a celebrated wood carver. The 2010-2011 school year will be the year that the first senior class will graduate since its re-opening. (Eddy)
During WW II at least 50 Manual men and one teacher, Richard Orange, gave their lives in service. Unfortunately, no complete and accurate honor roll record could be kept of the men who served, but presumably the roll call would include a major fraction of all graduates of the 1930s and 1940s.{Manual High School's yearbook from 2003-2004} (Juana)
Whittier, Denver, Colorado
Whittier is a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, located approximately 2 miles northeast of downtown Denver. The boundaries of the neighborhood are 23rd Avenue to the south, Martin Luther King Boulevard to the north, Downing St. to the west and York St. to the east. The neighborhood is mostly...
neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Demographics
- 5.6% whiteWhite AmericanWhite Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
- 40.9% African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
- 58.1% LatinoLatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
- 0% Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
- 0.3% AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n
Manual Today
Manual High School of the 2011 school year will be graduating their first senior class since re-opening from closure in the spring of 2006. With Manual's graduating class of 2011 they show the renewed preparation for making students college bound. Manual high school has made a commitment to leave no T-Bolt behind and to do “whatever it takes to ensure that students stay in school and are prepared for success in college, career and in life.” (Alexsis)History
Once a model of educational excellence and community, Manual High School fell on hard times. For this reason the school had to make some changes. (Jazmin)Manual is one of the oldest schools in the area, the original building had been located near the current one, and opened its doors in 1896, an institution deeply woven into the fabric of the community.
In the 1970s court-ordered busing for integration was instituted. White students from southeast Denver were bused in to attend Manual, which was predominately black and Latino at the time. They thought that by bringing more white students the school would improve. (Jazmin) It was a successful endeavor, as education worked and overall test scores were good. Then busing stopped.
The students from more affluent communities stopped attending Manual and the subsequent dip in test scores was drastic. In 2006 after several failed attempts to fix the problems, Manual High School was closed. When the decision was made public, several hundred students from Manual High School rallied outside the headquarters of Denver Public Schools to protest. Students were disappointed and angry because they couldn't finish the school year. (Jazmin)
Students shouted "Hell, no. We won't go" and "Go T-Bolts" as they marched for about an hour in sub-freezing temperatures outside DPS headquarters at 9th and Grant. Some students suggested that the decision to close Manual was motivated by race. In the end, the displaced Manual students were given the option of attending other higher performing schools. Busing and bus passes were provided. The school then reopened in fall of 2006 (Anthony)
A 2007 article by Katherine Boo
Katherine Boo
Katherine Boo is an award-winning journalist known primarily for writing about America's poor and disadvantaged.-Life:A native of Washington, D.C., Boo graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College and began her career in journalism with editorial positions at Washington's City Paper and then the...
in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
described efforts by then-superintendent of school Michael Bennet
Michael Bennet
Michael Farrand Bennet is an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. He is currently the junior United States Senator from Colorado, and a member of the Democratic Party...
to turn the school around.
Manual will grow into a 9-12 high school starting with a freshman class in the 2007-2008 school year, adding a class of students every year thereafter. In the 2010-2011 school year, Manual will be a fully developed 9-12 grade high school.
Dr. Robert Stein, a Manual graduate and top school leader in Colorado was tapped to lead the new Manual High School. He left the school in 2010, and Mr. Joe Sandoval came in to take his place until they were able to find the right principal for the school. (Bobbi) For the next 2011-2012 school year, the principal selection committee has chosen Mr. Brian Dale, former principal of Bruce Randolf (Bobbi).
Notable students who went to Manual include the first black mayors of Denver, Wellington Webb
Wellington Webb
Wellington E. Webb is a former mayor of Denver, Colorado. He is a graduate of the city's Manual High School. He was Denver's first African-American Mayor.Webb served as mayor of Denver for 12 years, from 1991 to 2003...
, and Seattle, Norman Rice; boxer, poet, and activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales; writer Ted Conover
Ted Conover
Ted Conover is an American author and journalist. A graduate of Denver's Manual High School and Amherst College and a Marshall Scholar, he is also a distinguished writer-in-residence in the of New York University...
and National Public Radio correspondent Scott Horsley. Manual has excelled at basketball and baseball where they have produced players such as Micheal Ray Richardson
Micheal Ray Richardson
Micheal Ray "Sugar" Richardson is an American former professional basketball player and currently the head coach of the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada. Richardson played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies...
, Billy Lewis, Daniel Banuelos/Cortez, who went on to play college baseball, and LaVon Williams, who went on to a second career as a celebrated wood carver. The 2010-2011 school year will be the year that the first senior class will graduate since its re-opening. (Eddy)
During WW II at least 50 Manual men and one teacher, Richard Orange, gave their lives in service. Unfortunately, no complete and accurate honor roll record could be kept of the men who served, but presumably the roll call would include a major fraction of all graduates of the 1930s and 1940s.{Manual High School's yearbook from 2003-2004} (Juana)
Sources
- Manual High School is reborn - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_6126075#ixzz1LtrLKj6X
- Voices of Manual in the school magazine BOOM: http://www.denverpost.com/voices/ci_11199832
Links
- http://manual.schoolfusion.us/ (Bobbi)
- http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2010/04/09/4210-rob-stein-leaving-denvers-manual-high-school (Bobbi)