Near North Career Metropolitan High School

Near North Career Metropolitan High School was a public 4–year magnet high school located in the Old Town neighborhood on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1979, Near North was operated by the Chicago Public Schools district. Near North served as a new and replacement school for the area when Cooley Vocational High School was closed at the end of the 1978–79 school year due to inadequate conditions within the building. In addition to being a magnet school, Near North offered vocational courses through the Education To Careers program. The school closed in June 2001 due to the decline in its enrollment and the city's plans for the surrounding neighborhood.

In November 1974, The Chicago Board of Education decided to phase out Cooley High due to its poor academic performance and the aged building. In March of the following year, The Chicago Public Schools and the board decided a newer and modern school needed to be constructed on the near–north side to replace Cooley. When it became time to decide a location for the school, CPS decided to build the new school on the land where Cooley stood. City council and white community members argued that Cooley's location would only serve the residents of Cabrini–Green, a predominately African–American housing project located within walking distance and that students from other neighborhoods would be afraid to travel through the housing project.

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