North Andover High School
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North Andover High School is a public secondary school located in the town of North Andover, Massachusetts. The town of North Andover is about 40 minutes north of Boston and located in southern Essex County, bordering the city of Lawrence and the town of Andover. The school is considered brand new (construction finished in early 2004), and serves grades 9-12. As of the school year 2005-2006, North Andover High enrolls 1,366 students. The school's mascot is the Scarlet Knight.
 North entrance to new building. |
 Destruction of old High School building. |
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[edit] The School
As stated above, North Andover High is almost brand new, and is the newest high school in the area (although the city of Lawrence is building a new high school that will be completed in 2008). The school serves not only the students and faculty but also the town; it is the headquarters for the local cable access channel and serves as the community's only polling station, among other things. The new high school has a gymnasium, indoor track, weight room with brand new Nautilus workout machines, TV station, band and choral chambers, a large (800 seat) auditorium and a cafeteria. Other features include a language lab and five computer labs; two with PC's and three with Apple computers. Most classrooms are outfitted with TV's and SMART boards to assist with learning. Additionally, the 5,000 seat, state-of-the-art football stadium is the best in the region, hosting many state tournament games even when North Andover is not playing. However, what impresses new visitors the most is the enormous main hallway, nicknamed "Main Street," with its marble floors and classroom windows on either side leading visitors to compare it to a shopping mall.
[edit] Demographic
The school enrolls 1,366 students, with a class breakdown for the 2005-2006 year as follows:
- 9th Grade: 347 students
- 10th Grade: 364 students
- 11th Grade: 343 students
- 12th Grade: 304 students (288 received diplomas on June 9th)
The incoming freshman class is totaled at 400 students, although this number will probably change due to the high concentration of private schools in the area. Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts and St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts usually attract large groups of 8th grade graduates of North Andover Middle School. However, some students return to public school from area private schools later in their education. An overwhelming 89% of students are white, a figure which reflects the population of the town. Within the remaining 11% of students, 57% are Asian, 29% Hispanic, 13% are African-American and 4% are Native American. The remaining 5% list two races of origin. There are sixty more males than females (718 to 648).
The total number of teaching faculty is listed at 73 (67 in core academic areas), for a student to teacher ratio of 18.7, however most classes have many more students than that, average class size is between 25-30, with study halls sometimes in the 40's.
[edit] Academics
North Andover High offers courses in the major disciplines, Mathematics, Science, History and English, as well as three foreign languages (Spanish, German and French). Art, music and physical education programs are also offered, although budget shortfalls have resulted in substantial cuts to every area of learning (with art, music and phys ed. hit the hardest) and many students are now being placed in two or even three study halls per semester. In addition, many electives have also been cut, beginning with Industrial Arts classes and slowly moving into the main academic areas. This has led to a limited number of course choices for students.
NAHS (as it is referred to by most students) offers the basic AP courses (English Literature, U.S. History, Spanish, German, French, Calculus AB, Physics (Mechanical), Chemistry, Biology and Statistics). Traditionally, North Andover students do well on the math and science AP exams (with the percentage of students passing those exams often 90% or higher) while fairing poorly in English, History (US) and the languages. One reason behind the differences in pass rate may be because of stricter enrollment requirements in Advanced Placement Physics, Chemistry, Calculus and Biology; this information seems to directly contradict some local officials who call for greater numbers in AP classes.
On the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) NAHS students are in the top half of the state, with over 95% pass rate on the English and Mathematics sections. Almost 80 students in the class of 2006 were eligible for Mass. State Colleges tuition waivers by scoring Advanced on both sections of the test.
Beyond test scores, NAHS students are a mix of hard-working students and underachievers such as one would find at any public high school in the nation. Both the educational environment and the natural wealth of the town ensure that most students go on to college (out of the class of 2005 89% went on to a public or private college, 75% of the total went to a four year institution). Some students attend University of Massachusetts Amherst or Northern Essex Community College either out of convenience or necessity, while most students in the top 5% of the class go to exemplary private schools- with the top few usually attending Ivy League universities.
[edit] Athletics
The community of North Andover is sandwiched in between the rural towns of northern Essex County (Boxford, Middleton, Topsfield, West Newbury and Georgetown) and the small cities of the Merrimack Valley and Middlesex County (Haverhill, Lawrence, Andover, Lowell, Chelmsford) and so could justifiably be in one of two athletic conferences, the Merrimack Valley Conference (MVC) or the Cape Ann League (CAL). North Andover chooses to compete in the Cape Ann League which has mostly smaller (Division 3 and 4) schools as opposed to the MVC, which houses some of the state's athletic powerhouses (Central Catholic, Andover, Lawrence among others.) Because of total enrollment, NAHS is qualified in Division 2 by the MIAA (Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association) and plays many games against non-league opponents with similar school size. Against these teams NAHS holds its own and the school's favorable record against smaller league opponents ensures that most North Andover sports teams qualify for the state tournament.
One sport NAHS can be considered a powerhouse in is wrestling, where the team has won over 80 straight dual meets in a row and is the reigning MIAA Dual Meet Champion. NAHS wrestlers train year round and are among the most dedicated athletes in the school. Lacrosse commands a great following and is the premier spring sport, with the team usually going deep into the playoffs. Soccer is widely played in-town and has a strong youth league, while basketball is the favorite winter sport. Football has shown signs of improvement during the past few years led by head coach John Rafferty. The team reached the division 2A playoffs in 2005 for the first time since 1996. During the 2005-2006 season, North Andover teams won league championships and/or qualified for the state tournament in football, men's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, field hockey, men's basketball, coed swimming, wrestling, men's lacrosse, softball, men's and women's outdoor track and men's tennis. NAHS was awarded the prestigious Dalton Award in 2005 for the school with the best overall record in MIAA Division 3, the next season the school was bumped up to Division 2 where it continues to excel.
The school's main league rival is nearby Masconomet Regional High School (the 'Chieftains') and the competition between the two schools is intense. Historically North Andover had always considered neighboring Andover its official rival; however major differences in enrollment between the two schools made the rivalry a rather one-sided affair. For the sake of tradition NAHS still plays Andover in football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer and a few other sports.
[edit] Activities
Despite the recent budget cuts, NAHS has a strong artistic community, with both the drama guild and the marching band playing parts in the daily life of the school. The NAHS drama guild performs three major performances every year, including one Shakespearean, one musical, and one One-Act performance. The Shakespearean production is put up in the fall with the aid of the Lenox based company: Shakespeare & Company. The students also perform in Shakespeare & Company's Fall Festival of Shakespeare: a non-competitive, lively celebration with 10 schools. The One Act performances are typically student directed plays. The guild is supported financially by a parent's organization. The band highlights at every single home football game. The band also performs at many competitions.
The large student body leaves room for a great number of diverse clubs to spring from the student population, everything from academic teams (Math, Science or Model United Nations) to intramural sports (Ping Pong and Ultimate Frisbee are popular) to multicultural clubs (Spanish or German.) The Johnson Chapter of the National Honor Society coordinates volunteer work from among the school's top ranked juniors and seniors. During the week of pouring rain that caused heavy flooding along the banks of the Merrimack River in 2006, NAHS students played a role in cleaning up the debris left over from the flooding.
[edit] Budget Cuts
North Andover is a burgeoning town with five elementary schools, a middle school and a high school all competing for parts of the school budget, and this has led to shortfalls in the budget over the last few years as enrollment has ballooned along with the population of the town. This has caused somewhat of a political divide within the school community and the greater town population.
While school officials tried to create a balanced budget, it became apparent sometime in 2004/2005 that cuts would soon have to be made. The arts programs were among the first major changes made in the budget, and this caused a stir among parents and students who participated in the drama and music programs. While the programs were not completely cut, opponents of the cuts complained that there weren’t enough art and music faculty to serve the entire student body and that expensive user fees would have to be instituted to pay for band and drama performances. They contended that an effective education includes art and music. Proponents of the cuts argue that both band and drama are extra-curricular activities and thus the user fees are justified (it should be noted athletes also pay user fees) and that core subjects such as English and Mathematics are required fields of study for aspiring college students and need to be given priority.
Another side-effect of the budget cuts was the reduction of the regular school day from a rotating seven-period schedule to a set six-period a day schedule. Because of the schedule change, study periods were no longer offered, causing students to be placed in classes that they had not signed up for.
A small debate occurred in 2006 over the athletic fees, which are set as a flat fee for all athletes regardless of how many sports a student plays or the cost of those sports to the school (for example, a student who does one seasons of track and field uses much less of the Athletic Departments resources than a student who plays football, hockey and lacrosse. Both students, however, pay the same amount of money). A new policy was instituted that adjusts fees based on the number of seasons a student chooses to participate in athletics.
The town of North Andover has a population of almost 30,000, many of whom do not have students in the school system. It is also a traditionally conservative town and most citizens are opposed to tax hikes, even to support the school budget[citation needed]. At a 2006 town meeting, voters approved by an overwhelming margin an “unbalanced” school budget of over 33 million dollars, requiring the town to somehow find enough money to pay for the budget by the end of the year. A number of solutions have been proposed, including increased development of building sites and trash fees.
