Shenendehowa High School

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**Shenendehowa High School**
Established	January 14, 1950
Type of institution	Public secondary
Location	Clifton Park, New York, USA
Colors	Green, White
Mascot	Plainsmen
Website	Shenendehowa Central Schools

Shenendehowa is a high school located in Clifton Park, New York, USA The school's territory covers approximately 86 square miles serving families from the communities of Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Ballston Lake, Round Lake, Malta and parts of Waterford, Rexford, Mechanicville and Stillwater.

Approximately 9,200 students attend seven elementary schools (gr. K-5), three middle schools (gr. 6-8) and a high school (gr. 9-12). Shenendehowa is the largest central school in Saratoga County and the largest in student population in the Suburban Council, an interscholastic athletic consortium of 11 area school districts. Nine of the twelve school buildings are located on a 232-acre campus in Clifton Park, New York. There are three neighborhood elementary schools located off campus.

Traditionally, the schools were named with Iroquois words. Shenendehowa, for example, means great plains.

Currently, there are two buildings for the high school: the East building was the original high school, and the West building, which was formally Koda Junior High, now houses high school freshmen.

1 School history
- 1.1 Timeline
2 Now
3 References
- 3.1 Footnotes
- 3.2 Publications
4 External links

[edit] School history

The Shenendehowa Central School District was organized on January 14, 1950, by a vote of the residents of 21 former common school districts and one union-free school district.

These 22 schools in the towns of Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, Waterford, Ballston and Stillwater (representing approximately 86 square miles) became officially centralized on July 1, 1950. From 1950 through 1953, the district housed grades K-8 in 16 one-, two- and three-room school houses plus an eight-room school house in Round Lake. All high school students (gr. 9-12) were transported to one of four high schools: Ballston Spa, Mechanicville, Waterford or Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake.

In 1951, the School District voted to purchase 160 acres to build an 1,800-pupil school for kindergarten through grade 12. This land was part of the Shenondahowe or Clifton Park Patent of 1708. The Iroquois word Shenondahowe means Great Plains. That’s how the district became know as Shenendehowa Central Schools.

[edit] Timeline

January 1950
- Organized by a vote of residents from 21 common school districts and one union free school district in Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, Waterford Ballston and Stillwater.
July 1950
- Officially centralized and named "Central School District No. 2, of the Towns of Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, Waterford, Ballston and Stillwater, County of Saratoga, New York."
1951
- District voted to purchase 160 acres and to build an 1,800 pupil school to house K-12. The area of the campus was part of the SHENONDAHOWE (Iroquois for Great Plains) or Clifton Park Patent of 1708. The Board of Education simplified the name at the time and began referring to the district as Shenendehowa Central Schools (the name would not be formally changed with the State Education Department until 1973).
September 1953
- Kindergarten students and gr. 8-12 moved into the main building that was Shenendehowa Central Schools (now Gowana/Acadia)
January 1954
- Grades 1-7 moved into rooms in the main building (now Gowana/Acadia) as they were being completed closing the numerous one-and two-room school houses.
- Configuration change: K-12 in one building (what is currently Gowana/Acadia)
1958
- Additions made to Arongen (now Acadia).
1962
- A new wing was built on to the main building (now Gowana/Acadia).
- Configuration change: K-6 in Arongen (what is currently called Acadia) and gr. 7-12 in the High School (what is currently called Gowana).
August 1964
- District purchases 51 adjoining acres (Karigon/Orenda and Tesago/Skano are built on this parcel). Shenendehowa Junior High (called Middle A, then Koda, now called SHS Freshman building) opened housing gr. 7-9.
- Configuration change: K-6 in Arongen (what is currently called Acadia); gr. 7-9 in junior high (what is currently SHS Freshman Center); and gr. 10-12 in high school (what is currently Gowana)
1966-67
- Tesago (courage) and Skano (peace) Elementary Schools opened housing gr. K-6
1967
- District purchases an additional 25 acres adjacent to the campus (bus garage area).
1968
- Orenda (great spirit) and Karigon (to join together) Elementary Schools opened housing gr. K-6.
September 1970
- Shenendehowa High School was built and housed grade 9-12. The original high school building (currently called Gowana) is named Middle School B and the original junior high school building (currently called SHS Freshman Center) is named Middle School A. They house gr. 6-8.
- Configuration change: K-5 in five elementary schools; gr. 6-8 in two middle schools; and gr. 9-12 in the high school.
1970
- District purchased 94 acres east of Moe Road.
June 1972
- Jerome Rosen donates land to on Crescent-Vishers Ferry Road (Okte)
August 1972
- Robert VanPatten donates land on Round Lake Road (Chango)
1973
- In compliance with State Education Law, the official name of the district was changed to "Shenendehowa Central School District at Elnora" (at the time Elnora was the primary post office).
September 1973
- Because of increasing enrollments, the ninth grade was moved to the middle schools and sixth grade was moved to the elementary schools.
- Configuration change: K-6 in five elementary schools; gr. 7-9 in two middle schools; and gr. 10-12 in the high school.
- Okte (to achieve) Elementary School opened housing gr. K-6.
September 1974
- Chango (happy and cheerful) Elementary School opened housing gr. K-6.
1976
- Middle School A is renamed Koda (friend) Junior High and Middle School B is renamed Gowana (great) Junior High.
July 1983

District's name formally changes to "Shenendehowa Central School District at Clifton Park."

April 1988
- District office moves from Winan’s Wing in Arongen (currently named Acadia) to Fairchild Square.
1988
- Additions to Skano/Tesago and Karigon/Orenda are made.
September 1987
- All campus kindergarten classes are moved to Arongen.
- Configuration change: Arongen (now called Acadia) K-6, North and South elementary schools are gr. 1-6, Okte and Chango are gr. K-6; gr. 7-9 in two junior highs, gr. 10-12 in the high school.
February 1989
- Addition to Chango Elementary.
October 1989
- Four-room addition made to the high school.
September 1989
- Addition to Koda and Gowana junior highs.
September 1992
- Arongen (currently called Acadia) closes because aging infrastructure is in poor condition. New building opens on Clifton Park Center Road. It is named Arongen and houses grades K-6. Kindergartners in housed in the closed now Arongen building (Acadia) move back to campus schools.
- Configuration change: K-6 in seven elementary schools; gr. 7-9 in two junior highs; and gr. 10-12 in the high school.
September 1994
- Old Arongen renovated, reopened and renamed Acadia (place of plenty) it houses all of grade 6.
- Configuration change: K-5 in seven elementary schools; g. 6 in Acadia; gr. 7-9 in two junior highs; and gr. 10-12 in the high school.
September 1998
- Additions to Gowana/Acadia facility and the high school are made.
- Configuration change: K-5 in seven elem. schools; gr. 6 and 7 in Acadia, gr. 6, 7 and 8 in Gowana; gr. 8 and 9 in Koda (now called SHS Freshman Center); and gr. 10-12 in the high school.
September 1999
- Third middle school added to Gowana/Acadia building. It is named Koda. Four science classrooms are added to the old Koda and it is renamed Shenendehowa High School West. The high school is renamed Shenendehowa High School East.
- Configuration change: K-5 in seven elementary schools; gr. 6, 7, and 8 in three middle schools; all of gr. 9 and half of grade 10 in Shen High School West (currently called SHS Freshman Center); and half of gr. 10 and all of grade 11 and 12 in Shen High School East (currently named Shenendehowa High School).
January 2001
- The community supports a referendum to add on to High School East (currently called Shenendehowa High School) allowing all of grade 10-12 to be housed there when construction is complete (scheduled for Sept. 2003).
May 2001
- The community supports a referendum to purchase a building on Route 9 to house the district office personnel.
November 2001
- The Board of Education votes to rename the high school buildings. High School East will be named Shenendehowa High School. High School West will be renamed Shenendehowa High School Freshman Center.
February 2002
- The Board of Education votes to rename the high school buildings. Shenendehowa High School will be renamed Shenendehowa High School East Building. Shenendehowa High School Freshman Center will be renamed Shenendehowa High School West Building.
December 2002
- The district offices move from the leased space at 1 Fairchild Square to the district-owned property at 5 Chelsea Place.
September 2004
- The new wing at the Shenendehowa High School East Building opens. HS East now houses all students in grades 10-12 and HS West now houses grade 9 only.

Before 1950, the district was made up of 22 one- and two-room school houses, 11 of which still had school bells (click here for a location and status of the schools). Rodney Winans, the first superintendent, helped to centralize the district. He brought the 11 bells together to the bell court on the main campus (now Gowana) and had them assembled into a carillon.* The bells are a symbol which pays tribute to the schools and the towns which combined to form Shenendehowa Central Schools.

The original high school was built in the early 1970s and designed to be a model facility for its time. The design included plans for an inground pool and a building-wide closed-circuit television network complete with a broadcast studio and television sets in every classroom. Eventually the district found itself without enough budget money to fund both projects. Polls were taken of the students and faculty to gauge majority interest, and eventually the television network was chosen and implemented. The area set aside to house the pool was utilized as a weight room, and the school enjoyed student run news broadcasts and educational films in the classrooms. Over the next twenty years, maintenance and upgrades were neglected and by 1990, the studio had been dismantled with its space converted for use as a computer lab, and only the cafeteria televisions were utilized for presentations and news broadcasts during major world events like the Olympic Games and the Gulf War, though not 9/11.

[edit] Now

The proposed pool has been approved by the board and appears to be over budget.[1]

A 2006 survey of 152 students found that drug use in the school was at 6% for marijuana, 1% for hallucinogens, and 2% for cocaine and ecstacy. Sexual activity was measured at 3% for sophomores, 14% for juniors, and 20% for seniors.^[1]