Lower Merion High School

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Lower Merion High School
Enter To Learn, Go Forth To Serve


School type High School: Public
Established 1894
Principal David Piperato
Faculty 107.7 FTE
Students 1,599
Mascot Bulldog/Aces
Location Ardmore, Pennsylvania, 19003
Information 610-645-1838
Website @lmsd.org

Lower Merion High School, is an American public high school in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two high schools in Lower Merion School District, which serves both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. It was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the nation's top 60 high schools -- public or private -- in a May 2005 report.[1]

In 2005, 1,495 students attended the school. Since 2003, the school's principal has been David Piperato. The school's student government president for the 2006-07 academic year is Andrew Karasik, a senior who is the former president of the Class of 2007. The athletics teams are known officially as the "Aces," but the football team is called the "Bulldogs."

Contents

[edit] History

The school was founded in 1894, when it sat on the south side of Ardmore Avenue (photo), between West Athens and School Lane. Lower Merion High School started with twenty-one staff members under principal "Professor" Charles B. Pennypacker.

The building burned in 1900 (photo). The high school moved to a new granite and limestone building (photo) in 1910, allowing the Ardmore Avenue building to become an elementary school.

By 1940, George H. Gilbert was principal with a teaching staff of sixty-one. By 1957, the enrollment had grown to 1,663 students.

In 1963, the limestone-and-granite building was demolished and replaced with the current modern structure designed by H.A. Kuljian and Co.

A second school was built on East Montgomery Ave., sharing the location with the Lower Merion School District Administration building and, from 1922 to 1992, the Lower Merion Township Junior High School, which was known as Ardmore Junior High School. The latter school was demolished in 1992 after a long fight with the community (photo)

The school had a grounds of 17 acres and has seen several building projects. Around 1943, an adjoining building was added for technical studies along the School House Lane side. It had workshops for teaching auto repair, metal, print (photo), wood-working and drafting. The cafeteria/library wing (photo) was added in 1950 near the Pennypacker athletic field and was designed by Savory, Scheetz and Gilmour. At the same time, General Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold athletic field was opened, in honor of the Lower Merion graduate. Since the 1990s, some rooms in the former Technical Building have been used for art classes and others for technology classes and extracurriculars.

[edit] Academics

Lower Merion is often listed among the top public high schools in the country, and graduates many students each year to the top colleges in the nation academically. However, it offers programs for students with a wide range of abilities, including AP, honors, standard, and modified classes along with supplementary programs for all types of students.

[edit] Foreign Languages

All students can take Spanish, French, or Latin; Japanese is available to upperclassmen only.

[edit] Extracurriculars

Lower Merion offers students the opportunity to participate in a number of extracurricular activities. A large percentage of students stay afterschool every day to 4:30, 5:30, or even 9:00.

[edit] Players

Players is Lower Merion High School's theatre club. They perform three shows a year: a fall musical, winter drama, and spring comedy. Any student is able to audition or apply for a Production Design position. When rehearsing a production, Players meets almost every day for students. It is an entirely student-run program, with students filling the roles of Director, Assistant Director, Stage Manager, Set, costumes, or lighting designer, and many others. It is one of the largest clubs at Lower Merion, and has been in existence for decades. For information on current shows visit the Players Website.

[edit] Ace Harmony and Ace's Angels

Ace Harmony and Aces Angels are the two a cappella groups at Lower Merion. Both choral groups feature 16 students. Ace Harmony is a co-ed group, while Ace's Angels features just girls. They performed the entire Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, for their January 2007 winter concert. The manager of both groups, Joshua Hunnex, teaches in the music department at Lower Merion. He is also an accomplished singer with a vast musical background.

[edit] Varsity Basketball - the Aces

The Lower Merion High School Basketball [1] team (a.k.a. the "Aces") has won six Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class "AAAA" State Championships, the most by a PIAA Class "AAAA" school, the most recent of which was in March 2006 under Head Coach Gregg Downer (1990-). In the 2004-2005 season, the Aces, despite being the fourth seed out of District I, won the Western bracket and became the lowest seed to ever the State Finals. In 2006, Lower Merion avenged three previous losses against the Chester Clippers in a rematch at the University of Pennsylvania Palestra, and ultimately beating the heavily favored Schenley High School Spartans 60-58 in the championship game. The Aces were led by seniors Ryan Brooks and Garrett Williamson, currently attending Temple University and Saint Joseph's University.

[edit] Ultimate

The Lower Merion Babaganouj, an open Ultimate team was created in the 2005-2006 school year with the special efforts of Christian Vanni (Class of 2006). In their first season, Babaganouj fared well, placing 5th in the state and sending a group of players to nationals with the regional youth club team. They are currently coached by Christina and Paul Minecci, and are now an official club of the school.

[edit] Technology and Engineering Club

The Technology and Engineering Club was started by Technology Education teacher Mr. Piotrowski during the 2002-2003 school year. The club was primarily a Technology Student Association (TSA) chapter, and also competed in the annual mousetrap competitions at Widener University and in the JETS/TEAMS competition. The 2003-2004 school year was the first year the Technology and Engineering Club to attend the National TSA conference, taking home first place trophies in two events. During the 2005-2006 school year, Lower Merion's FIRST Robotics team was formed, choosing the team name of Dawgma and given the team number of 1712. This was formed under the supervision of English Teacher Rich Kressly, who worked with Mr. Piotrowski to make FIRST a part of the Technology and Engineering Club. During its rookie year, Dawgma competed at the Philadelphia Regional and won the Highest Rookie Seed Award and the Rookie All-Star Award. During the 2006 - 2007 school, Dawgma will compete at Ramp Riot and Duel on the Delaware (off-season competitions), as well as the Philadelphia Regional and an another regional event. The Technology and Engineering Club has become the second largest club at Lower Merion, having over 100 registered members during the 2005-2006 year, compared about 10 members during the 2002-2003 year.

[edit] The Merionite

The Merionite is the official school newspaper of Lower Merion High School. It is completely student run, from the articles to the layout. The Merionte publishes articles by students about sports, school news, arts and entertainment, and editorials. The Merionite is distributed monthly to students, parents, teachers and subscribers. There is an estimated readership of 4000 per issue. The official website for The Merionite is www.merionite.org and their email address is merionite@gmail.com.

[edit] Notable Alumni

Name (Graduation year), significance

[edit] References

  1. ^ Newsweek: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools

[edit] External links

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