William Rainey Harper High School is a public four-year high school located in the West Englewood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Harper serves students in West Englewood and certain streets of Chicago Lawn. Harper is part of the Chicago Public Schools district. The school is named for scholar and educational administrator William Rainey Harper. Opened in 1911, the school has a graduation rate of 49.5 percent .Background and national attentionThe majority of the school's students are Black-American. Harper was the first public school in Chicago to be a part of the Turnaround project started by former Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan. Harper High School gained national attention when the school was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The show discussed Harper High School's lack of computers and other essential learning tools for its students. The Rev. Jesse Jackson has been a big advocate for the school and its lack of funding.Harper High School was the focus of a 2012 WBEZ report concerning the 27 past and present students who were casualties of gun violence in the preceding 13 months. The school was subsequently the subject of a two-episode, five-month immersive investigation by This American Life that aired on February 15 and 22, 2013, focusing on gun violence and the lives of students; the series earned a Peabody Award.
