Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a magnet high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1907 and is part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District. It is named after Lewis Cass.
Until 1977, Cass was Detroit's only magnet school and the only non-neighborhood enrollment school in Detroit. It remains one of few magnet schools in Detroit. Entrance is based on test scores and middle school grades. Students are required to choose a curriculum path—roughly equivalent to a college "major" —in the ninth grade. Areas of study include among others arts and communication, business management and marketing, engineering and manufacturing, human services, and science and arts.
History
The school was founded in 1907 on the third floor of Cass Union School on Grand Union Avenue, subsequently moving to its own wing. After that school was mostly destroyed by a fire, a building for Cass Tech was built on the site and opened in October 1912, but was soon overcrowded. A new building nearby on Second Avenue was designed in Collegiate Gothic style by Malcolmson and Higginbotham with Albert Kahn as construction architect; construction began in 1916, the cornerstone was laid in 1917, and after delays caused by World War I austerity measures, the building opened in September 1922. It had a capacity of 3,600 students and was connected to the High School of Commerce, which opened earlier the same year in Cass Tech's former building, by Victory Memorial Arch, a pedestrian bridge over Main Street that was a memorial to students killed in the war. By 1942 the school had more than 4,500 students and was the largest in Michigan. In 1985, an addition on the south side was opened, designed by Albert Kahn & Associates, which included performing arts facilities, a new pool, and a student cafeteria, and a wing of the building was remodeled for computer and business classes. Departments in the 1922 building were grouped by floor; facilities included a foundry and machine shops that were used for training by Ford outside school hours, and the auditorium was used as a practice hall by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The 1922 building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in March 2011.
In 2008, due to declining enrollment, teacher staffing was reduced and some classes that were not very popular with students were removed.
Academics
Cass offers over twenty advanced placement courses including language composition, history, chemistry, calculus, and physics. Cass Tech students' strong academic performances draw recruiters from across the country, including Ivy League representatives eager to attract the top minority applicants. However, in 2019, Cass Tech was not among the 78 Michigan high schools with the highest average SAT scores. In 2021, U.S. News ranked Cass Tech 84th among Michigan high schools, and reported a 62.9% percentile score on the SAT.
Awards
In 1984, Cass Tech was honored by the U.S. Department of Education among 262 schools that should "shine as inspirational model for others," a list that included public and private schools.
In 2006, Cass represented DPS at the National Academic Games Olympics and won the Team Sweepstakes award.
Music
Harp and vocal
The school's Harp program was established in 1925.
Bands
There are beginner, intermediate, advanced and jazz band classes, as well as a marching band. The CTMB (marching band), under the direction of Sharon Allen, has performed for Patti LaBelle, Sinbad, and Jay Z as well as various college and university homecomings. The marching band was also a part of the 2007 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, but was not televised. In 2008, the band performed at Texas Southern University. In 2010, the CTMB participated in Norfolk State University's Homecoming and won first place in the McDonald's Battle of the Bands. The CTMB went to the 2013 inauguration for President Barack Obama.
The concert band program rose to prominence under the direction of Harry Begian, who led the Cass Tech bands from 1947 through 1964. Under his baton, the concert band performed twice at the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic, and played literature at a level far beyond that normally performed by a public high school band, including the Symphony in B-flat by Paul Hindemith and La Fiesta Mexicana by H. Owen Reed.
Athletics
Football
The Cass Tech Technicians football team (also referred to as the Technicians) is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing Cass Technical High School.
Cass Tech won the 2011, 2012 and 2016 MHSAA Division I state championships.