North Hall High School (Hall County, Georgia)
| North Hall High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
4885 Mt. Vernon Road Gainesville, Georgia United States | |
| Information | |
| Motto | Providing Challenges...Envisioning Success |
| Established | 1957 |
| Principal | Joe Gheesling |
| Staff | 122 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1300 |
| Education system | Hall County Schools |
| Color(s) | Green, White, Silver & Black |
| Athletics conference | GHSA Div. 7-AAA |
| Mascot | Trojan |
| Rivals | Gainesville High School Chestatee High School Flowery Branch High School |
| Newspaper | The Forum |
| Yearbook | The Trojan |
North Hall High School is a public four year comprehensive high school located in the northern portion of Hall County, Georgia in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. North Hall serves the communities of Gainesville, Murrayville and Clermont and is located 10 miles north of Gainesville City and 15 miles south of Dahlonega, Georgia.
About North Hall
North Hall has distinguished themselves as one of the supreme schools in Georgia holding a Gold-Level status. The school offers Honors, AP, and IB diploma programs and offers several career clusters. In 2008, North Hall scored a 99.3% on the Junior GHSGT, which marked the highest in the state. This IB Gold school holds many high test scores and averages and is well known in the academic field as well as in the athletics, which sends eight or more teams to the Class AAA state playoffs each year. The Trojans have clinched many region titles in numerous sports and are the owners of the 2006 Class AAA Cross-Country State Championship. The school is located in the original facilities of the first 1957 classes along with new and past expansions. As of 2009, state-of-the-art athletic fields and field houses have been completed for the competing sports, and there are plans for a new Fine Arts wing which will house band, drama and chorus. The school also features an up-to-date library stocked with thousands of novels, stories, poems, reference books and dictionaries. Also, over 30 computers are at the students disposal for class related projects.
Administration
- Joe Gheesling — Principal
- Harold Daniels — Asst. Principal/Athletic Director
- Dwayne Daniels — Asst. Principal
- Twyla Sherland — Asst. Principal
Adjacent schools
- North - White County High School
- South - Gainesville High School
- East — East Hall High School
- West - Lumpkin County High School
- SouthWest - Chestatee High School
Academics
- A qualified International Baccalaureate (IB) school. North Hall has a 5-Star rating by the Great Schools Association and also a 4-Star satisfactory rating by parents voted on in 2007.
- A Pupil/Teacher ratio of 16:1
- The school currently offers many Advanced Placement/Honors Courses.
- Highest Junior Graduation Test Scores in State.[citation needed]
- 99.3% of Juniors passed the math portion of the Graduation Test.[citation needed]
- 2007 Graduates: 207, 55.7% eligible for HOPE Scholarship
Demographics
- White/Caucasian - 91%
- Hispanic - 7%
- Black/Other - 2%
Statistics
North Hall has an even gender distribution of 51% male and 49% female.
Notable alumni
- Tommy Aaron - professional golfer, 1973 Masters Tournament winner
- Jody Davis - former catcher for Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves baseball teams
- Billy Greer - bass guitarist for progressive rock band Kansas
- Corey Hulsey - former NFL Oakland Raiders football player
- Robin Spriggs - author and actor
Valedictorians
- 2009 - Tommy Chen
- 2008 - Leland Taylor
- 2007 - Rebekah Hunt
Feeder Schools
Middle Schools
- North Hall MS
Elementary Schools
- Wauka Mountain ES
- Mt. Vernon ES
- Riverbend ES
Extracurricular Activities
- Humane Society
- Marching Band
- Cheerleading
- FFA
- JHBA
- HOSA
- Spanish
- French
- DECA
- Thespians
- FBLA
- FCA
- Beta
- Academic Team
Athletics
In recent years the North Hall Trojans have qualified for the Class AAA State Playoffs in eight sports or more each year, with several seeing Final Four and state appearances. The sports offered at North Hall are Football, Softball, Volleyball, Wrestling, Baseball, Tennis, Cross Country, Track and Field, Mens Basketball, Ladies Basketball, Mens Soccer & Ladies Soccer.
Football
From the school's opening in 1957 to 2001, North Hall football didn't even have a pulse. The team had a combined 10 winning seasons with one playoff appearance in their 1989-90 season during that period of 44 years. In 2001, a new coach was hired. The new man in charge was Bob Christmas. Christmas, who is a well known Virginia state championship team coach, brought along his own coaching staff and his own playbook. Not long after his arrival the Trojans began to run his mastered Wing T offense and highly effective running game. North Hall started the 2001 season 0-9 under Christmas, but the last game of the season was a shock as the Trojans pulled off a huge upset over then undefeated Madison County, 35-12. That last game gave North Hall a lot of outlook and momentum heading into the 2002 season where they managed to post an (8-2) record and reach the state playoffs as a 3rd seed out of Region 7-AAA. 2003 was good to the rising Trojans, as they breezed to a (9-1) record and a second straight playoff berth. During 2004 the "Brickyard Boys" in their newly renovated stadium, The Brickyard (made entirely of brick), bullied their way to their first undefeated season, (10-0), in school history and also posted their first playoff win, as well as reaching the state quarterfinals and finishing the season ranked 6th in the AP polls, along with a 28-0 shutout win over heated rival Gainesville High School. After a quick rebuilding season in 2005, a (6-4) record, North Hall rose to become a force to be reckoned with after posting two back-to-back region championships. The 2006 season was a nailbiter for the Trojans, in that they had several close wins, but managed to finish the regular season (9-1), the one loss was to rival Gainesville. After a back and forth game all night the Red Elephants scored a touchdown with 0:05 left in the game and successfully completed a 2-point conversion to secure the 29-28 win. Despite this, the Trojan football team stole the region title, their second in 3 years and made a deep run in the postseason posting a final (11-2) record and possessed a final ranking of 7th. 90 percent starters returned for the 2007 season and the Trojans had a top 5 ranking all season. After the first 3 games, North Hall had outscored the opposition 127-0. Seven weeks later, they traveled to expansion rival, Chestatee High School, and snatched the region championship after a commanding 53-6 win over the War Eagles. North Hall finished the regular season with their second undefeated season and third region title in four years. After three playoff wins, the Trojans were in the Final 4, and they were allowed the title of Perennial Powerhouse as they walked into the Georgia Dome for the Class AAA state semifinals. After a 14-7 halftime lead, North Hall suffered their first loss of the season with a last minute loss to Cairo High School, which denied them a trip to the Class AAA State Championship game. After loosing over half the starters to graduation, North Hall was slated for a rebuilding season in 2008. After a slow (1-2) start, the Brickyard Boys bounced back to a (7-3) regular season record and a trip to the Sweet 16 in the Class AAA playoffs. The Trojans are currently averaging 10 wins per season, which takes second place in Class AAA. Since Christmas' arrival, the Trojans have broken every school football record and have nearly doubled the all-time winning season record. North Hall has also made six playoff appearances since Christmas has been at the helm. The Trojan football team have not had a loosing season since 2001, a (1-9) record.
2009 Season
- Overall Record: (8-2)
- Playoff Record: (0-0)
- 7-AAA Record: (8-1) 2nd - FINAL
- Sub A Record: (6-0) 1st - FINAL
- Class AAA Rank: 8th
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 28, 2009 | Johnson | W 20-3 | 1-0 | ||||
| 2 | September 4, 2009 | Buford | L 7-35 | 1-1 | ||||
| 3 | Bye | |||||||
| 4 | September 18, 2009 | Gainesville | L 12-55 | 1-2 | ||||
| 5 | September 25, 2009 | Creekview | W 45-21 | 2-2 | ||||
| 6 | October 2, 2009 | White County | W 38-0 | 3-2 | ||||
| 7 | October 9, 2009 | Flowery Branch | W 37-34 | 4-2 | ||||
| 8 | October 16, 2009 | Pickens | W 39-0 | 5-2 | ||||
| 9 | October 23, 2009 | Chestatee | W 49-7 | 6-2 | ||||
| 10 | October 30, 2009 | Gilmer | W 49-0 | 7-2 | ||||
| 11 | November 6, 2009 | Lumpkin County | W 40-13 | 8-2 | ||||
| P1 | November 13, 2009 | Ringgold | ' | |||||
Coming off an (8-4) season and a trip to the Sweet 16 and a third straight playoff appearance, the Trojans looked highly towards the 2009 season, in the fact that they would be returning over 70 percent of the starters from the '08 squad and nearly all of the defense. Trojans coach Bob Christmas noted that 2009 "reminds me of the 2006 season" During 2006, North Hall posted an (11-2) record and a Top Ten finish. The North Hall Trojans began to prove they were a playoff contender for the 8th year in a row by a commanding 42-0 drubbing over Greater Atlanta Christian in the preseason scrimmage, followed by a 20-3 win over cross-region foe, Johnson, and a (1-0) start to the regular season, but at a costly price in that North Hall lost 4 key starters to injury, one was season ending. The Trojans would drop the next two games to Class AA back-to-back state champion, Buford High School Wolves and the Class AAA top ranked Gainesville Red Elephants. After a (1-2) start to the season, the Trojans were free of injuries and ready to make a run for the postseason. The Trojans have bounced back by knocking off two Class AAA top ten member schools, which in turn peaked the Trojans in numerous Top Ten polls across the state. The biggest win for North Hall this season was over Flowery Branch High School, the 2008 state runner-up. The Trojans took a 22-21 lead into halftime and soon found themselves down 34-22 in the 4th quarter. North Hall rallied with two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion and after a potential tying field goal sailed wide right, the Trojans sent the Falcons home with a 37-34 loss. The following tuesday, North Hall entered the Class AAA polls for the first time since 2008. Currently, North Hall has an overall record of (8-2) accompanied by a league record of (6-0) and a 7-game win streak. With the October 30th homecoming win over Gilmer, 49-0, the Trojans locked up the 7A-AAA championship for the 4th straight year and are a perfect 22-0 in subregion action dating back to 2006, the debut season of the 7-AAA subregion split. After the conclusion of the regular season, North Hall has secured the second seed out of Region 7-AAA and will host Region 6-AAA's 3rd seeded Ringgold High School Tigers (8-2) to start the Class AAA State Playoffs.
Notable Seasons
- 2008 (8-4) Region Runner-Up: Class AAA Sweet 16
- 2007 (13-1) Region Champions: Class AAA Semifinals
- 2006 (11-2) Region Champions: Class AAA Quarterfinals
- 2005 (6-4)
- 2004 (12-1) Region Champions: Class AAA Quarterfinals
- 2003 (9-2) Region Runner-Up: Class AAA State Playoffs
- 2002 (8-3) Region Runner-Up: Class AAA State Playoffs
- 1997 (6-4)
- 1992 (6-4)
- 1990 (8-2)
- 1989 (7-4) Region 4th Place: Class AAA State Playoffs
- 1988 (5-5)
- 1987 (6-3-1)
- 1985 (6-4)
- 1978 (5-5)
- 1967 (6-4)
Clubs
- FFA
- FBLA
- FCA
- JHBA
- Skills USA
- Spanish
- French
- FCCLA
- Beta
- Thespians
- Key Club
- Debate
- Book
- DECA
Band
- Alan Kirkland — Director of Bands (2004-Present)
- Aaron Hughes — Asst. Director of Bands/Drum Instructor (2006-Present)
The North Hall Band program is comprised of a marching band, symphonic band, concert band, jazz band, winter guard, indoor drumline and several smaller emsembles. The Marching Trojans compete during the fall and are present to perform at every football game. They currently are 97 members strong as of 2009 and have earned straight superiors over the past few years. The NHHS Symphonic band performs three to four times a year and compete in District 9. They have performed level 5 over the past several years and have earned straight superiors for the past 3 years. The concert band puts on a stage show production every other year, and this spring will put on Part II of "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue!." The North Hall Jazz Band performs during spring semester around the community, for the student body and for fundraisers performing such hits as Vehicle, Fly Like An Eagle, & 25 or 6 to 4. The NHHS Jazz Band is most notable for holding a benefit concert for the Enterprise High School Band program in 2007 after an F4 tornado struck the Alabama school and demolished their whole band hall and all their equipment. At the end of the event, the band booster president announced that over $5200 was raised for the stricken band program. The current director of bands is Mr. Alan Kirkland who is in his 6th year at North Hall. He is assisted by Mr. Aaron Hughes.
External links
- School — http://hallco.org/nhhs/main
- Football — http://nthfootball.com
- Band — http://northhallhsband.com