Community High School is a public alternative school serving grades 9 - 12 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. Located on a 3.2acre site at 401 North Division Street near the city's Kerrytown district, CHS today enrolls approximately 450 students.Established in 1972, CHS was one of the first public magnet schools in the country, offering students a smaller alternative to the city's three large comprehensive high schools. It is one of the few surviving institutions among the wave of experimental high schools that were founded across the United States in the 1970s.Unlike many public alternative schools in other cities, CHS is not restricted to a particular student population, nor does it explicitly emphasize one particular area of study over others. Founded on an experimental "school-without-walls" concept, CHS continues to offer opportunities to interact with the surrounding community, primarily through its open campus and its Community Resources Program, an avenue for students to design their own courses for credit through experiential learning projects in the Ann Arbor area. In contrast to many traditional high schools, CHS has been known for its small size, its open campus and downtown location, student participation in school governance and staff hiring, and loose attendance policies more similar to those of colleges than those at most high schools. The school has also eschewed many of the characteristics of traditional high schools, including interscholastic sports programs, valedictorians, dress codes, detention, hall passes, changing bells, mascots . Although regular proms were not embraced until the 1990s, in 1974 an openly homosexual student, John Arden Rhyne, was named homecoming queen. There was a small prom attended by part of the student body. And Queen John was escorted by the winner of the third floor Euchre tournament. On the court were Marci Woolson, Karim Boukar and two others.
