Lawrence High School (Massachusetts)

Lawrence High School
Address
70-71 North Parish Road
Lawrence, Massachusetts 01843
United States
Coordinates 42°41′27″N 71°08′42″W / 42.69074°N 71.14488°W / 42.69074; -71.14488Coordinates: 42°41′27″N 71°08′42″W / 42.69074°N 71.14488°W / 42.69074; -71.14488
Information
Type Public High School
School district Lawrence Public Schools
Headmaster Michael Fiato
Grades 9 - 12
Enrollment 3,200
Color(s) Navy Blue, White
Athletics conference Merrimack Valley Conference (MVC)
Nickname Lancers
Rival Central Catholic High School (CCHS)
Average SAT scores 443 verbal
449 math
892 total (2016-2017)[1]
Website School website

Lawrence High School is located in Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States.

LHS is a part of Lawrence Public schools. In 1901, The Lawrence High School was established at the corner of Lawrence and Haverhill street. This is where Lawrence High School served its many students for 106 years. In 2007, a new Lawrence High School campus opened in south Lawrence.[2] The original building houses an alternative high school program, and a public middle school. The new Lawrence High School Campus is organized into academies by grade level, with a 9th Grade Academy, a 10th Grade Academy, and an Upper School Academy which serves 11th graders and 12 graders. The new Lawrence High School Campus also houses the Abbott Lawrence Academy, which serves the highest-performing students and the LIFE program, which serves students who are differently-abled. The new Lawrence High School Campus is one of the largest in the state, with a Field House that can seat 3,400 individuals and a Performing Arts Center that seats an extra 1,200 individuals.[3]

Receivership

In 2010, more than one out of every four Lawrence kids dropped out of high school and only 35 percent of 10th graders were “proficient” in math, by MCAS results. As a result, the school district was put under receivership by the state Board of Education in January 2012. The receiver named was Jeffrey Riley.[4] In 2012, the drop out rate at the high school was more than 50%.[5]

According to "The New York Times", The "district ranked in the bottom 1 percent in the state based on math and English test scores when it was placed in receivership by the state education commissioner in fall 2011. There has been evident improvement in just two years, with high school graduation rates raising to 67 percent in 2014, up from 52 percent in 2011. ... Lawrence, with about 14,000 students, has a history of corruption and dysfunction. It was the first school system taken over under the receivership law passed by the State Legislature in 2010. The Legislature gave the receivers extraordinary powers, including the ability to extend the school day, change collective-bargaining agreements or even require all staff to reapply for their positions. While state lawmakers were willing to sweep the system clean in the worst districts if that’s what it took to end the cycle of failure, that did not happen in Lawrence."[6]

References

  1. http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/statereport/sat.aspx
  2. "History of the Lawrence Public Schools". www.lawrence.k12.ma.us. Lawrence Public Schools. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  3. "History of the Lawrence Public Schools". www.lawrence.k12.ma.us. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  4. Under Receiver’s Rule, Lawrence Schools Show Early Gains
  5. Lawrence, MA, City of the Damned
  6. Massachusetts Takes On a Failing School District
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