Gordon Parks High School

Story

Gordon Parks High School is a public alternative learning center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The school, founded in 1991, was originally the Saint Paul Area Learning Center. It was then called Unidale Alternative Learning Center for several years, after the local strip mall it operated in; this was often shortened to ALC Unidale. In 2007, a permanent building was built for the school and it was again renamed. The school serves high-school-age students categorized as "at risk" or far behind in grade level. It is the largest of seven alternative day school programs in the Saint Paul Public Schools district.CampusThe Saint Paul Area Learning Center opened on February 1, 1991. Its initial student body consisted of 500 full and part-time students. The school first opened in a leased 8000sqft building in the Unidale Mall. The small space was repeatedly expanded; the largest expansion was in 1997, when the building grew by 6000sqft. Eventually, the building reached 18000sqft. The school, with tiny classrooms and no windows, cost the school district $300,000 in rent a year. The rented space became too small, and the school district decided to build a new building in part because of pressure from developers of the mall.Upon the school's relocation suggestions were solicited for a new name, and social studies teacher Ted Johnson submitted the winning entry. The school was named after photographer, film director and local icon Gordon Parks. Parks grew up in Saint Paul, attending local high schools such as Mechanic Arts High School and Saint Paul Central. Like many of the students the school targets, Parks struggled with events outside of school and eventually dropped out.