Cleveland High School, also known as Grover Cleveland High School, is a

public secondary school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

located in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. It is operated as part of the Seattle Public Schools system and serves the

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

and Georgetown neighborhoods. The school was established in 1927 and named for President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, and its building is a designated city landmark.

History

The then-independent city of Georgetown established a high school in 1903, with one class graduating from the facility at the

Mueller School Mueller may refer to: People * Mueller (surname), a surname German in origin Places Antarctica * Mount Mueller (Antarctica) Australia * Mueller College, in Queensland * Mount Mueller (Victoria) *Mueller Park, in Western Australia * Mueller Rive ...

annex. Beginning in 1905, Georgetown and south Seattle students were moved to high schools across the city, including

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an i ...

, Queen Anne, Broadway and

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

. The Seattle Public Schools board approved construction of a new high school in the south end of Seattle in 1925, after petitioning from residents. The new school, which was named for President

in accordance with naming schools after famous Americans, opened on January 3, 1927, and graduated its first class in the spring. Cleveland High School also initially hosted a middle school, named Grover Cleveland Junior High School, that was moved to Asa Mercer Junior High School in 1957. The school was expanded with a new north wing in 1958, featuring a new metal shop classroom, and facilities for art, band and choir, paid for by a citywide

bond issue In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to repay the principal (i.e. amount borrowed) of the bond at the maturity date as well as i ...

approved in 1955. A new $1.25 million gymnasium and administrative offices were dedicated by Mayor Wes Uhlman and

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

John Cherberg John Andrew Cherberg (October 17, 1910 – April 8, 1992) was an American politician, football coach, teacher and television executive. He served as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Washington from 1957 to 1989, a longer tenure than any other lie ...

in 1970. Cleveland, the smallest of the city's high schools with a capacity of 729 students, was slated for conversion into a middle school by the school board in 1979. Under the plan, high school students would be moved to the Asa Mercer Junior High School several blocks to the north, saving $4 million in potential renovation costs for the school district. Students and faculty were strongly opposed to the closure plan, and it was ultimately modified to keep Cleveland open as a high school. After the approval of a citywide levy for school improvements in 2001, Cleveland High School underwent a $68 million, two-year renovation in 2006. The project was completed in September 2007, after complications arising from

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

found in ceilings and unexpected geological hazards below the school building. Earlier concepts for the renovation included sharing the building with a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

, as well as splitting the high school into four autonomous schools.

Architecture

Cleveland High School is still housed in its original 1927 building, designed in the 20th century Neo-Georgian style by

Floyd Naramore Floyd Archibald Naramore (July 21, 1879 in Warren, Illinois – October 29, 1970 in Seattle) was a Seattle architect. He was Seattle Schools Architect from 1919 to 1932, and he was a founding partner, in 1943, of the firm that today is known ...

, who would later become a founding member of NBBJ. The three-story school building has a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

facade with a

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

trim. The center of the building features a two-story

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

with a balcony and

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s. The high school, located atop southwestern Beacon Hill, overlooks Georgetown, the

Duwamish River