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Montpelier High School

Montpelier High School (MHS) is a public secondary school, comprising grades 9-12, located in Montpelier, Vermont. MHS serves the Montpelier School District. Montpelier is located near the center of Vermont in Washington County. The school's sports teams are called the Solons and the school's colors are green and white. Enrollment in 2006 was 420. Schools in the district include Union Elementary School, Main Street Middle School, as well as MHS.

Recognition

U.S. News & World Report ranked Montpelier High School in the top 500 out of over 18,000 high schools in the United States in November 2007. They initially and incorrectly reported that the school ranked fifth. The school brought the error to the magazine's attention shortly thereafter, prompting a correction on December 10, 2007. The school's correct ranking still puts it in the top 2.8% of American high schools and best in Vermont (by U.S. News standards).

History

MHS is a successor to the Washington County Grammar School, incorporated in 1813. Montpelier High School first issued in diplomas in 1914, the year a new high school building opened on Main Street. That building was replaced by the current building, off Bailey Avenue, which opened in 1956. The old high school building was converted to a middle school, and continues to house grades 6, 7, and 8. The present high school building was enlarged in 1998.

Academics

As of 2006, MHS offers 5 AP classes: Biology, US history, English, Calculus, and Spanish. MHS offers several foreign languages, French, Spanish, and Latin, at several levels. Students at Main Street Middle School are offered French I, Spanish I, and Algebra I. Upon successful completion of these courses students may earn high school credit. MHS is also a site for interning student teachers from the University of Vermont

As of February 2006, 17 students were attending the Barre Technical Center in the neighboring town. Barre Technical Center is a technical and vocational school. Juniors and Seniors are eligible to attend.

MHS offers courses in the English department including, Journalism, Public Speaking, American Studies, American Literature, British Humanities, Irish Humanities, and Creative Writing. Some of the courses in mathematics include Applied Business Math; Functions, Statistics and Trigonometry; Statistics; and Calculus. Some of the science classes offered are, Astronomy, Geology, Environmental Application. Some of the social studies classes that are offered include World Geography, Economics, Women's Humanities, Psychology, and Sociology.

Scholastic Aptitude Test

Last year 74 seniors, 85% of the senior class, took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

Clubs & Extra Curricular Activities

MHS has 20 clubs open to all students including:

• AFS/Cultural diversity club- Students who participate in AFS/CDC get the chance to travel to another school in another state. Each student stays with a student from that school for three days and they get to experience what life is like in different communities.

• VTLSP (Vermont Teen Leadership Safety Program)- A club directed towards raising awareness of prevention and wellness issues including alcohol and other drug use, traffic safety and risk taking behaviors, and to provide students with the resources, skills and adult support with which to facilitate positive change among their peers.

• Outing Club- Outing club offers opportunities for students to participate in activities like backpacking, hiking, winter camping, canoeing, hiking, caving, rock climbing, and much more more.

• Amnesty International- It's members learn about and take action on such issues as freedom of speech, torture, the death penalty, economic organization, and the rights of refugees.

• Community service club - In this club, students respond to requests from the community for help in any areas.

• French Club - Students engage in French conversation and take part in exchanges and field trips in the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec.

• Solon Spectrum - The Solon Spectrum is the school newspaper. It is published (almost) monthly.

• STAND - A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition (Originally Students Taking Action Now: Darfur). This club has three objectives: (1) Create awareness in the community of current ongoing genocides taking place in the world (2) Pressure government officials to take action in stopping genocide (3) Raise aid funds for genocide victims.

Athletics

Most sports have a varsity and a junior varsity team. Some sports that don't have many participants only have one team and some sports, like basketball, have an additional "Freshman Team" or Junior Varsity. MHS plays in Division II in every sport except for football which is Division III. The most popular sports at MHS are soccer and basketball. The girls soccer team won the 2007 Division II Championship. These sports are offered:

Fall season

• Boys Soccer
• Girls Soccer
• Football (Boys)
• Field Hockey (Girls)

Winter season

• Boys Basketball
• Girls Basketball
• Boys Cross-country skiing
• Girls Cross-country skiing
• Boys Hockey
• Girls Hockey

Spring season

• Baseball (Boys)
• Softball (Girls)
• Boys Golf
• Girls Golf
• Boys Lacrosse
• Girls Lacrosse
• Boys Tennis
• Girls Tennis

In the spring students can participate in track and field at neighboring U-32 High School. There is also an ultimate club that competes.

The school also participates in Unified sports, a program of Special Olympics. Unified sports teams consist of all types of students, including differently-abled students. The unified sports that are offered are soccer, bowling, snowshoeing, basketball, and softball. They compete against other schools.

MHS has many sports facilities on campus, including the following:

• Baseball diamond with field hockey/soccer/lacrosse field in outfield and a scoreboard
• Soccer/football field surrounded with a dirt/fine gravel track with grandstand and scoreboard
• Softball diamond with scoreboard
• Field hockey/ lacrosse field
• Two outdoor tennis courts
• Basketball court in gym
• Weight room, recently renovated with new workout machines and repainted

Hockey is played at the Montpelier Civic Center. The ski team skis at a variety of locations, sometimes at the school but usually at U-32 or at the Morse Farm Touring Center nearby. The golf and tennis teams play scheduled games off-campus.

In some PE (physical education) classes, students canoe in the Winooski River, which passes the school, as a regular part of PE class. Students also participate in outdoor archery.

Greenhouse and composting

MHS is home to a solar greenhouse. It was built in 2004 by students of MHS from lumber from fallen trees. The goal of the greenhouse was to reduce the ecological footprint of the school and to be an example of sustainability. The greenhouse also has a web cam that has operated seasonally. Students who take biology are responsible for planting, watering and harvesting their own section of the greenhouse.

Organic greens grown in the greenhouse were used in the school cafeteria. Food waste from the kitchen and cafeteria have been composted and used in the greenhouse's soil.

Notable alumni

• William Charles Fitzgerald, Class of 1956, Vietnam war hero.
• Marc Gilbertson, Olympic Nordic skier.
• F. Ray Keyser, Jr., Class of 1945, Governor of Vermont 1961–1963.
• Laura Wilson, Olympic Nordic skier.

Footnotes

1. "America's Best High Schools: From Massachusetts to California, a look at the schools that excel in teaching students". U.S. News & World Report. November 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Curran, John (December 10, 2007). "Oops! Vermont school's No. 5 ranking by U.S. News was a mistake". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. Public School Profile of MHS
4. MHS STAND
5. Unified Sports
6. MHS
7. Vermont Compost Company
8. ^ "No. R-139. Joint Resolution Congratulating Marc Gilbertson and Laura Wilson For Earning Places on the 1998 United States Olympic Nordic Ski Team". State of Vermont. Retrieved 2008-01-25.

See also

• List of high schools in Vermont

External links

• Montpelier High School
• Montpelier School District
• Montpelier STAND

• High schools in Vermont
• Montpelier, Vermont
• Washington County, Vermont