independent research and graduation project teaching associate
City Charter High School (City High), located in the Clark Building in downtown Pittsburgh, is completing its seventh year of operation. The school obtained its initial five year charter in 2002 from the Pittsburgh Public Schools and was re-chartered through 2012. City Charter High School, which is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is governed by a nine member Board of Trustees. The school is free and open to the public. Funding is provided to the school from the students' school districts of residence.\\City High serves approximately 560 ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students. 81% of the students are from the Pittsburgh School district; the rest are from 23 area school districts. The majority of the students previously attended their assigned neighborhood public schools; remaining students attended other charter schools, magnets, parochial schools, private schools or were home schooled.\\The demographics of the student population are balanced with respect to race and gender. 65% of the students have low SES as measured by the federal free and reduced lunch program. 14% of the student body receives special education services. Data collected from new 9th graders through the EXPLORE national standardized assessment suggests that City High's student body is average in ability - students' mean national percentile ranking in terms of the composite score is slightly less than the national norm.