Pioneer High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

Pioneer High School is a public high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1856, the school was previously called the Union School and Ann Arbor High School. In 2010, Pioneer was listed as a "Silver Medal School" by the U.S. News & World Report.[3]

Pioneer High School
Address
601 West Stadium Boulevard

Ann Arbor
,
Michigan
48103

United States
Coordinates42°15′45″N 83°45′18″W
Information
TypePublic high school
MottoHome of Purple Pride
EstablishedOctober 5, 1856
School districtAnn Arbor Public Schools
PrincipalDesmond G. Smith
Teaching staff112.75 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Number of students1,956 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio17.35[1]
Color(s)Purple & white    
MascotWoody the Pioneer
NicknamePioneers
Websitewww.a2schools.org/pioneer
Student assessments
2021–22 school
year[2]
Change vs.
prior year[2]
M-STEP 11th grade proficiency rates
(Science / Social Studies)
Advanced %28.3 / 32.4
Proficient %22.4 / 39.2
PR. Proficient %14.3 / 23.9
Not Proficient %35.0 / 4.5
Average test scores
SAT Total1153.4
(Decrease −45.5)

For years, Pioneer and cross-town Huron High School were among the largest high schools in the state of Michigan due to overcrowding that was eased with the construction and opening of Skyline High School in 2008.[4]

History

Founded in 1857, Pioneer High School has held several names and occupied various buildings. First known as the Union School, the institution opened on October 5, 1856. The school was later renamed Ann Arbor High School, and its yearbook, The Omega, was first published in 1884. In 1904, Ann Arbor High School burned down, and the rebuilt high school opened in 1906 at the corner of Huron and State Streets in Ann Arbor. This structure was later known as the Frieze Building after it was sold to the University of Michigan in 1956;[5] it was demolished by the university in early 2007 to make way for the new North Quad residence hall.[6] Through a local essay contest run by The Ann Arbor News, the mascot nickname, the Pioneers, was chosen in 1936.

Land for a new, larger building was purchased from the University of Michigan in 1950. The new site, on West Stadium Blvd west of South Main Street, is directly southwest of the University of Michigan Football Stadium and had been used for game day parking, a tradition that continues under school district ownership. Construction of the new Ann Arbor High School building started in 1953 and was completed in time for all classes to move the new location for the fall of 1956.[5][7] By the 1960s, the new building had already reached capacity, and thus the school board established Huron High School on the city's east side as the city's second comprehensive high school. The old school was renamed to Pioneer High School starting in 1968.[8] Huron began operating as a separate school during the 1968–69 school year, before Huron's building was completed, so students from the old and new schools shared the Pioneer building that year on a split schedule with Pioneer students attending classes in the morning and Huron students in the afternoon.

In 1971, Pioneer II, an experimental offshoot of Pioneer High School, was established. The school utilized a small, self-selected group of Pioneer faculty and students working under "free-school" principles, and eventually became Earthworks High School before merging with Community High School in 1978.[9]

Pioneer High School was the first high school in the US to have a planetarium, which was donated to the school in 1956 by the Argus Camera Company.[10] As of October 2012, it held the record for being the longest continuously run planetarium in a school in the western hemisphere.[11]

As of July 2023, the principal is Desmond G. Smith.[12]

Extracurricular activities

Highlights

Football

Pioneer has won two MHSAA State Championships (in 1984 and 1987) and 43 league titles; they currently compete in the Southeastern Conference Red Division. Historically, the Pioneers are one of top high school football programs in the state with 737 victories, second all-time behind Muskegon (as of the 2019 season).[15][16]

Theater

The Pioneer Theatre Guild won Class A State Championships in 1986 when they performed William Saroyan's Hello Out There, and again in 1988 when they performed Sam Shephard's Fool For Love. In the fall of 2006, the Pioneer Theatre Guild was the first high school theater company to do a stage production of Disney's High School Musical, Willy Wonka, and Miss Saigon. Pioneer Theatre Guild was chosen to perform several "musical pilots" by Musical Theatre International, including The Little Mermaid (2015), Rock of Ages (2016), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2016). Pioneer Theatre Guild has put on several popular productions including Les Misérables, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, Romeo and Juliet, Hair, The Wizard of Oz, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Urinetown. In both 2009 and 2010 Pioneer Theatre Guild placed second in the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association's theater competition.[17]

Music

Pioneer has three separate music departments: band, choir, and orchestra. Pioneer's band is split into four different classes, of increasing difficulty. It has a varsity band, two concert bands(concert band white and concert band purple, the latter being higher level), and symphony band. Any students wishing to do band can be accepted to varsity band without an audition. Students wishing to move to a higher level band must audition. Pioneer also offers a jazz band.[18]

Pioneer's orchestra program's hierarchy is similar to that of the band program. The hierarchy is philharmonic orchestra, two concert orchestras (concert white and concert purple, the latter being the step above), and symphony orchestra. Philharmonic orchestra is offered to anyone wishing to join orchestra. Students audition to get seats in the higher level orchestras.[19]

Pioneer's robust choral program include introductory-level choruses, Cantando (for Soprano and Alto voices) and Cantare (for Tenor, Baritone, and Bass voices). Beyond the introductory level, there is Bel Canto (for intermediate level treble voices) and A Cappella (for advanced students of all voice parts).[20]

Pioneer's music program won its eighth Grammy Award from the Grammy Foundation in 2015,[21] an award which goes to the best High School music programs in the United States each year.

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. "Pioneer High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  2. "MI School Data Annual Education Report". MI School Data. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  3. "Pioneer High School in ANN ARBOR, MI - Best High Schools - US News". rankingsandreviews.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  4. http://www.mhsaa.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=lxpD75plRn0%3D&tabid=571
  5. "The History of Ann Arbor Pioneer High School". Archived from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  6. "Regents approve request for site preparation for North Quad". umich.edu. September 22, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  7. "Ann Arbor Pioneer High School: history". aaps.k12.mi.us. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  8. "Students: School History". Archived from the original on February 7, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  9. Sharon Woodson, "'Free school' stresses 'learning' rather than 'teaching'", Ann Arbor News, September 19, 1971; Sharon Woodson, "Pioneer II: a close-up look at what goes on", Ann Arbor News, January 17, 1972.
  10. Miller, Janet (December 2, 2011). "Pioneer's Argus Planetarium needs donor for $80,000 in critical upgrades". The Ann Arbor News. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  11. Arndt, Danielle (October 24, 2012). "$100,000 donor steps forward to save Ann Arbor Pioneer's Argus Planetarium". The Ann Arbor News. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  12. "July 18, 2023 - New Principal of Pioneer High School". www.a2schools.org. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  13. "More than just a coach: The story of Pioneer High School's Bryan Westfield". USA Today High School Sports. July 24, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  14. "Ann Arbor Pioneer defeats Ann Arbor Huron 2-0 for fifth consecutive field hockey state title". mlive.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  15. "Team Records". mhsaa.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  16. "Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers Historical Michigan High School Football Scores Since 1950". michigan-football.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  17. "Pioneer High School Theatre Guild". aaps.k12.mi.us. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  18. "Home". www.aapioneerbands.org. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  19. "Pioneer High School Orchestras". Pioneer High School Orchestras. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  20. "PioneerChoirs". sites.google.com. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  21. "AAPS: Pioneer High School: Performing Arts". Archived from the original on April 7, 2006. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  22. "Ron Asheton". nndb.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  23. "Death claims drummer Scott Asheton, influential punk rock pioneer and former Ann Arborite". MLive.com. March 17, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  24. "Scott Asheton". nndb.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  25. "Ann Arbor native wins Nobel Prize for developing new high-powered microscope".
  26. "Keith Bostic". databaseFootball.com. databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved December 27, 2007.
  27. Ann Arbor Film Festival. 2007. p. 4.
  28. "Home » Steeplechase Films". Ricburns.com. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  29. "Ian Cole Bio :: Notre Dame Ice Hockey :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of Notre Dame Athletics". Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  30. "Ken Dyer". Pro Football Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  31. "Records: Bob Elliott". Ann Arbor Pioneer Athletics. Ann Arbor Public Schools. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  32. "LI juniors part of Team USA's world championship".
  33. "Ann Arbor's 'The Good Wife' star Zach Grenier leads all-star cast in local 'Ajax' and 'Philoctetes' reading". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  34. Jonathan Marwil (1987). A history of Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press. p. 34.
  35. Battista, Judy (November 23, 2011). "The Harbaughs' Sibling Rivalry". New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  36. Wallace, Anise C. (July 24, 1989). "'Genius' Grant For Founder Of Magazine". The New York Times.
  37. "PTSO Newsletter". Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. January 2004. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008.
  38. "Pioneer grad Kara Lynn Joyce is 50 meters from 1st individual Olympic medal". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  39. Gilmore, Eric (June 12, 2016). "Penguins win Stanley Cup, defeat Sharks in Game 6". National Hockey League. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  40. "Bruce Kimball Drove to Fame but Dove to Tragedy : People.com".
  41. http://annarboralumni.org/?sitePage=custom&pageURL=school_files/annarboralumni/pages/notable_alumni.html Archived October 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Ann Arbor Public Schools Alumni
  42. "Jack Robert Lousma". NASA. February 1999.
  43. http://music.msu.edu/faculty/profile/randy1 Michigan State University bio
  44. "Louis Smith gets a well-deserved tribute from jazz students".
  45. "Pioneer High and U-M grad Ashley Park will have a key role in Broadway revival of 'The King and I'". MLive. February 10, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  46. "Ann Arbor's Zack Pearlman to appear on 'Workaholics' and 'Community'". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  47. Paul Trynka (December 7, 2011). Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed. Random House Digital. p. 37.
  48. "Zach Putnam". baseball-reference.com.
  49. "2014 U.S. Olympic Team Media Guide". Retrieved July 14, 2014.
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  52. "Brian Michael on Breaking Barriers For Trans Male Actors and His "Queen Sugar" Role". October 7, 2014.
  53. "STAEBLER, Neil Oliver - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov.
  54. "Frank Vatrano". teamusa.usahockey.com. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  55. Weller, Thomas Huckle (2004). Growing Pathogens in Tissue Cultures: Fifty Years in Academic Tropical Medicine, Pediatrics, and Virology. Boston Medical Library. p. 15. ISBN 9780881353808.
  56. "Jason Zucker - Denver Pioneers Official Athletics Site". March 26, 2012. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012.
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