Newton South High School
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Located on 140 Brandeis Road in Newton, Massachusetts, Newton South High School is one of two public high schools in the city, the other being Newton North.
Newton South consistently ranks among the top schools in Massachusetts in Boston Magazine's annual review of state high schools. As of 2006, it holds the 11th position. The school is also ranked 525th out of all public high schools in Newsweek's The Complete List: 1,200 Top Public Schools list.
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[edit] Mission statement
Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff,
- Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all
- Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment
- Creates a climate of safety and kindness
- Encourages communication and personal connections
- Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning
- Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners
[edit] Ground plan
Newton South High is divided into four sections known as houses. The houses are Goldrick, which contains the History department and the nursery school; Wheeler, which contains the English department and some math and science rooms; Cutler, which contains the math and science departments; and Goodwin, which contains the World Language department. Rooms at Newton South High School follow a simple code- the first digit tells the building number, the second digit tells the floor, and the last two digits are the room number. Building 1 is Goldrick, 2 is Wheeler, 3 is the science wing, 4 is Cutler, 5 is the field house and associated classrooms, 6 is Goodwin, 7 is the cafeteria and the college and career resource room, 8 is the administrative section, and 9 is the arts wing in addition to the Van Seasholes Auditorium.
[edit] Reconstruction and recent changes
The school has recently undergone a complete reconstruction with a new wing added and almost all of the old wings rebuilt. In addition, a fieldhouse containing an indoor track, a basketball court and new classrooms was added; the old gym facilities were completely renovated.
In the new 2005 school year, homeroom also met its demise and was replaced by "H Block" for the upper classmen and "Advisory" for the Freshmen. H Block now occurs only on Tuesdays and Fridays. Along with the arrival of H Block, there came a slight shift in the length of Tuesdays with a rarely noticed five extra minutes. In response to negative feedback concerning the new schedule, at the start of 2006 homeroom/advisory was changed again. The new schedule has advisory meet on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays for five minutes. On Tuesdays it meets for twenty five minutes.
[edit] Organization
Newton South places all students into one of four houses, in which they stay in for the duration of high school. Unlike many other schools, the houses and Newton South are only for administrative and attendance purposes. They have no effect on the courses or activities of students, except for students' homerooms.
The four houses are:
Cutler House
Housemaster: Ms. Donna Gordon
Assistant Housemaster: Matt Briggs
Secretary: Debbie Mastroianni
Counselors: Jenni King, Lenny Libenzon, Donna Segal
Goldrick House
Housemaster: Dr. Edward Jackson
Assistant Housemaster: Peter Bates
Secretary: Janis Rotker
Counselors: Sue Batler, Bill Murray, Barbara Walsh
Goodwin House
Housemaster: Mr. Charles Myett
Assistant Housemaster: Mary Ann Price
Secretary: Angela DeRubeis
Counselors: Kathryn Jason, John Buxton
Wheeler House
Housemaster: Ms. Kathryn Daviau
Assistant Housemaster: Robert Jampol
Secretary: Priscilla McCoy
Counselors: Jeff Kraunz, Kristin Santos, Homer Turner
[edit] South notables
During the mid and late 90's Newton South's Men Tennis Team lead by Coach Dr. Edward Jackson "Doc", made a state record three consecutive state finals, bringing Newton South the State Championship in 1997. A school record ten players from these teams over a four year period (1995 - 1998) would become Boston Globe All-Scholastics and Boston Herald All-Stars.
The Newton South Basketball team led by Coach Killilea reached the Division 1 South final during the 2001-2002 season.
Matthew Capstick, a cross-country star from the late 90's who later went on to run with Boston College, is now back with the team as the head coach, giving back to his community like few before him.
The cross-country and track and field teams perennially rank among the best in the state. Sam Donovan, the fastest runner in Dual County League Cross-Country, goes to Newton South.
South also sports a prominent Science Team that competes regularly in state-wide championships such as the National Ocean Science Bowl, the State Olympiad and a 2-person team-based engineering competition sponsored by Boston University. The Science Team finished first in the Western Suburban Science League and fourth in the state Science Olympiad for the 2005-2006 season.
The Newton South Speech Team is also very successful. It was the top-scoring public school in Massachusetts at the State Finals in 2006. In recent years, it has been home to many finalists and champions at prominent national tournaments.
Two stars of NBC's comedy The Office graduated from Newton South: John Krasinski and B.J. Novak. Novak actually wrote the first play Krasinski performed in at Newton South; they both graduated in 1997.
Andy Katz, a senior college basketball writer for ESPN.com graduated from Newton South in 1986.
Newton South is also cited for having one of the strongest performing arts programs in the Massachusetts. The Newton South Jazz Band has won a gold medal performing in the IAJE Jazz Festival in both 2006 and 2007.
[edit] Newspapers
Newton South's two school newspapers are Denebola[1], the school's official paper, and The Lion's Roar [2], a student-started paper. According to Jack Dvorak, an Indiana University professor who studies high school journalism, "I don't know of any school other than that one that has two papers at least in part supported by the school. That really is rare, if not unique". [3]
The two papers are consistently ranked among the best in the region. They recently tied for second place in an annual competition by the New England Scholastic Press Association. At the recent Suffolk University Greater Boston Journalism Contest, The Lion's Roar won awards for best newswriting and best sportswriting in Massachusetts, and Denebola won second place in newswriting as well as the general excellence award. In the fall of 2004, The Lion's Roar won the Pacemaker Award at the National Scholastic Press Association's annual conference. In the Spring of 2005, Denebola won first place at the annual New England Scholastic Press Association conference.
Denebola dates back to the 1960s, while the Lion's Roar was founded in 1984 by disgruntled ex-Denebola staffers. Over the last few years, the Lion's Roar has gained a reputation for pushing the boundaries of acceptability. Prominent examples include a series of anonymous articles about students' sex lives and a front-page article about a top athlete's relationship with his ex-girlfriend (including details of her restraining order and insinuations that this order was being used to victimize the boy). Principal Michael Welch ordered the papers confiscated, but returned them after the ACLU became involved.
[edit] Public attention
The school gained notoriety in 2002 for its "Senior Scavenger Hunt" [4], a student-organized contest that featured theft, vandalism, and various sexual acts committed by the graduating seniors in exchange for points. Universal Studios owns the rights to a movie based on the incident, co-written and directed by alumnus Eli Roth.
Norman Swerling, a Drivers Ed Teacher at the school, was accused of sexually assaulting one of his students. Although he was acquitted, the school district no longer offers Drivers Ed. [5]
In October of 2005, Newton South's theater program (South Stage) performed a production of The Laramie Project. The performance of this play was scheduled to be picketed by Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church; articles about this have appeared in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, and The Newton Tab. However, the three sold-out performances of the production passed without incident.
It was recently announced that South would hire Brian Salzer, an openly gay man, as its new principal. As the new principal of Newton North is a homosexual woman, making Newton the first city in Massachusetts to have openly gay principals at multiple high schools.[citation needed]
On April 11th, 2006, Howard Zinn visited the school to talk to the members of the social awareness club of both Newton South and the Social Justice Academy. Also on April 28th, 2006, Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic nominee for President, visited the school to advocate political participation among the school's students.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Denebola Online
- Newton South Athletics
- Science team
- Math team
- Speech team
- South Stage
- Mock Trial
- Community Service Club
- Newton South Ultimate Frisbee (Angry Corn)
- Newton South Music Club (Pretentious Music Society)
Future editors: Please check the discussion page.
