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Green Hope High School
View of the Front Entrance of Green Hope High School
Location
Map
Cary
,
North Carolina

United States
Information
TypePublic high school
Motto'Dare To Soar'
Established1999
PrincipalDr. James E. Hedrick
Grades9 - 12
Number of students2250
Color(s)Maroon and Green
MascotFalcons
Websitegreenhopehigh.wcpss.net

Green Hope High School is a school in Cary, North Carolina, serving grades 9-12. In 2006, approximately 2,044 students attended according to the WCPSS page, and with a 95% graduation rate, about 530 seniors graduated. [1] GHHS opened its doors in 1999, drawing only freshmen and sophomore students from neighboring overcrowded schools. It added a grade level for the two subsequent years and graduated its first senior class in 2002. It is located next to its sister school, Green Hope Elementary School, which is at an adjacent campus. Both schools are operated by Wake County Public School System. The site also features a tennis facility operated by the Town of Cary.

A recent growth in student population resulted in an off-site "9th Grade Annex" roughly 1/2 mile from the main campus. In the 2006-2007 school year, the 9th Grade Annex was turned into Carpenter Elementary to accommodate the rising number of students in Wake County.

The school mascot is the Green Hope Fighting Falcon; a statue of one graces the school's western lawns.

Introduction

Green Hope High School (GHHS) is a primary example of a developing suburban education system[citation needed]. The school has an excellent academic record, as well as a reputation for managing the resources available to it. It has earned highest accolades [2] in Wake County, placing it among the highest-performing public schools in North Carolina. The school's culture has evolved greatly since its inception, as teachers and administrators gain more experience and a developing school heritage evolves with the student body. The current serving principal is Dr. James E. Hedrick.

Academics

Departments

Physics department lab equipment, which is available to AP Physics and other students.
  • Career and technical education
    • career management, small business entrepreneurship
    • computer applications I-II, computer programming I-II, computerized accounting I-II, digital communication systems, foundations of information technology
    • marketing, sports & entertainment marketing I-II, strategic marketing, principles of business & personal finance, fashion merchandising
    • apparel development I-II, family & consumer sciences advanced studies, child development, early childhood development I-II, teen living, trade & industrial advanced studies, foods I-II
    • drafting I-III, furniture & cabinetmaking I-II, housing & interiors I
    • medical science I-II, biomedical technology, health team relations
  • English
    • English I-IV, ap English III-IV
    • sat verbal/math prep, special interest seminar, speech I-II, creative writing I-II, intro to communications & mass media
    • yearbook I-III, newspaper I-III
  • Fine arts
    • visual arts I-IV, sculpture/ceramics I-II, art history, AP Studio
    • modern dance I-IV, theatre arts I-IV, technical theatre I-II
    • vocal music I-IV, beginning guitar, band I-IV, orchestra I-IV
    • music appreciation, ap music theory
    • Orchestra
    • Band
    • Student art gallery
    • Theatre
  • Foreign languages
    • Spanish I-V, Spanish I-II for native speakers, ap Spanish language, ap Spanish literature
    • french I-V, ap french language
    • Latin I-V
  • Math
    • technical math I-II, introductory math
    • algebra I: part I, algebra I: part II, algebra I, algebra II
    • geometry, advanced functions & modeling, analytic geometry/trigonometry, discrete math
    • pre-calculus, intro to college math, ap calculus ab, ap calculus bc, ap statistics
  • Healthful living
    • healthful living I, lifetime sports I-II, team sports I-II
    • weight training I-II, personal fitness I-II, sports medicine I-III, pepi I-II
  • Science
    • earth science, marine & astronomical science
    • biology, anatomy & physiology, forensics
    • physical science, chemistry, physics
    • ap environmental science, ap biology, ap chemistry, ap physics
  • Social Studies
    • world history, civics & economics, United States history, Vietnam war/international relations, geography
    • law & justice, sociology, psychology
    • ap United States history, ap European history, ap comparative government, ap us government & politics, ap psychology
  • Special programs
    • curriculum assistance, icr English, icr math, icr social studies
  • Media Center (Photo — Library and Computer Lab) and (Website)

Sports and athletics

Athletics Department hallway next to gymnasium.

The Athletics Department operates competitive and intramural sports at the high school.

Listing of sports at Green Hope:
Men's Sports Women's Sports Coed Sports

Golf

The Men's Golf team at Green Hope is one of the most dominant forces in high school athletics. Since the school was reopened in 2001, the Falcons have captured three team State Championship Titles (2003, 2006, 2007) and four individual titles (Brendon Todd, 3 and Kevin O'Connell, 1). Golfers from Green Hope have been widely recruited to play Division 1 NCAA Golf. Graduates have played at various Universities across the country including the University of Georgia (Brendon Todd), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kevin O'Connell), University of North Carolina at Wilmington (Will Shambley), the University of Arkansas (Drew Eibner), Pepperdine University (Eric Shriver), Appalachian State University (Dan Gossin), East Carolina University (Elliot Jones and Tripp Brizendine) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Kyle Sonday).[citation needed]

School organizations

The rear of the school, as seen from the Elementary School campus. The football field is visible below the school.

Extracurricular activities, clubs, and other student organizations flourish as a result of student, parental, and faculty involvement.

These organizations include cultural, religious, academic, and intramural sports organizations.

Of particular note, due to high levels of student/faculty involvement are:

  • Science Olympiad
  • Film Club
  • Literary Journal
  • Environmental Club

Other clubs include various honor societies, community outreach programs, extracurricular foreign-language and culture clubs (French, Spanish, Latin), a school paper of news, and athletic boosters.

School demographics

Rural neighborhoods in Cary are rapidly developing...
...into affluent neighborhoods, embodied by this Gazebo in Preston Village, a subdivision located not far from the school. These two images are less than 1/4 mile apart.

The school serves affluent Western Wake, including Cary and Apex. It also features a program to provide bus service from south Raleigh in order to meet county socio-economic status quotas.

As of 2006, redistricting and explosive population growth may cause dramatic demographic changes. Suburban neighborhoods, featuring multi-million dollar mansions, sit adjacent to old tobacco farms and rural land tracts.

6% of the student body is enrolled in honors or AP courses, compared with only a 4% state-wide average.

In 2005, 91% of students performed at or above grade-level. The school ranks as a North Carolina Honor School of Excellence and meets capacity requirements as a High Growth School. [3] [4] The school is one of the largest and newest high schools in the district. However, the school is a traditional (non-magnet) school by official designation (and funding considerations).

The school prides itself on technology integration - 100% of classrooms have internet access, and teachers and students use an online course-reporting and grading system.

Funding

Wake County is growing so rapidly that county planners are having difficulty providing the necessary services. Partially responsible is the North Carolina state policy of tax revaluation, which means that despite rising property values, the same net dollar amount flows into the education system.

In addition to the rising incremental cost as new students are added, there is also a large cost each time a new school must be built.

North Carolina Education Lottery

In response to similar financial conditions across the state, North Carolina passed a bill providing for a state lottery. Though the lottery was fought and continues to be debated by members of the religious right, it provides an influx of money to educational establishments state-wide.

Despite this new source of funds, Wake County is still growing so fast that planners have decided to issue bonds. [5] Wake County has a AAA bond rating[5], so low-interest rates encouraged this funding approach.

Green Hope High School is a classic symptom of the struggle of a suburban community to acclimate to rapidly changing demographics, economic conditions, and social stratification. As funds become available, semi-permanent and permanent additions to the school are constructed. After only two years of operation, the school was deemed over-capacity.

History

This display, located in GHHS lobby, showcases some of the historic memorabilia from the previous school.

The school is named for the older, historic Green Hope School, built in 1927. [6] It provided Grades 1 through 12 during its lifetime as a consolidated school. This continued until 1952[6], when it was re-dubbed Green Hope Elementary School, providing primary-education while the higher grades were reallocated to nearby Cary or Apex High schools. Green Hope Elementary proudly became the first accredited rural school in Wake County. By 1963, it served 172 students. However, at the time, the school was a whites-only establishment.

Fire and Destruction

This grassy field, railroad tracks, and construction rubble are all that remain of the original Green Hope School.

On August 15, 1963 at 1 AM, the school caught fire. [7]

Three fire departments responded: Apex, Morrisville, and Yrac.[7] (Yrac Department was created in 1958 as a temporary reorganization of Cary Rural Fire District; in 1998 it was merged with Cary F.D. Yrac is Cary spelled backward, for reasons unknown at the time of this writing).

Despite this response, the school was totally destroyed. Damage was estimated at greater than $400,000[7], and the school was not reconstructed. The cause of fire was officially described as suspicious circumstances. However, arson was suspected as a cause, and firefighters reported a car speeding away from the blaze. Possible motives include opposition to the racial integration of the local districts. This process continued, however, expedited by the creation of Wake County Public School System in 1976. [8] This set the goal of unifying the diverse racial and economic demographic of the growing community, and ensuring that the affluent suburbs and the poorer urban areas of Raleigh received equal and integrated education. However, the site of Green Hope School remained unoccupied until 1999.

The present location of the school is across the road from the old building site.

Green Hope Elementary School

Green Hope Elementary School
Front view of Green Hope Elementary School
Location
Map
Cary
,
North Carolina

United States
Information
TypePublic Elementary school
Motto'Soaring To New Heights'
Established2000
PrincipalLisa Spalding
GradesK - 5
MascotFalcons
Websitegreenhopees.wcpss.net

The elementary school began operation in 2000, one year later than the high school. [9] It too has earned recognition for academic performance, meeting qualifications as a School of Excellence for five consecutive years since it began operation. Green Hope ES runs on a year-round schedule).

The school operates its own library and media center.

Falcon mascot

This vulture is one of many species of indigenous North Carolina wildlife that inhabit the school grounds.
The school mascot is the Green Hope Fighting Falcon; a statue of this bird graces the school's western lawns.

The school mascot, like its sister high-school, is a falcon. Unlike the high school, a specific, real Peregrine falcon has been adopted to represent the school. Via the Wind over Wings conservation group, the school has adopted this bird (in exchange for sponsorship for the organization). Isis is a female Peregrine Falcon in the Hartford, Connecticut area. She was born around 2003, and eats small and medium-sized birds.

Though no falcons are known to inhabit the school grounds, other large raptors such as the raptor pictured at left are frequent sights. Continued encroachment onto animal habitats may cause migration or extinction of these local populations.


References

  1. ^ "Green Hope High School webpage". Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  2. ^ "Green Hope Accolades". Wake County Public School System. 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ US Senate Committee on Finance (1998-02-10). "Parent and Student Savings Account Plus Act (Modifications)". Retrieved 2007-04-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ State Board of Education, North Carolina (1998-02-10). "The ABCs Accountability Model". Retrieved 2007-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ a b "[[Wake County]] Public Schools Growth Resource Center". 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  6. ^ a b "About Green Hope High School". Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  7. ^ a b c Legeros, Mike (2004-07-10). "Yrac Fire Department History (1961-1998)". Retrieved 2007-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Jones, Dr. Clifford V. (1980). A History of Merger: Wake County Public School System, 1976-1980. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ "Green Hope Elementary School webpage". Retrieved 2007-04-21.
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