Cleveland High School (Seattle, Washington)

Cleveland High School is a public secondary school located in Seattle, Washington. It is part of the Seattle Public Schools. The building, designated a historic landmark by the City of Seattle in 1981, stands atop Beacon Hill. The original 1927 building underwent a $68 million renovation in 2007, when a new gym and classroom building were added.

The school overlooks Georgetown, Boeing Field, and the Duwamish River valley, an area that was once farmed by European immigrants but became heavily industrialized in the World War II era. The surrounding neighborhood on Beacon Hill is now primarily Asian, and most of the school's students are African American.

In 1993, Cleveland became the home to the Fish and Roses project. Fish and Roses integrated fish farming and hydroponics into the school's currculum. Mark Weber, the project originator, and Ted Howard,Sr. the Principal wanted to see the project used as the focus of a new math and science based school. A separate building was built with funding from Boeing and Costco to house the project but within a few years the building was razed to make room for the new gym and school remodel.

In 2003, under a Gates Foundation grant, the district separated Cleveland into four small academies - the Infotech Academy, which had started up in a small way in 2000 before the grant; the Arts and Humanities Academy; the Health, Environment and Life Academy (HEAL); and the Global Studies Academy. By 2009 Cleveland retained the Global Studies and HEAL academies, but overall academic improvement remained elusive. 56.7% of students graduated in 2009, on time or otherwise.

In 2008, Cleveland was one of two high schools included in the Southeast Initiative, a plan to increase expenditures for three years at schools that parents had fled under the school choice plan. The Seattle Times School Guide reported that Cleveland's 2008 on-time graduation rate had been 44%. Cleveland's enrollment remained low at 695 students in 2008-2009, 94% of them from minority ethnic groups. Few of Cleveland's students chose it as their first choice.

Starting in fall 2010, Cleveland will become a city-wide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) high school, divided into a Life Sciences and Global Health academy and an Engineering and Computer Science academy. Only 21% of Cleveland's 10th graders passed the WASL math test in 2009 and 16% passed the science test, up from 12% and 6.9% in 2008. Cleveland's 2010-2011 11th and 12th graders will not be accepted into STEM, but will continue to attend Cleveland in a general studies program until the transition is complete. The school's 2009-2010 9th graders will be enrolled in STEM as 10th graders. A new incoming 9th grade class from throughout the city will be the model for all future STEM cohorts. Future high schoolers from Cleveland's own neighborhood, if they don't enroll in STEM, will be sent to other nearby high schools. STEM enrollment at Cleveland is open to any student who will be in the 9th or 10th grade in fall 2010, with no prerequisites. Cleveland's school day will be half an hour longer than in other Seattle high schools.

By the time school opened in September 2010, the name of the engineering academy became the School of Engineering and Design. Computer Science was not dropped but is an elective course open to students in 9-12. Juniors and seniors will be allowed to take freshman and sophomore STEM courses if they wish.