Columbus Alternative High School
Columbus Alternative High School is a public high school in the Columbus City Schools district located in the area known as North Linden, in Columbus, Ohio. The school is a magnet school for college-bound students in Columbus, with both AP and IB programs. While most Columbus City schools are assigned a neighborhood to whose residents they guarantee admission, places at CAHS are available exclusively through the district's school lottery, which admits 250 freshmen to the school each year. There are also waiting list for each grade that allows students to enter as spots open  up throughout the program/school year. The school is often referred to by its abbreviation, CAHS (pronounced "cause") and the students are CAHS-mic students. The school's mascot is Pegasus of Greek mythology. Academics. CAHS students participate in an internship program beginning their junior year. The program, which fulfills the community-service requirements of the district, is designed to provide real-world experience. Students choose their own sponsors, who range from local artisans to politicians to teachers. Students report to their site on Wednesdays in place of attending classes. As of the 2005–2006 school year, CAHS has offered an  International Baccalaureate diploma program for 11th and 12th graders. All high school students are required to take at least one AP, IB, or post secondary course before their graduation regardless of which track they are pursuing for graduation. History. The Columbus Alternative High School was conceived in 1977, initially as part of a plan to save the original Columbus North High School, now Columbus International High School from closure. As part of its plan to comply with a 1977 court order to desegregate Columbus high schools, the Columbus Board of Education had announced that many students would be bussed to  other neighborhoods beginning in the fall of 1978, and that certain schools, including North High School, would be closed. A group of teachers, led by would-be principal Timothy Ilg, proposed a new magnet school to occupy the North High School building, featuring independent study and a rigorous curriculum. Nearly 700 students (mostly freshmen and sophomores) from around metropolitan Columbus applied for entry. Then, in the summer of 1978, a temporary stay was placed on the court order. The desegregation plan was postponed, North High School was saved, and the CAHS plan was shelved. That summer, a call went out  to all applicants interested in saving the alternative school idea. Since the majority of applicants and teachers had been from the North High School neighborhood, fewer than 75 applicants and families expressed interest. However, then Ilg sought and obtained assurances from the Columbus Board of Education that if he could recruit 100 students and funding via outside grants, space would be provided for the school. In the fall of 1978, with enough money to operate for only one semester, and a reported enrollment of exactly 100 students, the Columbus Alternative High School opened as a half-day program on the  third floor of Mohawk Elementary School in downtown Columbus. CAHS students spent their mornings at Mohawk Elementary and were bussed to their neighborhood schools in the afternoons for science and physical education programs. As a half-day program, CAHS was not able to grant diplomas to its eight seniors. The following year, enrollment surpassed 100 students, and CAHS was moved to the top floor of McGuffey Elementary School (now closed), where the half-day program again shared space with a grade school. In 1980, bolstered by a number of high-profile academic awards and a growing reputation for excellence, requests  for enrollment surged, and the school received a $300,000 federal grant, permitting it to expand and become a full-time program. The first CAHS diplomas were granted to the class of 1981.