Finney High School

Jared W. Finney High School was a public comprehensive high school in northeastern Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located at 17200 Southampton, it was a part of Detroit Public Schools, and was in proximity to the Grosse Pointes.^[1]

History

The school first opened as an elementary school in 1928.^[2][3][4][5] It became a high school in 1962.^[6][7]

Finney received a $2.5 million bond investment prior to its closure in 2009.^[2] The original plan was to rebuild the school in a new $75 million campus on the same site shared with McNair Pre-K-8, but those plans changed.^[8] In 2012, Finney and Crockett High School merged into East English Village Preparatory Academy,^[2] which was built on the former site of Finney.^[1]

The school was named after Detroiter Jared Warner Finney, a United States Commissioner and U.S. Attorney, in honor of his wide-ranging contributions to the City of Detroit. He was one of two sole members of the first graduating class of Detroit High School in 1861. Jared's father, Seymour Finney, was a prominent conductor on Detroit's underground railroad and owned "Finney's Barn," near Griswold and State streets, where the family hid former slaves and helped ferry them to freedom in Canada.^[9]

Notable alumni

• Gus Calandrino,^[10] Mayor, City of Utica, MI
• Tony Elliott,^[11] professional football player

Maria Ewing

• Maria Ewing,^[12] opera singer
• Jermaine Jackson,^[1] basketball player