admission is selective. originally, 8th and 9th grade students from public and private schools took a proficiency exam before admission. a combination of the student's grades in middle school or junior high and the exam score determined school admission. this policy was changed in 1994 to allow transfer students to attend the school, although they must fulfill the same graduation requirements as other students. in 2006, more than 75% of the student's body was african-american. renaissance opened in 1978 with first-year ("freshman") and second-year ("sophomore") students. its first four-year graduating class received their diplomas in june 1982.