Amity High School

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**Amity High School**
School type	Public Regional High school
Staff	Dr. Edward Goldstone (Principal)
Students	Approximately 1700
Location	Woodbridge, CT, USA
Website	www.amityregion5.org

Amity High School is a regional high school located in Woodbridge, Connecticut, USA, and organized to provide high school education (grades 9-12) for the children in the three towns of Woodbridge, Orange, and Bethany. The technical name for this regional arrangement within the state of Connecticut is Regional District #5 -- the name Amity is derived from both the colonial history of Woodbridge as well as the "friendship" demonstrated among the three founding towns in arranging for a communal educational program.

1 Grade arrangement
2 Construction
3 Campuses
4 Scandals
5 Athletics
6 References
7 Notable alumni
8 External links

[edit] Grade arrangement

Amity Senior High School featured an unusual grade arrangement of sophomores through seniors, a division which had been popular during the 1960s. This arrangement lasted until 2005.

In the spring of 2005, the ninth graders from the junior high schools in Bethany and Orange were moved to Amity High School. Both campuses have been renamed Amity Middle School.

The freshmen are currently housed in classroom trailers (portables) until the additions to the front of the school can be finished.

[edit] Construction

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A large construction phase began during the fiscal year of 2005, School year of 2005-2006. A new school wing with many new classrooms has been added to what was once the front of the highschool. This new addition wraps around the previous entrance, and will facilitate a new courtyard, much like that of the Amity Junior High's courtyard in Bethany. The plan for these new classrooms has not been fully released (in the most likely case that the classrooms have not been planned for what academics they will facilitate). To make room for this large project, about a quarter of the front parking lot was demolished, along with the front entrance. Parking has since become an object of concern.

In addition to the new academic wing, the previous Auditorium will also be reconstructed. The previous facility was deemed unsafe due to the high water-table and moisture; it has been knocked down and is being rebuilt. Interestingly, the construction management firm doing the demolition found no evidence of mold in the auditorium. As of September 10th, 2006, the foundation has been poured and much of the steelwork has been completed. The auditorium is planned for completion in February 2007, in order to host the various end of year concerts.

What was once a back entrance, near the parking area, will now become the new main entrance for the High School. Construction in the back corner of the High School has begun to house new offices and wider halls for higher student traffic.

[edit] Campuses

The junior high school program has two campuses -- one located in northern Orange, and the second in central Bethany. Budgets and administration are shared by the junior high campuses and the senior high school campus; costs are distributed proportionally across the three towns.

[edit] Scandals

In recent years, there have been many several major controversies, most notably a problem with construction of the senior high school building in 1992. A new construction project scheduled for completion in 2007 will correct any remaining problems (See Above). The high school building was constructed over a low-lying area adjacent to wetlands giving some the mistaken impression that the school was built on a swamp. Because of complaints over indoor air quality, the auditorium was closed in 2003. Interestingly, during the current construction, the auditorium was demolished to make way for a larger auditorium.

A further scandal engulfed the district in the early 2000's when the three towns of Bethany, Orange, and Woodbridge demonstrated their unhappiness with school district board members for financial mismanagment involving a $2.1 million dollar budget shortfall by voting "No" in seventeen education budget referendums. "Save Our Schools" signs were displayed throughout the towns.

[edit] Athletics

The school sports teams are known as "The Spartans" and "Lady Spartans" and compete in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Confrence (CIAC). The district has a longtime rivalry with Cheshire High School. Usually, the Spartans defeat their heated rivals. In the past 3 years, Amity has regularly bested Cheshire in most sports, with the notable exception of lacrosse or girls swimming. Cheshire lacrosse regualarly beats Amity, and the Cheshire girls swimming team has not lost a meet in 25 years. Both Amity and Cheshire Girls Volleyball compete in the CIAC's highest division, and Cheshire has provided the Lady Spartans with their only two losses for the 2006 season.

In 2004, the Amity Varsity tennis team went on an unexpected run to the CT State Championships. The Spartans, who had long played second-best to arch-rival Cheshire High School, finally unseated the Rams as part of an undefeated regular season that brought them the SCC conference title for the first time in years. At the Class LL State Tournament, held at Cheshire Academy, Amity shocked the competition by placing first, thanks to performance by its all-around deep squad, a close-knit group on and off the court. Amity was able to beat Greenwich High School by one point to win the competition.

The Amity softball team has won numerous state titles and in 2006 lost its first SCC championship in four years to Mercy High School in a 4-0 shut out.

The baseball team has also enjoyed years of success. Since 2002, the team has regularly made the state finals and won numerous conference titles. Most recently they won the LL Championship Final 3-2 against 13th seeded Bristol Central.

The Amity swim program is a perennial powerhouse in the state. The men’s and women’s teams have enjoyed great success in both conference and state championships.

The men's cross country won its first ever New England championship in 2005. The men's indoor track team won its first State Open championship in 2006. In the past 2 years, both the Amity boys and girls track programs (cross country, indoor and outdoor track) have laid claim to most of the division, conference, and state titles they are eligible to compete in.

In 2006 Amity girls soccer team won the Housaonic Division and S.C.C. championship and tied the Class "LL" State Championship with Trumbull. the two teams went into double overtime and ended with a 0-0 tie. In the S.C.C. they beat Mercy High School 1-0 in double overtime. 2006 was also the first year they won the S.C.C. and have an undefeated regular season. That year Amity girls soccer was ranked #1 in Connecticut, #2 in New England, and #9 in the U.S.