Olympic Community of Schools
Encyclopedia
Olympic Community of Schools is located in Charlotte, North Carolina
, and is one of 19 high school
s in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
(CMS) system. It joined the Coalition of Essential Schools
in 2005 with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and has split into 5 small, theme-based schools. They are:
Although its name change is official, it is still commonly referred to by its former name, Olympic High School.
schools and high-performing, primarily suburb
an schools, and thus its student body largely mirrors the district as a whole. For comparison, Olympic has an ethnic makeup of 44.3% Black, 34.4% White, 14.2% Hispanic, 6.0% Asian and 1.2% Other (in the 2005-06 school year). CMS' demographics are 42.4% Black, 36.2% White, 13.6% Hispanic, 4.3% Asian and 3.5% Other. Its pass rate on the 2006-07 North Carolina
End-of-Course tests, used to sample knowledge and mastery of subject areas most students take as freshmen and sophomores, was 63.2%, near the CMS average of 65.7%.
The graduating class of 2006, around 300 students, received $2.3 million in scholarships.
(NCHSAA) and plays in the MEGA-7 4A/3A split conference.
The football
team has made the NCHSAA Playoffs in the following years: 1970, 1991, 1993 (2nd Round), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 (1st Round), 2003 (1st Round), 2004 (1st Round), 2005 (1st Round), 2006 (2nd Round), 2008 (2nd Round), and 2009. The best season Olympic had was in 1970 when they finished 10-3, losing 14-0 to Raleigh Needham B. Broughton High School
in the 4A state championship game. Olympic has only had 3 seasons of 10 wins, in the years 1970, 1993 and 2006, finishing 10-3 each year. The Trojans most recently won the 2009 MEGA-7 4A/3A Conference. Former football
head coaches include: Joe White (1967–1979, former chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education), Dave Johnson (1980–1984, retired teacher, remains the "Voice of the Trojans" as long-time announcer at football games), Ray Barger (1984–1989), Scott Braswell (1990–1994, current head coach of John T. Hoggard High School
), Scott Stein (1995–1998), Pete Gilchrist (1999–2000), Maurice Flowers (2001–2006). The current coach is Barry Shuford (2007–present).
Other sports include boy and girl's soccer, boy and girl's basketball, volleyball, boy and girl's track, boy and girl's cross country, softball, baseball, wrestling, boy and girl's tennis, golf, and boy and girl's swimming. Both varsity
and junior varsity
teams have won a number of conference championships and 2 state championships over the years.
.
The Olympic Marching Trojan Band supports the varsity football team at its games, and competes regularly with other schools in CMS and around the region. It has been known to place well in these competitions despite being a smaller marching band
. It also holds its own competition every year, the Trojan Classic, which is its biggest fundraiser for travel and competitions.
Students, at first skeptical and not wanting to be separated from friends, have taken a liking to Olympic's more intimate atmosphere that has afforded principals to get to know them by name. There have been challenges, however, like setting up channels of communication among the 5 schools.
Critics say the small schools movement
is new, and few schools have produced long-term academic results. They also emphasize the importance of reform not stopping at smaller settings. For instance, generic courses driven by multiple-choice tests being replaced with challenging projects linked to real-life results. This involves a certain degree of experimentation and creativity that can be hobbled by district mandates, too many teachers relying on routine, budget restraints, and a test-driven culture instituted by an array of local and national achievement exams. There has been some success with project-based learning at Olympic, most notably with a 1150 square feet (106.8 m²), three-bedroom Habitat for Humanity house for a family in northwest Charlotte built on school property by advanced construction students in Olympic's METS school, with the $70,000 required for the project raised in part by students in the Business school.
Most agree that dealing with these obstacles at Olympic will require extraordinary leadership and leaps of faith by all parties involved. There has been a noticeable increase in involvement by parents and the community. For instance, attendance for athletic events in 2006-07 was the highest since 1982, and a $10 million capital campaign was started by parents and community residents for facility improvements. It is the hoped that enthusiasm like this can be sustained and even grow as Olympic's success is measured in the coming years.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, and is one of 19 high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is a local education agency headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the public school system for Mecklenburg County. With over 133,600 students enrolled, it is the second-largest school district in North Carolina and the twentieth-largest in the nation...
(CMS) system. It joined the Coalition of Essential Schools
Coalition of Essential Schools
The Coalition of Essential Schools is an organization created to further a type of whole-school reform originally envisioned by founder Ted Sizer in his book, Horace's Compromise. CES began in 1984 with twelve schools; it currently has 600 formal members.-Horace's Compromise:Horace's Compromise...
in 2005 with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and has split into 5 small, theme-based schools. They are:
- The School of Biotechnology, Health, and Public Administration at Olympic (Biotech)
- The School of International Business and Communication Studies at Olympic (Business)
- The School of International Studies and Global Economics at Olympic (Global)
- The School of Math, Engineering,Science and Technology at Olympic (METS)
- The Renaissance School at Olympic (Renaissance)
Although its name change is official, it is still commonly referred to by its former name, Olympic High School.
Administration
There have been a number of changes in administration at Olympic since Pamela Espinosa, principal from 2000 to 2007, relinquished her position to the 5 Olympic small school principals.| Schools | 2006-2007 | 2007-2008 | 2008-2009 | 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biotech | Jerry Brown | Jerry Brown | Angela Bozeman | Angela Bozeman | Angela Bozeman | |
| Business | Todd Pipkin | Donevin Hoskins | Donevin Hoskins | Donevin Hoskins | Donevin Hoskins (until 09/31/10) Philip Francis (since 11/04/10) |
|
| Global | Matthew Hayes | Matthew Hayes | Matthew Hayes | Matthew Hayes | Matthew Hayes (until 11/19/10) Barry Burford (since 11/22/10) |
|
| M.E.T.S. | Ayinde Rudolph | Ayinde Rudolph | Ayinde Rudolph | Ayinde Ruldoph (until 03/31/10) Richard Reynolds (Since 04/01/10) |
Richard Reynolds | |
| Renaissance | Melody Sears | Melody Sears | Melody Sears | Melody Sears | Melody Sears | |
| Assistant Principal(s) | Ann Laszewski Sheila Lester |
Ann Laszewski Sheila Lester |
Sandra Allgood Sheila Lester |
Sandra Allgood Sheila Lester |
Christopher Range |
Students
Olympic is one of a handful of high schools in CMS that straddle the line between a comparable number of low-performing, primarily urbanUrban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
schools and high-performing, primarily suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an schools, and thus its student body largely mirrors the district as a whole. For comparison, Olympic has an ethnic makeup of 44.3% Black, 34.4% White, 14.2% Hispanic, 6.0% Asian and 1.2% Other (in the 2005-06 school year). CMS' demographics are 42.4% Black, 36.2% White, 13.6% Hispanic, 4.3% Asian and 3.5% Other. Its pass rate on the 2006-07 North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
End-of-Course tests, used to sample knowledge and mastery of subject areas most students take as freshmen and sophomores, was 63.2%, near the CMS average of 65.7%.
The graduating class of 2006, around 300 students, received $2.3 million in scholarships.
Athletics
Olympic Community of Schools is a 4A member of the North Carolina High School Athletic AssociationNorth Carolina High School Athletic Association
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across the state....
(NCHSAA) and plays in the MEGA-7 4A/3A split conference.
The football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team has made the NCHSAA Playoffs in the following years: 1970, 1991, 1993 (2nd Round), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 (1st Round), 2003 (1st Round), 2004 (1st Round), 2005 (1st Round), 2006 (2nd Round), 2008 (2nd Round), and 2009. The best season Olympic had was in 1970 when they finished 10-3, losing 14-0 to Raleigh Needham B. Broughton High School
Needham B. Broughton High School
Needham Bryant Broughton High School, or simply Broughton High School, is one of the flagship schools of the Wake County Public School System. It is located at 723 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Broughton was named after the Raleigh aristocrat, Needham B. Broughton, who...
in the 4A state championship game. Olympic has only had 3 seasons of 10 wins, in the years 1970, 1993 and 2006, finishing 10-3 each year. The Trojans most recently won the 2009 MEGA-7 4A/3A Conference. Former football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
head coaches include: Joe White (1967–1979, former chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education), Dave Johnson (1980–1984, retired teacher, remains the "Voice of the Trojans" as long-time announcer at football games), Ray Barger (1984–1989), Scott Braswell (1990–1994, current head coach of John T. Hoggard High School
John T. Hoggard High School
John T. Hoggard High School is a public high school in the New Hanover County School System in Wilmington, North Carolina.-The Naming of the Highschool:Dr. John T. Hoggard is the eponym for Hoggard High School. Dr...
), Scott Stein (1995–1998), Pete Gilchrist (1999–2000), Maurice Flowers (2001–2006). The current coach is Barry Shuford (2007–present).
Other sports include boy and girl's soccer, boy and girl's basketball, volleyball, boy and girl's track, boy and girl's cross country, softball, baseball, wrestling, boy and girl's tennis, golf, and boy and girl's swimming. Both varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
and junior varsity
Junior varsity
Primarily in North America, junior varsity or JV players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition , usually at the high school and college levels in the United States and Canada. The main players comprise the varsity team...
teams have won a number of conference championships and 2 state championships over the years.
Programs
Olympic's U.S. Army JROTC has an "honor unit with distinction" gold star, which it has held for 21 consecutive years. The gold star is worn by students, and is the highest honor a high school JROTC can obtain. It is received when a 95% or more is given in what is known as the Annual Formal Inspection (AFI), which audits different areas of the JROTC program, and is conducted by a group of officers sent by the Army. It has also routinely won first in the Superintendent's Cup, which is awarded to the 5 JROTC's with the highest overall combined scores from the year's competitions, except for in 2007 and 2008 when it won second to Hopewell High SchoolHopewell High School (North Carolina)
Hopewell High School is located in the fast growing area of northern Mecklenburg County, serving the areas of Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson. The school was founded in 2001 and has a state-of-the-art building housing the latest computer technology...
.
The Olympic Marching Trojan Band supports the varsity football team at its games, and competes regularly with other schools in CMS and around the region. It has been known to place well in these competitions despite being a smaller marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
. It also holds its own competition every year, the Trojan Classic, which is its biggest fundraiser for travel and competitions.
Clubs
There are many clubs at Olympic that appeal to a wide range of students. These include Spirit Club, HOSA, FCCLA, National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, National German Honor Society, National Math Honor Society, College Club, Literary Society, BETA, Go Green Club, Life Club, Diversity Club, Indoor Percussion, and more.Small Schools
The small schools conversion began with the securing of a grant in 2005 from the Coalition of Essential Schools' (CES) Small Schools Project, a 5 year initiative backed by the education arm of the Gates Foundation. An initial $305,000 was received for planning. This planning process involved 5 committees of teachers, parents, and students forging out the specifics of each school of no more than 400 students, such as its themes and what part of the Olympic campus it would be located in. The hiring of principals and visits to other CES affiliated schools across the country were also covered. The results were presented at the end of the 05-06 school year to CES for a further $1.3 million for the next two years.Students, at first skeptical and not wanting to be separated from friends, have taken a liking to Olympic's more intimate atmosphere that has afforded principals to get to know them by name. There have been challenges, however, like setting up channels of communication among the 5 schools.
Critics say the small schools movement
Small schools movement
The small schools movement, also known as the Small Schools Initiative, in the United States of America holds that many high schools are too large and should be reorganized into smaller, autonomous schools of no more than 400 students, and optimally under 200. Many private schools of under 200...
is new, and few schools have produced long-term academic results. They also emphasize the importance of reform not stopping at smaller settings. For instance, generic courses driven by multiple-choice tests being replaced with challenging projects linked to real-life results. This involves a certain degree of experimentation and creativity that can be hobbled by district mandates, too many teachers relying on routine, budget restraints, and a test-driven culture instituted by an array of local and national achievement exams. There has been some success with project-based learning at Olympic, most notably with a 1150 square feet (106.8 m²), three-bedroom Habitat for Humanity house for a family in northwest Charlotte built on school property by advanced construction students in Olympic's METS school, with the $70,000 required for the project raised in part by students in the Business school.
Most agree that dealing with these obstacles at Olympic will require extraordinary leadership and leaps of faith by all parties involved. There has been a noticeable increase in involvement by parents and the community. For instance, attendance for athletic events in 2006-07 was the highest since 1982, and a $10 million capital campaign was started by parents and community residents for facility improvements. It is the hoped that enthusiasm like this can be sustained and even grow as Olympic's success is measured in the coming years.