Type Public High School Enrollment 3,200 Phone +1 978-975-2750 Color Navy Blue, White | Grades 9 - 12 Nickname Lancers Number of students 3,200 | |
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School district Lawrence Public Schools Athletics conference Merrimack Valley Conference (MVC) Address 70-71 N Parish Rd, Lawrence, MA 01843, USA | ||
Lawrence High School is located in Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States.
LHS is a part of Lawrence Public schools. In 1901, The Lawrence High school was established at the corner of Lawrence and Haverhill street. This is where Lawrence High school served its many students for 106 years. In 2007, a new Lawrence High School campus opened in south Lawrence. Lawrence High School is divided into 8 different academies. HLD (Humanities and Leadership Development), HHS (Health and Human Services), MST (Mathematics, Science, and Technology), PFA (Performing and Fine Arts), INT (International), BMF (Business, Management and Finance), 9th Grade Academy, and Abbott Lawrence Academy.The new Lawrence High school Campus is one of the largest in the state. The field house can seat 3,400 individuals. The school also has a media center and performing art cents that seats an extra 1,200 individuals.
Receivership
In 2010, more than one out of every four Lawrence kids dropped out of high school and only 35 percent of 10th graders were “proficient” in math, by MCAS results. As a result, the school district was put under receivership by the state Board of Education in January 2012. The receiver named was Jeffrey Riley. In 2012, the drop out rate at the high school was more than 50%.
According to "The New York Times", The "district ranked in the bottom 1 percent in the state based on math and English test scores when it was placed in receivership by the state education commissioner in fall 2011. There has been evident improvement in just two years, with high school graduation rates raising to 67 percent in 2014, up from 52 percent in 2011. ... Lawrence, with about 14,000 students, has a history of corruption and dysfunction. It was the first school system taken over under the receivership law passed by the State Legislature in 2010. The Legislature gave the receivers extraordinary powers, including the ability to extend the school day, change collective-bargaining agreements or even require all staff to reapply for their positions. While state lawmakers were willing to sweep the system clean in the worst districts if that’s what it took to end the cycle of failure, that did not happen in Lawrence."