The Gemini Academy for Metahuman Development

Article Contributed by Silverlite_Sword

C: Credible

The Gemini Academy for Metahuman Development is a highly respected school for young metahumans that sets them on the fast track to become a professional meta-athlete, obtain their law enforcement licence, or to study at the University of Artemis's metahuman campus. While the school will accept high-quality applicants of any specialty, the school is known for its particularly illustrious program for metahumans with mental powers.

Structure

Although the school receives public funds, the Gemini Academy for Metahuman Development is a private school and is run by its board of directors in accordance with the school's charter. Many of these board members are regular faces at Gemini High, as they take a very active role in overseeing the school. In addition to appointing the school's administrator, the school board has other rights and responsibilities as laid out by the charter, including determining the school's curriculum and the ability for each board member to select one student each year to receive a scholarship to attend the school.
The day-to-day operations of the school are overseen by the school's administrator, and the administrator hires all the faculty and staff for the school. The school's charter specifies that only metahumans may be board members or employees of the school, but otherwise, the administrator has free rein to hire and fire staff as they choose. Faculty may be fired by the administrator only until they receive tenure, at which point termination requires the approval of the school board.
Under the administrator, the school is run by department chairs and deans. The department chairs handle matters of curriculum as directed by the school's board, and the school's deans are empowered to handle any disciplinary problems presented by the students. The tenured associate instructors and the assistant instructors each report to their respective department chairs.
As the size and complexity of this high school rivals that of a university, there are of course many administrative departments designed to assist students, including career counselors, registrars, emotional counselors, and dormitory supervisors.
The school also boasts a ponderous student government council, and student ambassadors elected by the student council are invited to attend select meetings with the school board.

Culture

Gemini High takes great care to promote a culture of excellence and cooperation within its walls. Excellent students are recruited to attend from across the entire country, and the school's yearbook every year reads like a "who's who" of up-and-coming superheroes and luminaries. Merely attending Gemini High is practically a golden ticket that sets students up for a distinguished and accomplished life.
Because of this atmosphere, Geminis have been described as bright, professional, and ambitious. Students who don't care about their studies or their futures tend not to last very long at the school. Every year of study asks more and more of students until they graduate, polished like precious gems.
That's not to say that Geminis never have fun. The school hosts a number of luncheons, galas, and balls where students mingle with CEOs, congressmen, and of course, superheroes. The most important of these festivities is Gemini High's Homecoming Gala, which is held on Eclipse Day each May. Only alumni, former employees, and current students, faculty and staff have ever been invited to this event since the school was founded, and the school's original founders have never missed a single Homecoming.

Public Agenda

It would be a great tragedy to allow the best and brightest of the next generation to slip through our fingers. Every day, the fear of danger or the promise of power call out to them, and one day they will listen. The crime families will open up their arms to them, and the darkness will swallow our children.
If we do not act now, we will lose the children of our city. That is why we are opening up a school for metahumans, to reach our children before the darkness reaches them. This is nothing less than a war for the very soul of our city, and it is a war that we intend to win.
- The Starlight Siren, during The Gemini Academy for Metahuman Development's opening ceremony

Gemini High's school charter allocates a number of seats each year that are reserved for talented but underprivileged metahumans, specifically those with mental abilities. They recruit students from within youth programs all over the country, and even have a dormitory on campus to house students with no other place to stay. The bulk of their recruiting is, of course, done within New Artemis herself, as the school places a strong emphasis on giving back to the community.

History

After the Great Storm that destroyed the city of Artemis, a group of influential metahumans approached the city with a proposal. In addition to contributing to the rebuilding effort, they would establish an academy for training young metahumans in New Artemis. This new academy would bring talent into the city from across the country and establish New Artemis as one of the great leaders of the post-eclipse world.
While the city council couldn't afford to turn down the connections and resources offered, many of the citizens of Artemis were skeptical of metahumans after the Great Storm. In order to take advantage of this offer and appease the citizens, the city council offered to give the school a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city - the part of Artemis most damaged by the Storm. New Artemis rebuilt a sizable distance away, the citizens felt safe, and the school got its land.
Eventually, much of this land was sold to the University of Artemis to establish a metahuman-focused campus, since city ordinances wouldn't allow the university to build those facilities within the city. Even so, the Gemini Academy for Metahuman Development was left with a sizable chunk of land, far larger than any high school would be expected to utilize. Even today, acres of land owned by the school are left undeveloped, still destroyed from the Great Storm and now well overgrown.

Scholarship, Vigilance, and Cooperation

Founding Date

12 AE

Type

Educational, School/Academy

Alternative Names

Gemini High

Demonym

Geminis