East High School is a historical public high school located in the City Park neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Denver Public Schools system, and is one of four original high schools in Denver. The other three are West, North, and South.
History
East High opened in 1875 and was the first high school in Denver.[4] The first graduating class was in 1877. In 1889, it moved to 19th and Stout Street because of the need for more room. This location is now referred to as "Old East," and could accommodate 700 students.
The architect for the current facility was Denver native George H. Williamson, himself an 1893 graduate of "Old East" High. Williamson won national recognition for his design of the "new" East, which has a 162-foot (49 m) high clock tower[5] modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
In early 1991, the East High building was declared an official Denver Historic Landmark by the Denver Landmark Commission and the Denver City Council.
East High has been repeatedly honored as one of America's top high schools. It was honored in 1957 as one of the country's top high schools and subsequently selected in 1968 as one of America's Top Ten Schools. In 2000 Newsweek recognized East as one of America's top hundred public high schools.[7] In 2008, Newsweek again recognized East in its annual list of the country's "Top High Schools".[8] It is ranked 23rd out of Colorado high schools and 974th nationally by U.S. News "Best High Schools".[9]
The 2022–2023 school year saw three shootings at or near East High School.[10] In September 2022, a male student was shot outside a recreation center next to campus.[11] A 16-year-old student, Luis Garcia, was fatally shot near campus on 13 February 2023.[11] On 22 March 2023, two male administrators were shot on campus by a student and transported to the hospital;[10] the student was later found dead of what a coroner found to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[12] In response, district superintendent Alex Marrero said that the school would have two armed police officers for the rest of the school year, and for the following 2023-2024 school year.[10]
East High is ranked 3rd in the State of Colorado for greatest amount of State Championships with the Angels holding 99 total state championships; 91 in boys teams and 8 in girls teams.[13] Additionally, teams representing Denver East outside of the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) as club teams have accumulated 11 combined state championships bringing the high school's count to 110 1st-place finishes since the early 1900s.[13]
In 2007, the boys' basketball team was named the top-ranked team in the state by RISE Magazine and Sports Illustrated,[citation needed] and finished the season with another 5A state championship win, topping a season with a 22–3 record.
Denver East Angels Athletic State Championships[13]- Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Sports
Constitutional Law, or "Con-Law" as most Angels refer to it, is a large part of the academic extracurricular setting at East.[32] The team, usually composed of 11th and 12th graders, has continuously traveled to Washington D.C. to compete in the Center for Civic Education's national "We the People: The Citizens and the Constitution" competition. This competition involves on average 54 other teams who have qualified by winning their state's competition and totals to around 300 students. The team has won 5 national titles with the most recent being in April 2019.[33][34] Other national titles include 2009, 2008, 2007, and 1992.[35]
Model United Nations
Model United Nations has been an active club at Denver East since the early 1980s. In recent years they have traveled to many conferences ranging from ones in Colorado, to ones at the national and international level. In February 2019, the team took 11 students to Birkerød, Denmark to compete against 400 other students, returning two 1st place or Best Delegate international recognitions.[36] As well in 2019, East's Model U.N. team hosted a conference at Denver East High School that brought in over 200 competitors from 29 schools.[37] In 2020, East traveled to Mexico City, Mexico for their 2nd international competition fielding 13 students and returning 5 international recognitions.[36]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(June 2022)
Neal Cassady (attended for a short time), Beat generation icon; model for character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, played a prominent role in the counter-culture of 1960s
^High School History[permanent dead link], The Hill School. The Torch Relit. Vol. 7, Issue 2. Page 11. By Parker La Casse and Hayley Price. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
