Pershing High School

John J. Pershing High School is a four-year public high school in Detroit, Michigan. It is in Conant Gardens in proximity to the residential areas and also serves Krainz Woods. Pershing was governed by the Education Achievement Authority (EAA), which oversees failing schools, from 2011 until 2017, when all schools were transferred back to Detroit Public Schools Community District. History Pershing High School opened in 1930 with capacity to serve more than 2,200 students. It was named after General John J. Pershing, a senior officer in the United States Army during World War I, best known for his involvement in the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front. General Pershing's troops were called doughboys, which was adopted as the high school's mascot. In 2012, Kettering High School closed due to poor performance and some students were rezoned to Pershing. Pershing had also been fraught with academic performance issues for nearly two decades; in 2011, the governor moved Pershing and four other at-risk public high schools into a separate district called the Education Achievement Authority (EAA). This district was a state initiative to reinvigorate struggling schools through a partnership with Eastern Michigan University, but lacked funding, planning, and sufficient governance.