Harrison High School (Michigan)

For schools with a similar name, see Harrison High School (disambiguation).

Harrison High School
Address
29995 West 12 Mile Road Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334 United States
Coordinates	42°29′51″N 83°20′46″W / 42.49750°N 83.34611°W / 42.49750; -83.34611Coordinates: 42°29′51″N 83°20′46″W / 42.49750°N 83.34611°W / 42.49750; -83.34611
Information
School type	Public Magnet School
Opened	1970
School district	Farmington Public Schools
Superintendent	George Heitsch
Principal	Jim Anderson
Faculty	82
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,083[1] (2015-16)
Athletics conference	Oakland Activities Association
Nickname	Hawks
Newspaper	The Catalyst
Yearbook	Retrospect
Website	www.farmington.k12.mi.us/hhs/

Harrison High School (also known as "Farmington Harrison" or simply as "Harrison") is a four-year secondary institution located in Farmington Hills, Michigan in Oakland County, MI. It is part of the Farmington Public School District. The schools fields students from the cities of Farmington and Farmington Hills, and a portion of West Bloomfield Township. As of the 2015-2016 school year, the school educates a student body of 1,083. Harrison High School’s Mission is "to develop students to be caring and engaged learners who make informed decisions as they become internationally minded in their stewardship of the world and its resources." Harrison's mascot is the Hawk and its colors are green and gold.

In March 2016, the Farmington school board announced that the school will be closed following the 2018-19 academic year, citing lower student populations in the city of Farmington Hills.^[2]

History

Harrison High School opened in September 1970 with Freshman, Sophomore and, Junior classes. The Juniors were the first graduating class in June 1972. The school is named for Gerald V. Harrison who was superintendent of Farmington Public Schools from 1957 to 1967, a period of dramatic growth in the school district. Harrison was the third high school in the district, and the only one with a Freshman class. The school building was an imposing three stories, with class rooms on the third floor. The gymnasium, auto shop, pool, and auditorium were on the first floor extending into the second floor as needed. Other parts of the second floor were largely unused. Since only the third floor class rooms had windows the building had an austere presence, inspiring jokes that it looked like a prison - especially as viewed from the adjoining freeway. Nevertheless, the view from the third story class rooms windows afforded pleasant vistas over the largely undeveloped wooded areas surrounding the school site. Because of the needs of a growing student body large windows were added to the second floor as part of a major renovation in 2000.

The school will close in 2019.^[2]

Academics

The quality of Harrison's academics has been on a continuing positive rise since the introduction of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme. Because of this program, the school has seen an influx of younger, enthusiastic teachers as well as newer, and more comprehensive curricula. The school has 10 Advanced Placement courses, and a comprehensive IB program. Harrison routinely sends a number of students to the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and a smaller number to Ivy league universities.

International Baccalaureate

Starting in the 2013-2014 school year, students have had the opportunity to take IB classes at Harrison High School. Prior to this, students wishing to obtain an IB diploma would have had to attend the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, MI. The program will only be open to the class of 2015 and beyond.^[3] Students will be able to take advantage of the Diploma Programme or take classes individually. Students can begin the Diploma Programme in eleventh grade, concluding at the end of twelfth grade.^[3]

Test scores

The State of Michigan publishes the ACT test scores for all of the schools in the state.^[4] The scores for Harrison are as follows:

Athletics

Varsity sports include Baseball, Boys Basketball, Bowling, Football, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, Cross Country, Basketball, Soccer, Swimming (sport), Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, Softball, Ice hockey, Lacrosse, Sideline and Competitive Cheer (Poms), Wrestling, Color Guard, Swimming (sport)

Football

Farmington Hills Harrison is most known athletically for its football team having won a record thirteen state championships and three runners-up since 1981. It sends hundreds of players to division 1 college programs. Although Farmington Hills Harrison's Football team often fields only forty players, they routinely defeat much bigger schools, and have been extremely successful at the highest divisions of high school football in the state of Michigan. Because of their small numbers, Farmington Hills Harrison is also well known around the state for having players that routinely play on both sides of the ball as well as being one of the most conditioned teams in the state.

Harrison's overall record currently stands at 403-94-1 (W-L-T)^[5] since being established 1970. In 2001, after five consecutive state football titles, Harrison was selected by Fox Sports as #6 of the top 50 high school programs in the nation, and #2 in the country in other national high school football rankings.^[6] Following the Hawks 2010 State title, they entered the 2011 season as one of the top ranked high school football teams in the nation, being ranked as high as #1 in some polls.

The head coach is John Herrington. Herrington has been coaching football at Harrison since the school opened in 1970, and is in the Michigan Coaching Hall of Fame for both Football and Baseball which he coached at Harrison and North Farmington High School. The school's historic sports rival is crosstown foe Farmington High School whose football team has experienced a return to prominence in football recently. Additionally, a rivalry with nearby powerhouse Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice High School is burgeoning, as the two teams have met twice in three years in the playoffs since 2010, with the winner going on to win the state championship each time.

Notable alumni

• Devin Funchess-wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers
• Drew Stanton-quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals
• Al Jean-writer, show-runner for the cartoon serial The Simpsons

References

External links

• Official website
• Farmington Public Schools website