Sumner Academy of Arts and Science
| Sumner Academy of Arts and Science | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
1610 North 8th Street Kansas City, Kansas 66101 United States |
|
| Coordinates | 39°07′18″N 94°37′48″W / 39.1217°N 94.63°WCoordinates: 39°07′18″N 94°37′48″W / 39.1217°N 94.63°W |
| Information | |
| School type | Public, High School |
| Established | 1978 (Sumner Academy) 1905 (Sumner High School) |
| School board | Board Website |
| School district | USD 500 |
| Superintendent | Cynthia Lane |
| CEEB code | 171550 |
| Principal | Jonathan Richard |
| Asst Principal | Kristian Foster, Jennifer Hornback, Deanne Moore |
| Athletic Director | Cecil Christwell |
| Band Director | Paul White |
| Grades | 8 to 12 |
| Gender | coed |
| Enrollment | 1000 (2014-15) |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Color(s) |
Royal Blue Silver |
| Athletics | Class 4A District 1 |
| Athletics conference | KCAL |
| Sports | Basketball, baseball, football, soccer, tennis, bowling, softball, volleyball, swimming, wrestling |
| Mascot | Sabres |
| Team name | Sabres, Lady Sabres |
| Newspaper | The Academician |
| Yearbook | Excalibur |
| Communities served | Kansas City |
| Website | School Website |
Sumner Academy of Arts and Science is a nationally ranked magnet school in Kansas City, Kansas which prepares students for high-level academic and creative pursuits. Named for abolitionist Charles Sumner, it started in 1905 during a period of racial tension as a segregated school for black ("Negro") students, which offered vocational training, but emphasized college-preparatory training. Located at 1610 N. 8th Street, the current architecturally significant complex began with its Art Deco core in 1937, but has been repeatedly expanded. The segregated Sumner High School closed in 1978, converting at that time to its present high-challenge magnet program. Sumner typically ranks high in national ratings of secondary schools.
Sumner's origins can be traced to a death in a racially charged environment. On April 4, 1904, Roy Martin, a white student at Kansas City, Kansas High School was shot and killed at Kerr Park. An African American named Louis Gregory was accused and arrested. The night of his arrest, a lynch mob gathered, and a group of African American citizens prevented the mob from breaking into the jail to take Gregory from custody. Gregory was subsequently convicted of first degree murder.
The morning after the shooting, all African American students were blocked from entering the high schools by white students and white citizens. Many whites agitated for segregated schools. For some time, white students attended classes at Kansas City Kansas High School in the morning, while black students attended in the afternoon. In this desperate situation, some African American and white citizens eventually decided to petition the Kansas legislature to change the law prohibiting segregated high schools, requesting an allowance for a segregated high school in Kansas City, Kansas. On February 22, 1905, the Kansas Legislature passed such a bill, which was reluctantly signed by the governor.
In 1905 Sumner high school opened, the first de jure segregated high school in the state of Kansas. Students moved from the old Kansas City High School and the old Central High School in Kansas City.
The original school was named Manual Training High School and built at the corner of 9th and Washington Boulevard. After objections to that name from the black community, the name of Sumner was chosen instead to honor Charles Sumner (1811–1884), a member of the United States Senate from 1851 to 1874. Charles Sumner had been very strong abolitionist and a leader of the Radical Republicans who had fought for the rights of the black people during Reconstruction.
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