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Cleveland High School
Address
3400 SE 26th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97202 United States
Coordinates	45°29′55″N 122°38′19″W / 45.4985°N 122.6385°W / 45.4985; -122.6385
Information
Type	Public
Opened	1916 (as Commercial High School) 1948 (as Cleveland High School)
School district	Portland Public Schools
Principal	Jo Ann Wadkins
Teaching staff	76.32 (on an FTE basis)
Grades	9–12
Number of students	1,472 (2023–2024)
Student to teacher ratio	19.29
Color(s)	Kelly green and yellow
Athletics conference	OSAA Portland Interscholastic League 6A-1
Team name	Warriors
Rival	Franklin High School
Newspaper	The Clarion
Feeder schools	Hosford Middle School Lane Middle School Sellwood Middle School
Website	www.pps.net/cleveland

Cleveland High School (CHS, formally Grover Cleveland High School) is a public high school in inner southeast Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Portland Public Schools district. Its attendance boundary covers much of the western part of Southeast Portland.

History

Cleveland High School was established in 1916 as Commercial High School, changing its name to the High School of Commerce in 1917. The school was originally located on what is now the Portland State University campus, but moved to its current location in 1929 and expanded its name to Clinton Kelly High School of Commerce. The 1929 building was designed by the architect George Howell Jones. Cleveland's focus during this period was on students pursuing a business education, so it offered courses in bookkeeping, stenography, and other related business subjects. Charlotte Plummer Owen worked at the school prior to World War II.

The High School of Commerce gradually increased its course offerings, and eventually became a comprehensive high school in the fall of 1948. The school's name was changed to Grover Cleveland High School the same year, and a new athletic field house and science laboratories were added to the school. This expansion was funded by a $25 million building levy passed by the Portland school board in 1947 that was aimed at renovating and expanding schools across Portland in response to the post-war baby boom.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the school district faced declining enrollment, and targeted Cleveland for closure. The CHS property was made up of two parcels: the school building site and the athletic field, originally the site of the Clinton Kelly home. Clinton Kelly, an early Portland settler and minister, specified that the property was to be used solely for a public school. If the property was used for any other purpose, or put up for sale, the property would revert to the Kelly estate, and to the living heirs of Clinton Kelly. The school district ultimately decided to close Washington-Monroe High School instead, and keep Cleveland open.

During 1990 and 1991 the school auditorium was equipped with a large theater pipe organ. The instrument was removed from Benson High School near the Lloyd Center, enlarged, and installed in the Cleveland Auditorium by the Oregon Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society (now called the Columbia River Theatre Organ Society), which maintains it and presents events open to the public.

Cleveland joined the International Baccalaureate program in 2000, and is one of two high schools that offer the program in Portland.

In 2005, Cleveland was the setting for the music video for "16 Military Wives" by local indie rock band The Decemberists.

Incidents

In April 2019, Cleveland was the site of a controversy involving culinary arts students making a cake resembling blackface. This was four days after a small noose was found hanging in one of Cleveland's entry points and six months after swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti was found on Cleveland's walls and even on a flier advertising Cleveland's Jewish Student Union.

On December 12, 2022, a 16-year-old student was shot and injured partially on school grounds.

Student profile

In the 2018–2019 school year, Cleveland's student population was 68% European American, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 9% Asian, 3% African American, 1% Native American, 1% Pacific Islander, and 8% mixed race. In 2009–2010, the school was locally known for having "an incredibly vocal, motivated and organized parent community".

In 2008, 85% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 310 students, 262 graduated, 26 dropped out, nine received a modified diploma, and 13 were still in high school the following year. In 2009, 28% of Cleveland students were transfers into the school.

Athletics

Cleveland competes in the Portland Interscholastic League under 6A classification.

State championships

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• Girls swimming: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957
• Dance/drill: 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997

Notable alumni

• Hazel Ying Lee, first Chinese-American woman to become a US military pilot
• John Bryson, retired CEO of Edison International; 37th Secretary of Commerce
• Jeffrey Grayson, co-founder of Capital Consultants
• The Hudson Brothers, musical group and television act; recorded hit song "So You Are a Star"; all three brothers, including Bill Hudson (b. 1947), ex-husband of Goldie Hawn and father of Kate and Oliver Hudson
• Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike, Inc.
• Kathie L. Olsen, former Chief Scientist for NASA and deputy director, neuroscience, of the National Science Foundation
• Dennis Patera, former football player for the San Francisco 49ers
• Ken Patera, professional wrestler
• Jaime St. James, lead singer of Black 'N Blue and former lead singer of Warrant
• Natalie K. Wight, lawyer

Notes and references

Notes

1. Campuzano, Eder (June 30, 2020). "Cleveland High has a new principal, its third since last May". OregonLive.
2. ^ "Cleveland High School". Search for Private Schools. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
3. "Franklin qualifies for playoffs with flawed win over rival Cleveland". OregonLive. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
4. ^ "Cleveland". Oregon School Activities Association.
5. ^ "Cleveland's History". Portland Public Schools. Archived from the original on 2018-01-12.
6. "Cleveland School (Portland, Oregon)". Oregon Digital.
7. Polich 1950, p. 82.
8. The Grove Dictionary of American Music. OUP USA. January 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-531428-1.
9. Polich 1950, p. 160.
10. Polich 1950, pp. 158–160.
11. "Cleveland High School Profile 2017-2018". Portland Public Schools. from the original on 2018-01-12.
12. "365 Days, 52 Weeks, 12 Months, 1 Scene". Willamette Week. August 2, 2005. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
13. Oregonian/OregonLive, Eder Campuzano | The (2019-04-28). "A blackface cake surfaced at a SE Portland high school days after a teacher found a noose in an entryway". oregonlive. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
14. "Teenager shot, injured outside Cleveland High School on Monday afternoon". KATU. December 12, 2022.
15. "Cleveland High School Profile 2018-2019" (PDF). Portland Public Schools. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
16. Kimberly Melton (January 21, 2010). "What will be the fate of my high school?". OregonLive. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
17. "State releases high school graduation rates". OregonLive. June 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
18. "Oregon dropout rates for 2008". OregonLive. June 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
19. Kimberly Melton (February 4, 2010). "How many transfer, and where do they go?". OregonLive. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
20. Burmeister, Heather (17 March 2018). "Hazel Ying Lee (1912-1944)". Oregon Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
21. Charles Pope (May 31, 2011). "John Bryson brings Portland roots as nominee to lead Commerce Department". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
22. Manning, Jeff; James Long (April 23, 2002). "Losing All That Mattered to Him". The Oregonian. p. A1.
23. "Knight in Shining Armor?". OregonLive. 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
24. David Walker (June 11, 2003). "Heavy Metal Half-Life". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
25. Bernstein, Maxine (June 6, 2022). "Federal prosecutor Natalie K. Wight nominated by President Biden to serve as Oregon's next U.S. attorney". oregonlive. Retrieved June 6, 2022.

References

• Polich, Edward L. (1950). A history of Portland's secondary school system with emphasis on the superintendents and the curriculum (PDF) (M.A.). University of Portland. OCLC 232551057.

External links

• Media related to Cleveland High School (Portland, Oregon) at Wikimedia Commons

• 1929 establishments in Oregon
• Educational institutions established in 1929
• High schools in Portland, Oregon
• Buildings and structures in Hosford-Abernethy, Portland, Oregon
• International Baccalaureate schools in Oregon
• Portland Public Schools (Oregon)
• Public high schools in Oregon