 However, Ilg sought and obtained assurances from the Columbus Board of Education that if he could recruit 100 students and funding via outside grants, space would be provided for the school.In the fall of 1978, with enough money to operate for only one semester, and a "reported" enrollment of exactly 100 students, the Columbus Alternative High School opened as a half-day program on the third floor of Mohawk Elementary School in downtown Columbus.CAHS students spent their mornings at Mohawk Elementary and were bussed to their neighborhood schools in the afternoons for science and physical education programs.