Solon High School

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Solon High School

School type	Public
Established	1898
Principal	George Steyer
Students	approx. 1,800
Colors Symbol	Blue and White with Gold trim The Comets
Location	33600 Inwood Road Solon, OH 44139
Information	(440) 349-6230
Website	solonschools.org/shs

Solon High School, founded in 1898, is a public high school located in Solon, Ohio, a southeastern suburb of Cleveland in the Northeast Ohio Region, the 14th largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States.

SHS is comprised of grades 9-12, and is the only high school in the Solon City School System, which also includes two middle schools: Solon Middle School for grades 7-8 and Orchard Middle School for grades 5-6; and four elementary schools: Arthur Road, Lewis, Parkside and Roxbury. Solon High School's student body is approximately 1,600 students while the faculty roster includes approximately two-hundred teachers, administrators, and staff. As of 2005, the school system had an 11.9 student-teacher ratio. Joseph Regano currently serves as the Superintendent for the system. Solon High School has been closed for a record 4 days in 2007.

1 Academic Teams
2 Academics
3 Alma Mater
4 Music Program
5 Athletics
- 5.1 Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships
6 Notable Alumni
7 External links
8 Notes and references

[edit] Academic Teams

Solon High School has many academic teams, including Science Olympiad, Academic Challenge, and Future Problem Solvers. Bob Weiser is the current coach of Academic Challenge; the team competes in many regional Northeast Ohio meets, and annually competes on the News Channel 5 T.V. show sponsored by Westfield Insurance. Academic Challenge is open to anyone who wants to join and has dedication, but places its team members on best teams to worst teams all decided by the coach. All three of these teams have previously placed in tournaments at the national level. The Science Olympiad team won the national competition in 1998; the Community Problem Solving branch of Future Problem Solvers won 2nd at the International Conference in the Health and Human Services category. Other academic teams include Mock Trial, Speech and Debate, and Model United Nations.

[edit] Academics

Solon High School consistently ranks in the top 150 public high schools in the United States as rated by Newsweek (in 2006, 138th in the U.S., 2nd in Greater Cleveland, 5th in Ohio) for academic quality and placement of graduates into top colleges across the nation. Similarly, the school district consistently ranks in the upper echelon of state and national standardized testing. Approximately 96% of graduates proceed to attend 4-year universities.

The Solon High School Science Olympiad team has been competitive on the national level, placing in the top ten nationally for the past 13 years. In 1998, Solon earned its first National Championship.

In the Class of 2007, 14 students were named National Merit Semifinalists while 18 others received Commended status.

[edit] Alma Mater

So here's to dear old Solon,
Here's to the blue and white,
Oh may we always cherish,
All our standards ever bright.
So here's to dear old Solon,
We raise our voice in song,
To tell to all from far and near,
To Solon we belong!

[edit] Music Program

The music program consists of choir, band and orchestra. The head director of the band is Edward Kline with co-directors Robert Luce and Adam Chongris.

The Solon marching/concert band is approximately 190 students strong. The marching band plays at all varsity football games, marches in high step/chair step style, and plays relatively modern pieces. Concert band is divided into Symphonic band, White Band, and Blue Band by audition. During basketball season, a voluntary pep band attends most home basketball games. The band has an official Solon Band website, which is maintained by students and not directly affiliated with the school. Funds that support the group from instruments to uniform washings come from The Solon Music Parents. Every summer, the members, conductors, and Starlettes travel to Walsh University for to attend band camp where they learn 1-3 shows worth of drills and music.

The SHS Orchestra consists of approximately 100 students. At the beginning of the year, each student is required to audition for placement in either Concert Orchestra, directed by Ed Kline or Sinfonia Orchestra, directed by Gerald MacDougall. Both orchestras perform a classical and contemporary repertoire. The Sinfonia orchestra appears at a wide range of venues and also performs at the commencement ceremony in June.

David Curtiss is the director of A cappella Choir, Concert Choir, Men's Chorus, Troubadours, Comettes, Madrigals, and Show Choir Band.

[edit] Athletics

Solon's mascot is the comet and colors are blue and white, though gold is used often. The Solon Comets athletic programs compete in the Western Reserve Conference (WRC) against other local area high schools. Solon's high school sports rivals include Hudson High School and Twinsburg High School. The school's fight song is Ohio State's "Fight the Team Across the Field."

Solon's wrestling team won the Ohio state championship in 1990. Solon's football team was the state runner-up in 2000, and participated in playoff games in 2001,2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Solon's men's basketball team won back-to-back District championships in 2005 and 2006 and made it to the Elite Eight game in the state tournament in 2005 and 2006. Through these two seasons, Solon amassed only three losses. The girl's basketball team was the division one state runner-up in the 2006 season. The girl's volleyball team was in the state final four in 2000 and 2006. The men's track team has been undefeated in dual meets since 1993.