Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)
| Dunbar High School | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Address | |
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1301 New Jersey Ave Northwest Washington, DC 20001 United States |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′31″N 77°00′51″W / 38.9087°N 77.0142°WCoordinates: 38°54′31″N 77°00′51″W / 38.9087°N 77.0142°W |
| Information | |
| School type | Public high school |
| Established | 1870 |
| School district | District of Columbia Public Schools Ward 5 |
| Principal | Stephen Jackson |
| Faculty | 66.0 (on FTE basis) |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Enrollment | 837 (as of 2009-10) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 12.68 |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) |
Black Crimson |
| Athletics conference | District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association |
| Mascot | Crimson Tide |
| Website | School Website |
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C., United States. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, two blocks from the intersection of New Jersey and New York Avenues. Dunbar, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Originally named the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth and from 1891 to 1916 as M Street High School, the school was founded as an educational mission at the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. The school was America's first public high school for black students. The school was renamed in 1916, when its location was changed from M Street, after the famous African-American poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, who died in 1906.
It later was designated as the city's academic high school, with other schools providing more vocational or technical training goals. Dunbar was known for its excellent academics, enough so that some black parents moved to Washington specifically so their children could attend it. Its faculty was paid well by the standards of the time, earning parity pay with Washington's white school teachers because they were all federal employees. It also boasted a remarkably high number of graduates who went on to higher education, and a generally successful student body.
Dunbar is similar to Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland and Fort Worth, Texas, as all three schools have a majority African American student body and are of a major importance to the local African American community. All three schools are also highly regarded for their athletic programs within their respective school district in the sports of football, basketball and track. There is also a Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky.
One of Dunbar's first principals was the first black graduate of Harvard College. Almost all the teachers had graduate degrees, and several earned PhDs. By the 1950s, Dunbar High School was sending 80 percent of its students to college. According to Thomas Sowell, this all changed after the landmark United States Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education : "For Washington, the end of racial segregation led to a political compromise, in which all schools became neighborhood schools. Dunbar, which had been accepting outstanding black students from anywhere in the city, could now accept only students from the rough ghetto neighborhood in which it was located. Virtually overnight, Dunbar became a typical ghetto school. As unmotivated, unruly and disruptive students flooded in, Dunbar teachers began moving out and many retired. More than 80 years of academic excellence simply vanished into thin air."
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