Welcome To Commie High explores the sometimes-thorny issue of public education. Teachers, parents, administrators, and others all feature at the forefront of an unorthodox public high school in Michigan.
Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Community High School takes center stage in Donald Harrison’s documentary. Since its inception in the 1970s, the school has been simultaneously praised and criticized for its unconventional curriculum. Its “school without walls” concept allows students to interact with the outside community of Ann Arbor. There’s no real dress code. Detention and hall passes don’t exist. Many have designated the school as “full of hippies” for its loose rules and free-spirited attitude, and the film embraces that ethos.
But can such a school thrive? Does eschewing rules and regulations offer results? Being nontraditional does have its benefits, as its test scores and college acceptance rates can attest. Famous alumni like NPR’s Neda Ulaby and Found Magazine’s Daby Rothbart appear to champion the school and all it has done for them. Current students are shown in experiential learning environments, also railing against ICE in Michigan and trying to impact local elections.
Welcome to Commie High is an exceptional exploration into a unique place of learning. The school and others like it have faced criticism for bucking the norm. But you cannot deny they deliver effective education, even if it’s in a different form. The educational documentary would work well in academic libraries for those studying higher education, and for sociology and public policy students.