Henry Mitchell School was built by a WPA project between 1935 - 1936. Mitchell is
the second oldest middle school in the Racine Unified School District and one of
two middle schools with an elementary school attached to it. Over the years there
have been two major additions to this facility and the band room - while in the oldest
part of the campus - is a completely renovated area boasting a large instrument storage
room, practice rooms, music office and rehearsal area.
|
|
An administrative, instructional and support staff of roughly 125 people serve an average of between 950 - 1,000 ethnically diverse students attending Mitchell each year. Mitchell is well known for its quality of teaching as well as many special school activities such as peer mediation, various student organizations, athletic teams, drama productions, performing groups, artist-in-residence program, peer tutors, positive impact group, youth as resources, 7th grade trip to Washington Island, 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. and the annual Civil War reenactment - among others.
|
|
Mitchell has been designated as the "fine arts" middle school in the district and offers students many opportunities to explore the arts. The band department at Mitchell offers many choices for students including grade level concert bands, jazz ensemble, jazz combos, woodwind and brass choirs, percussion ensemble and the Mitchell Symphony Band. The Symphony Band has performed in Gurnee, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Williamsburg, Virginia ; Atlanta, Georgia and will be performing at the Heritage Music Festival in Dallas, Texas in April of 2002. The band department gives out three awards to graduating 8th graders each year - the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, the Patrick S. Gilmore Award and the Band Director's Award. A good number of Mitchell band students take private lessons during the school year and consistently achieve superior ratings at district and state solo/ensemble competitions.
