Downtown Akron is throwing a parade today, Thursday, November 5, for a championship won in the classroom. Akron Public Schools and the city will celebrate Akron Early College High School with an Academic Champions parade stepping off at 1 p.m., honoring a school that topped traditional public high schools statewide in overall performance on the most recent state report card — the academic equivalent of a state title, the Akron Beacon Journal noted.
The parade steps off near East Buchtel Avenue and South Main Street, across from 7 17 Credit Union Park, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Participants will head north on South Main Street, turn west onto Bowery Street, walk through Lock 4 and end at Lock 3 for a community celebration. All 400 students will take part, with 15 teachers, seven support staff, the school’s pep band and district and city leaders.
The numbers behind the celebration are striking. Akron Early College earned a five-star rating and ranked first among Ohio’s 558 schools serving grades 9 through 12 in overall grade points, with 4.96 points out of a maximum of 5, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. It placed 12th among all 3,230 ranked Ohio schools and finished first among Summit County high schools on the performance index, scoring 109.5 of a possible 111.5 points.
Founded in 2007, the school is a partnership between Akron Public Schools and the University of Akron, housed in downtown’s Polsky Building on the university’s campus. Designed for first-generation college students, it admits eighth graders chosen on scores as well as potential, discipline and attendance, according to Signal Akron. Students start college courses as sophomores and often graduate with both a diploma and an associate degree. Signal Akron reported the school holds a 100 percent four-year graduation rate, with chronic absenteeism under 4 percent.
Superintendent Mary Outley told the Akron Beacon Journal, when she announced the parade to staff, “We want you feel celebrated,” adding, “We know as a team you guys put a lot of work in.” Principal Tom O’Neil told the Akron Beacon Journal, “That’s no easy feat to say that you are the No. 1 public high school in the state of Ohio,” crediting students who keep challenging themselves.
Sophomore Saimon Lama, who travels from the Stow-Munroe Falls district to attend, told Signal Akron, “This school shows greatness,” pointing to student work ethic and teachers who make classes enjoyable. The school’s eight-member pep band — a rock-leaning group that normally plays pep rallies — will march the roughly half-mile route, and members told the Akron Beacon Journal they are excited, and a little nervous, to play while walking.
The Lock 3 rally after the parade is expected to include remarks from Outley, Mayor Shammas Malik and O’Neil, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Families and alumni can cheer along South Main Street between East Buchtel Avenue and Bowery Street — a downtown celebration, leaders say, of the kind Akron usually reserves for athletes, this time for academic champions.