St James Academy, Dudley

Castle High School is a secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It caters for pupils aged from 11 to 16 years.

Castle High is one of the most recently formed schools in the Dudley area, although its buildings are some of the oldest. It was formed in September 1989 on a merger between The Dudley School and The Blue Coat School, and at this time gave education for pupils aged from 12 to 18 years.

After just one year, the school opened to 11 year olds following the local authority's decision to reduce the primary school leaving age; at the same time, the sixth form centre was closed and the leaving age for pupils fell to 16. The former sixth form facilities were used as classrooms to accommodate the new younger pupils. 1990 also saw the school take in a large percentage of pupils from the Sir Gilbert Claughton School, which closed due to falling numbers.

It is situated in St James's Road, near Dudley town centre, mostly within the buildings of the former Dudley Boys Grammar School (which date back to 1897). An extension was completed in 1995 and the adjoining buildings in Priory Road (formerly Dudley Girls High School) were demolished at the beginning of the following year. Dudley Boys Grammar School itself was founded in 1562 - and an early headmaster (1638) was Richard Baxter.

The school suffered a tragedy in February 2001 when 12-year-old pupil Scott Holloway died after being knocked down by a van near his home on the Priory Estate. [1] Staff and pupils at Castle High set up a fund in Scott's memory and a total of almost £1,100 was raised for the fund, some of which was raised by bidding for a signed Aston Villa football. [2] A local van driver later received a fine and a driving ban for careless driving in connection to Scott's death. [3]