Centerville High School (Centerville, Ohio)

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Centerville High School is a public school of secondary education for grades 9-12 located in Centerville, Ohio, situated ten miles south of Dayton. It is the only high school in the Centerville School District, which also includes three middle schools, six elementary schools, and one kindergarten. The district serves all of the city of Centerville and Washington Township, as well as property parcels in the city of Kettering near the Moraine Country Club. Centerville High School has the second highest student population in Ohio.^[1]

[edit] Awards and Distinctions

In 2006, Newsweek/The Washington Post ranked Centerville High School as 2nd in the greater Dayton area, 18th in the state of Ohio, and 955th in the nation.^[2] The Centerville City School District is one of only 17 districts to have received the Ohio Education Department's highest rating of Excellent every year since the rating system's inception in 2000. Also, Centerville High School was awarded the United States Department of Education's highest honor by becoming a Blue Ribbon School in 1984 and again in 1993. Centerville High School is one of only 7 high schools in Ohio to have been recognized more than once, as of 2002.^[3] In November 1991, Centerville High School became the first high school in the United States to communicate directly via satellite with Russian students from Moscow School #23 in a television broadcast entitled "Sharing Freedom."^[4] In the spring of 1991, CHS was nominated by the Ohio Department of Education as one of Reebok's America's Best Schools under the category of "Overall Excellence."^[4] In 1988, CHS was one of 23 school nationwide to be awarded the Excellence in Education Award in the Drug-Free Schools Program by the U.S. Department of Education.^[4]

[edit] History

Washington Township first began offering formal education in 1803 with a school building housing grades 1-6. Nine one-room elementary schools were also erected. In 1848, the Old Stone Academy was constructed and the first high school courses were offered. Private schools over the blacksmith shop and in Old Township Hall also offered similar courses.

In 1885, the Washington Township High School was built at 101 West Franklin Street. The first class graduated in 1890. In 1924, the Magsig building was built as a centralized school (grades 1-12). Washington Township High School became a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1951. In April 1955, the Central Unit of what is now Cline Elementary School was opened and junior high and the three-year high school were moved there. Kindergarten was added at Magsig. The name of the high school officially became Centerville High School in 1963. In 1966, CHS became a four-year high school with classes split by department between Magsig and Cline (then known as the South building) and students walking back and forth between classes. Tower Heights Middle School and Hithergreen Middle School were built for grades 6-8 in 1966. Hadley Watts Middle School became the third middle school in 1969. In 1973, the first part of the present-day high school was completed, becoming the East Unit in addition to the Magsig and South Units.

In 1975-76, the entire high school was finally taught inside the current building with Central, East, and West units. Magsig was changed to a middle school, and the old South was changed to W.O. Cline Elementary School. The stadium and athletic fields were built behind the high school in 1979 and the auxilery gym, as well as the new South Unit in 1980. In 1982, Hithergreen Middle School and Village South Elementary School were closed. Hithergreen is now a retirement home, but in 1991, Village South was reopened as Centerville Kindergarten Village. During the 1999–2000 school year, the Athletic Entrance, Athletic Office, and weight room were completed.

Proposed front addition

In May 2005, voters in Centerville/Washington Township supported a $4.4 million operating levy and a $2.5 million bond issue designed to compensate for a predicted district enrollment increase to 9000 students. Accordingly, construction has begun at the high school on a new media center, 9 new chemistry and physics classrooms and 3 new labs, a new main entrance, additional classroom space, and improved cafeteria commons areas. This addition is projected to complete in June 2007. A new 1200-seat auditorium with state-of-the-art acoustics is slated for completion in December 2007.^[5]

[edit] Curriculum and Co-curricular activities

Centerville High School boasts a large and varied curriculum. It offers 20 Advanced Placement tests in 16 courses in science, mathematics, history, government, language, economics, and psychology. The high school also offers more esoteric courses such as Intoduction to Street Jam, Creative Foods, Needle Arts, Philosophy, and Modern Mathematics (dealing with such topics as fractals, chaos theory, Julia and Mandelbrot sets, strange attractors and non-Euclidean geometry).^[6] In the foreign language department, CHS offers traditional courses such as Spanish, French, and German, as well as Latin and American Sign Language.

[edit] Performing arts

Centerville High School is also home to a very successful music program. In particular, the Centerville marching band, Jazz Band, nationally ranked orchestra program, choral program, and concert band programs are all noteworthy in their fields.

The Centerville band program is comprised of the Centerville Jazz Band, the Winter Guard and Winter Percussion, the Jazz Ensembles, the Basketball Pep Band (BBPB), the Symphonic Band, the Wind Ensemble, and the Concert Band. The Centerville Jazz Band has competed in several of the Bands of America regional and national competitions since 1990, winning the Grand National competition in 1992. The Winter Percussion Ensemble won the Scholastic World Gold Medal at the Winterguard International World Championships in 2004, finishing 2nd in 2005. In 2006, Centerville was the only High School to produce two finalist lines, the World Line (5th, Scholastic World) and the A-Line (10th, Scholastic A).

The orchestra program at CHS consists of its Symphonic Orchestra, as well as the Concert Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra (Quartet), and an Alternative Strings program (which plays bluegrass, jazz, and electronic music). The prestigious Centerville High School Symphonic Orchestra ranks as one of the best nationwide. In 2002, the Symphonic Orchestra competed at the American String Teachers Association National Competition and placed fourth, and four years later, in 2006, tied for second in its division at the same competition. In addition, the Symphonic Orchestra has received the highest rating of Superior in all areas at the Ohio Music Education Association String Orchestra Adjudication for five years consecutively, starting in 2001.

Centerville High School also has two distinguished choirs, known as Glee Club and Elktonians. Both choirs have sung at many different venues.

[edit] College-Career Tech Prep Program

Vocational courses at the high school (commonly known as block classes, because they span multiple periods) include Biotechnology, Engineering Technology, Information Technology, Exercise Science, International Business Management, Marketing, Environmental Management, Broadcast Management, Mass Communications and Publication Journalism. Students in several of these courses have done well in regional and state competitions. The Broadcast Management class hosts a fully funtional radio station, WCWT (aka "The Beef"). The Mass Communications students publish the school's monthly newspaper, Pursuit, as well as put on the television news show, Centerville News Network. Students in Publication Journalism are responsible for the school's yearbook, the Elkonian.

[edit] Extra-curricular activities

Centerville High School hosts over 30 clubs, ranging in topic from foreign language to community service, as well as teams that consistently place at the national and global level. Clubs include Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, Destination Imagination, Speech and Debate, Model United Nations, Academic Team, and Mock Trial.

Centerville's Science Olympiad team has made it to the state tournament every year since its creation in 1985, and has qualified for the national tournament for 18 out of its 21 years. The team has also been the reigning state champion for four consecutive years, and in 2006 placed third in the nation. At the 2005 state competition, the team set a state record for best team score, placing first with only 78 points.

Two of Centerville's four Destination Imagination teams competed at the state level. One continued and took 5th place at the Global Finals Tournament at the University of Tennessee.

[edit] Athletics

Centerville is a member of the Greater Western Ohio Conference. 13 sports are offered for boys and 12 sports and support groups are offered for girls.

[edit] Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

• Baseball - 1928
• Hockey – 1979
• Boys Soccer – 1984
• Girls Golf – 1995
• Girls Gymnastics – 1977
• Girls Swimming – 2004
• Girls Track and Field – 1981

[edit] Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Centerville High School include:

• Andy Harmon (Class of 1987), former professional football player with the Philidelphia Eagles (1991-1997)
• A. J. Hawk (Class of 2002), professional football player for Green Bay Packers, outside linebacker; 2-time All-American at Ohio State University
• Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN sports analyst
• Gordon Jump, actor
• Mike Nugent (Class of 2001), professional football player for NY Jets; Kicker
• Michael S. Rose (Class of 1987), New York Times bestselling author
• Stephanie Studebaker, veterinarian and a former Congressional candidate.

[edit] External links

• Centerville High School website
• Centerville Jazz Band website
• Centerville Schools Orchestra website
• Centerville "Elks" Football website
• Centerville Men's Cross Country website
• Centerville Tennis website
• Centerville Boys' Soccer website

[edit] References

1. ^ Smiga, Gary (June 2006). "Building for Our Future". Accent 34 (2): 4.
2. ^ Elliott, Scott. "Oakwood, Centerville nationally ranked", Dayton Daily News, 2006-04-02. Retrieved on 2006-07-15.
3. ^ U.S. Department of Education (2002). "Blue Ribbon Schools Program" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-07-15.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Centerville High School Student Handbook. (2005-2006).
5. ^ Centerville City School District. CHS Front Addition. Construction Zone. Retrieved on 2006-07-15.
6. ^ Centerville High School Course of Studies. (2006-2007).