State College Area High School
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| State College Area High School | |
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| We are the Future! | |
| Established | 1900? |
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| School type | Public |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Principals | Mr. Craig Butler and Ms. Debra Latta |
| Vice Principals | Mr. Curtis Johnson and Mr. Brian Ishler |
| Location | State College, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Students | ~2600 |
| Colors | Maroon and Gray |
| Mascot | Nittany Little Lion |
| Website | http://www.scasd.org/schighschool/site/default.asp |
State College Area High School is the only public high school in the State College Area School District. Located within walking distance of Penn State University, the school attracts some of the best faculty and students, offers a wide and diverse selection of electives, and is known for its academic and athletic excellence. The school created the world's first driver's education in car course and still offers it today.
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[edit] Campus
The high school campus is located just on the fringe of downtown State College, and spans the road Westerly Parkway. The campus comprises two buildings: the North Building and the South Building. Although students spend time in both buildings, the buildings are devised to isolate the students by grade. The recommended freshman and sophomore core classes are in the South Building, whereas recommended junior and senior core class are in the North Building. Nevertheless, some electives, including the music programs and CTC (vo-tech), are in the North Building, while the foreign language classes are offered in the South Building.
[edit] Awards and Recognition
- The girls Rugby club team placed 1st in the state the past three years, and 3rd nationally in 2006.
- The Knowledge Masters team placed 2nd nationally in both the fall 2005 and spring 2006 Open Tournaments.
- The Knowledge Masters team also placed 2nd nationally at NAQT's 2006 High School National Championship Tournament and 3rd nationally at PACE's 2006 National Scholastic Championship.
- The Science Bowl team placed 1st nationally in 2006.
- In 2005 State High Thespians were invited and performed Moby Dick at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland.
- In 2004, State High Chess Club's Emily Chu and Michael Hayward placed 1st nationally at National Youth Action in Bughouse chess
[edit] Current Controversy
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Many believe that the school facilities are growing outdated and are inadequate for a growing student population; however, there has been community debate over the appropriate extent of renovations necessary for the school. The school board, after public hearings and deliberations, previously approved a plan to renovate the North Building as well as raze the South Building in favor of sports fields and parking. Due to some community opposition, the expansion has been halted to give time for debate. While many support the school board's plan and recognize the need to begin renovations, many favor delays arguing that the plan is too expensive or that another alternative is better. The issue has taken the main stage in local politics, being played out in the local media and through numerous lawn signs.
[edit] The State High Facilities Project
After studying many options for renovation/building and after public work sessions, public hearings, and community dialogues, the board decided on the current plan: consolidating all grades in the north building by renovating (40%) and adding new construction (60%), removing the South building and replacing it with athletic fields. The building size is planned at 537,252 square feet and is at the 30% design stage.The District has retained the services of the architectural firm of L. Robert Kimball and Poole Anderson Construction Management for the high school additions and alterations project.
The community owns the 82 acres that make up the site and has invested a great deal in the current North Building, including the 1989 pool and gymnasium and the addition of 10 classrooms and labs in 2000. These investments, along with the foundations and structural elements from other parts of the building, as well as site infrastructure will be re-used in the new high school building.
Also, because of its unique central location, the current site minimizes transportation costs and allows walking access by students to the Delta Program on Fairmount Avenue and the Penn State campus for courses.
The combined area of the current North and South buildings is 450,218 sq. ft. For a number of reasons, the planned new building is larger. The area of the new building is 537,000 sq. ft., thus the program has increased 86,782 sq. ft.
Here is a breakdown of the square footage increases:
1) Standard classrooms, which include Math, English, Language and Social Studies, have increased in number from 78 to 81. This increase in number, as well as increases in the size of the some of the existing spaces has resulted in a square footage increase of 8,617. Special classrooms, which include ESL, large group instruction, and Special Education, have increased in number from 9 to 17. This has resulted in an increase of 9,105 square feet. When combined, this reflects an increase of 11 classrooms.
2) Dedicated computer labs will decrease from 7 to 1, saving 6,287 square feet. The future plans for technology in the High School include wireless access to the network and the use of laptop computers. The laptops will either be via individually assigned units or groups of units that are available for classroom use.
3) Instructional labs for Art, Science, and Family and Consumer Sciences will remain at 28, however due to the small size of many of these spaces in the current buildings, the square footage for these areas will increase by 8,072.
4) While we are consolidating two libraries into one, the current libraries are significantly undersized with limited support areas. The new library and associated support areas are 3,668 square feet larger than the two existing libraries combined.
5) Educational support areas such as departmental offices and storage have increased by 3,440 sq. ft.
6) The Career and Technical Center, our vocational education program, has increased by 11,068 sq. ft. This program offers 14 highly specialized areas such as Automotive Technology, Building Construction and Culinary Arts. These programs have operated for years in spaces that were not designed around the specific curriculum.
7) Music, Performing Arts, and Auditorium have increased by 10,737 sq. ft. A larger auditorium will seat 1,300 and have an orchestra pit. It will also include two areas that can be closed and used for large group instruction. The single auditorium will be 2,901 sq. ft. larger than the two existing auditoriums combined. The remaining 7,836 sq. ft. will be for scene and costume shops and dressing rooms, which are not present in the current buildings.
8) Physical Education, including the Natatorium, gyms, fitness center, and support functions have increased 13,524 sq.ft. Over half of this increase is to add a gymnasium. Recently one of the gymnasiums at the South High School was converted to a fitness center. The new building will include the fitness center and restore the gymnasium count to four. The remaining square footage is for additional locker rooms and support spaces. These spaces are also used heavily by the community and district athletic programs.
9) Food service and the Student Center (cafeteria) has grown 8,230 sq. ft. These areas are currently undersized. Additionally, a kitchen to satellite food to our elementary schools is included in the building.
10) Administration, counseling, and nurse has grown 2,997 sq. ft.
11) Space required for mechanical systems such as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning and other miscellaneous areas has grown 13,611 sq. ft. The current building does not have central air-conditioning and does not meet current fresh air standards.
Another way to look at the building is through division of space. The information below may be helpful in that regard:
Instructional spaces: 80% of new building A) 35% of new building is Standard Classrooms, Special Education, Labs, and Library B) 24% of new building is Physical Education, Natatorium, and support functions C) 11% of new building is Career and Technical Center D) 10% of new building is Music, Performing Arts and Auditorium
Food service and Student Center (cafeteria): 7% of new building
Administration, Counseling, and Nurse: 5% of new building
Departmental offices and storage: 2% of new building
Other (including custodial, restrooms, etc.): 6% of new building
