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Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School

Public magnet high school in Detroit, Michigan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School is a public magnet high school located at 3200 East Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan; the building is operated by the Detroit Board of Education. It opened in 1901 as Eastern High School and moved to its current location in 1967.

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The school's district currently encompasses Downtown and Midtown Detroit; it also includes Lafayette Park, the Martin Luther King Apartments and Riverfront Condominiums. The Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects were zoned to MLK prior to their demolition.[2] In addition it includes the three Wayne State University housing complexes that permit families with children (Chatsworth Tower, DeRoy, and University Tower).[2][3][4]

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History

Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School was originally named Eastern High School. The first school building for Eastern opened in 1901 at the intersection of Mack Avenue and East Grand Boulevard.[5]

In the fall of 1967 Eastern moved to a new building on East Lafayette and Mount Elliott,[5] and one year later was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, after the civil rights leader's assassination in April 1968. The mascot name was changed at the same time from the Indians to the Crusaders. The original Eastern High building was demolished in 1982.[5]

In 2009, Detroit Public Schools became the beneficiary of a $500.5 million, voter-approved federal bond package. At almost $53 million, the MLK project was one of the largest components of the package.[6] The redeveloped Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School re-opened in September 2011, with almost 200,000 square feet of new space, and 47,000 square feet of altered and redeveloped space. The project turned the facility into a school that emphasized a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum.[6]

In 2012 Kettering High School closed, and some students were rezoned to King.[7]

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Extracurricular activities

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Athletics

In 34 seasons (1984 to 2017), under Coach William Winfield, Jr., the Crusaders women's basketball program compiled 693 wins,[8] appeared in eleven Michigan High School Athletic Association championship finals (1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2016), winning the championship in 1985, 1990, 1991, 2003 and 2006.[9] Coach Winfield retired in 2018 due to illness, and died age 78 on March 13, 2021.[8]

In 2007, under Coach Jim Reynolds, the Crusaders football team became the first team from the Detroit Public Secondary Schools Athletic League to win a MHSAA Football Championship.[10] From 1989 to 2019, the King Crusaders appeared in seven Michigan High School Athletic Association championship games in four different divisions: 1989(A), 1990(AA), 2007(2), 2015(2), 2016(2), 2018(3), and 2019(2), winning the championship in 2007, 2015, 2016, and 2018.[11]

In 2006, King won the Detroit City League championship trophy in men's swimming and diving.[citation needed]

In 2008, the King High School marching band raised over $400,000 (including a sponsorship from then U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton)[citation needed] to perform at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.[12]

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Notable alumni

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References and notes

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