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Greenwich High School

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Coordinates: 41°02′28″N 73°36′47″W / 41.0411°N 73.6131°W / 41.0411; -73.6131
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Greenwich High School
Address
Map
10 Hillside Rd

Greenwich
,
Connecticut 06830

United States
Information
TypePublic
School districtGreenwich Public Schools
HeadmasterRalph Mayo
Teaching staff201.80 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,744[1] (2018–19)
Student to teacher ratio13.60[1]
Color(s)Red, white and black
MascotCardinal
Websitegreenwichschools.org/ghs

Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students.

It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Greenwich High School was ranked by Newsweek among the 100 top U.S. high schools in 2003, and annually from 2005 to 2015.[2]

Greenwich is one of the twenty-one school districts in District Reference Group B.[3]

History

Greenwich's first high school classes were taught at the Havemeyer School on 290 Greenwich Avenue. The building was a gift of Henry Osborne Havemeyer, an American Industrialist, in 1892. As the building was under construction, plans for a third floor were scrapped as it would affect local businessman and banker Elias C. Benedict’s travel to New York City. He commuted by sailboat and the third floor would disrupt his sight of the flag signals that notified him when the crew was ready to sail. He paid for a gymnasium in exchange for not adding a third floor. In 1898 the first graduation consisted of twelve graduates.[4]

In 1904, there was a town meeting to discuss moving the high school-aged students out of the Havemeyer School and to its own campus. Three years later, in 1907, the first public high school in Greenwich opened. The building was designed by Wilson Potter and it was between Mason Street and Milbank Ave. The building is currently known as the Town Hall Annex apartments. This campus had an enrollment of 178 students and seven teachers. In 1919, an idea for a new gymnasium and school building was proposed. Due to increased enrollment from 299 in 1914 to 477 in 1919, the Town Meeting approved the building of another new high school in 1924. Designed by James O. Betelle, it was dedicated in 1925. The Field Point Road campus opened up in the year 1926 when Headmaster Harry Folsom led the students from the Mason Street campus singing and carrying books. The enrollment was 642 students with thirty-two teachers. In 1933, over-enrollment forced students to attend school for half-day ¨double-sessions.”. Upperclassmen would attend classes from 7:00 A.M to noon, while underclassmen would attend school from noon until 5:00 P.M. while an addition was constructed. A federal grant for $165,000 provided funding for a five-story structure with twenty-five classrooms, a gymnasium, and a library. The Field Point Road campus addition was completed in 1935 and with an enrollment of 1,666 students and sixty teachers.[5]

The Field Pont Road campus was large enough for 25 years before it again became overcrowded.[6][7] In 1960, the Board of Education approved a plan for two comprehensive high schools in Greenwich. This was voted down by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM), so the Board of Education instead approved one high school at Put's Hill. This project was approved for an estimated $9.8m which, at that time, was the largest single appropriation in Greenwich (the cost grew to $14.5m).[8] The old campus eventually became the current Town Hall.[9] This new campus on Put's Hill (along Hillside Road) is the current campus today. It is fifty-four acres with a student capacity of 2,750 which is expandable to 3,300. The students moved into the Hillside campus in 1970. Twenty years later, in 1990, the town added a new science wing, the Black Box Theater and additional classrooms, extended and refurbished the locker rooms, and renovated the auditorium, the swimming pool and the courtyard. The renovation added 90,000 square feet at a cost of $43,000,000. Then, in 2016, the school replaced the auditorium with new music rehearsal rooms and built a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center.

Curriculum structure

As of the 2018–2019 school year, Greenwich High School offers 28 Advanced Placement courses in AP English (Literature and Composition & Language and Composition), French Language, German Language, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, Calculus (AB & BC), Computer Science, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics (1 & C), U.S. History, European History, Psychology, U.S. Government & Politics, Comparative Government & Politics, Economics (Micro & Macro), Studio Art, 2D Design: Photography, 3D Design: Ceramics, and Music Theory, as well as a variety of honors courses and electives.[10] Students are required to complete four credits or years of English/Language Arts courses, three credits each of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, two credits of Foreign Language, one-and-a-half credits of art or business, one credit of physical education, one-half credit of wellness, and six credits of electives (a total of 22 credits).[11] In the school course guide, additional requirements include the following:

  1. The social studies requirements include a full year of American History, and semester courses in Civics and Contemporary America.
  2. The science requirements must include one credit in a biological science and one credit in a physical science (chemistry or physics).
  3. The arts requirements must include one and one half credits in any of the following areas: visual art, business, family and consumer sciences, human development, media, music, technology education, and theater arts.
  4. To be eligible for a Greenwich High School diploma, a student must have attended Greenwich High School for at least one full semester immediately prior to graduation.[11]

Students are allowed to take general elective courses (e.g. art, music, business, et cetera) all four years at GHS, but are only allowed to take certain subject electives (e.g. English) in junior and senior years.

Students' grade point averages are calculated on a weighted scale. For non-honors classes, the maximum mark a student can receive is a 4.33 (A+); in Advanced Placement or Honors level courses students can receive up to a 5.33 (A+).[11]

All students at GHS are issued a Chromebook computer which they are required to bring to every class.[12]

Extracurricular activities

Greenwich High School (GHS) has a number of student activities[13] designed to promote a broad spectrum of interests. The school's student newspaper is The Beak. The yearbook is The Compass. Greenwitch is the school's student literary magazine. Student activities include student government, as well as academic, music, drama, international, language, service, sports, and special-interest clubs. The Music Department features four choral ensembles, three orchestras, three concert bands and two jazz bands. The Theater Arts program mounts one contemporary, two musicals, one Shakespeare production and one compilation of student written and directed work each year. Young Democrats and Young Republicans both feature prominently, and have coordinated with numerous political campaigns, both on local and national levels.

Athletics

Greenwich High School students have opportunities to participate in a variety of sports in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (FCIAC). Both boys and girls teams compete in the FCIAC in the following sports (although some sports such as football are not played by any girls' teams while softball is not played by any boys' teams): football, soccer, basketball, cheerleading, ice hockey, field hockey, track and field, cross country, swimming, water polo, golf, bowling, softball, volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics, and lacrosse.[14]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c "Greenwich High School". School Directory Information. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  2. ^ "High School Profile Page - Newsweek." Newsweek - National News, World News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and More - Newsweek. Web. 27 July 2011. <http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/americas-best-high-schools/profile.html?key=agVfWUR_hxcqAsxF8wiM8rOl0Ag>.
  3. ^ https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Grants-Management/Report1/CPSE2015/appndxa.pdf?la=en CT District Reference Groups (DRG)
  4. ^ Greenwich High School: A tradition of Excellence, 1898-1999. Pamphlet. Available at Greenwich High School Media Center.
  5. ^ Greenwich High School: A tradition of Excellence, 1898-1999. Pamphlet. Available at Greenwich High School Media Center.
  6. ^ Richard H. Parke Special to The New York Times. “Greenwich Is Told Rise in Pupils Will Overflow High School in '62.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 May 1960, http://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/29/archives/greenwich-is-told-rise-in-pupils-will-overflow-high-school-in-62.html
  7. ^ The House Plan: A Primer. The Public Schools, Greenwich, Connecticut. June 1964. Available at Greenwich High School Media Center.
  8. ^ The New Greenwich High School. Pamphlet with cost breakdown. Lawton Kennedy; for Reid and Tarics Associates, San Francisco. Available at Greenwich High School Media Center.
  9. ^ Yager, Leslie. “Wet and Wild: Soggy History of Ten Acre Swamp.” Stone Mountain-Lithonia, GA Patch, Patch, 18 Oct. 2011, patch.com/connecticut/greenwich/wet-and-wild-a-retrospective-on-the-soggy-history-of-0a47e0d6c2
  10. ^ "GHS COURSE OF STUDY GUIDE." Greenwich Public Schools. Web. 13 April 2018. <https://www.greenwichschools.org/uploaded/high_school/Teaching_and_Learning/Academics/Course_of_Study_Guide/GHS_COSG_2018-19_Nov_15_2017_C_Jan_12_2018.pdf>.
  11. ^ a b c "Academics." Greenwich Public Schools. Web. 27 July 2011. <http://www.greenwichschools.org/page.cfm?p=123>.
  12. ^ "Greenwich High Info". Greenwich Schools. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Clubs." Greenwich Public Schools. Web. 27 July 2011. <http://www.greenwichschools.org/page.cfm?p=3977>.
  14. ^ "FCIAC | Greenwich High School Athletics". greenwichcardinalsathletics.assn.la. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  15. ^ Hagey, Keach, "A familiar face to speak at Greenwich High graduation", article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, p A3, Stamford edition, June 8, 2007
  16. ^ Vigdor, Neil (January 15, 2014). "Mission Congress for retired Navy SEAL". Connecticut Post. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  17. ^ Dominitz, Nathan (June 6, 2014). "Sand Gnats' L.J. Mazzilli hits way toward big-league goal". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  18. ^ "Ex-Greenwich resident wins Nobel Prize in economics". Connecticut Post. 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
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