Weymouth High School

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Weymouth High School
Established	?
Type	Public secondary
Principal	Marilyn Slattery
Students	?
Grades	9-12
Location	Weymouth, Massachusetts USA
Colors	Maroon and Gold
Mascot	Wildcat
Newspaper	The Wild Cat
Website	Weymouth High School

Weymouth High School (WHS) is a public high school located in Weymouth, Massachusetts that serves for students in grades nine through twelve. It is also a vocational school, having an optional program that students stay in for 3-4 periods daily. The full list of subjects taught in the vocational section can be found here and the complete list of classes can be viewed here.

1 Statements
- 1.1 Mission Statement
- 1.2 Standards
2 Terminology
3 Students & Faculty
4 Schedule Structure
- 4.1 Rotating Schedule
- 4.2 Floating Block Schedule
5 History
6 Expansion
7 Graduation
8 See also
9 Sources

[edit] Statements

Both the following standards and mission statement are required to be known by teachers and displayed in their classrooms.^[1]

[edit] Mission Statement

The Weymouth High School Community is committed to providing a safe, supportive and repectful learning environment where all students are encouraged to work toward their potential in becoming responsible, life-long learners and productive citizens in a global society.

[edit] Standards

The WHS graduate communicates effectively through reading. The graduate:
1. Reads a variety of literary works including fiction, poetry, and drama from different time periods and cultures.
2. Reads and views a variety of non-fiction works.
3. Analyzes literary works and demonstrates understanding through discussion, writing and/or other means of expression.
The WHS graduate communicates effectively through writing. The graduate:
1. Writes using standard English for a variety of purposes and audiences.
2. Demonstrates analytical skills through writing.
The WHS graduate communicates effectively through speaking. The graduate:
1. Communicates verbally for a variety of audiences and purposes.
2. Participates in formal and informal discussion.
The WHS graduate analyzes the dynamics of history from local, national and international perspectives. The graduate:
1. Applies historical understanding to comprehend current events.
2. Demonstrates an understanding of the meaning and context of national and international events.
3. Applies awareness of democratic principles and individual rights in order to participate in political systems.
4. Identifies point of view within historical primary source documents.
The WHS graduate uses mathematical knowledge and methods. The graduate:
1. Applies mathematical principles, concepts, and theories.
2. Uses logic and reasoning to analyze and solve problems.
3. Utilizes a variety of problems solving strategies.
4. Applies mathematics to other areas of knowledge and to situations in daily life.
The WHS graduate explains and demonstrates an understanding of his/her world by employing scientific concepts and technological principles. The graduate:
1. Applies scientific inquiry to solve problems and answer questions from the world around him/her.
2. Utilizes a variety of safe and effective experimentation methods.
3. Analyzes, interprets, and evaluates data.
4. Provides conclusions based on evidence and basic principles of science, technology, and engineering.
The WHS graduate understands and applies concepts of personal fitness and good health. The graduate:
1. Demonstrates and understanding of the lifelong value of physical fitness and wellness.
2. Develops skills and participates in recreational activities which can be continued throughout one's lifespan.
3. Knows basic concepts of personal health and healthy relationships.
4. Gains an understanding of his/her personal fitness level and needs.
The WHS graduate understand and practices the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of community involvement. The graduate:
1. Accepts responsibility and accountability for his /her actions.
2. Respects diversity of community.
3. Explores career options and the academic and occupational requirements needed for employment and economic independence.
4. Recognizes the strength of democracy in his/her role as a responsible citizen.
5. Experiences the value of shared decision-making and the importance of multiple points of view to understand people. issues, and events.
The WHS graduate demonstrates an appreciation for the creative arts and different cultures by:
1. Creating a product that shows knowledge of diversity of different cultures.
2. Demonstrating an appreciation of creative arts and different cultures through classes/presentations/projects.
The WHS graduate uses technology effectively. The graduate:
1. Participates in an interactive learning environment that develops critical thinking skills.
2. Use various strategies to access, analyze, interpret, and use information and knowledge.

[edit] Terminology

There are some terms that pertains to Weymouth High that one should know.

The Maroon House (also known as The "Maroon Building" or "Old Building", as it was first constructed before the expansion). This half of the school contains the English, History wings, as well as the Gymnasium, the Auditorium and the Maroon Cafeteria.
The Gold House; this addition resides on where South Intermediate School's track once was. It houses the Mathematics, Science, and Foreign Language wings, as well as the Planetarium, the Library Media Center and the Gold Cafeteria.
The connector, as it is called informally, which is one of two long, wide corridors that connect the two Houses. It leads from south of the gym in the Maroon House to the intersection of the Math and Science wings. This connector is on the second floor on both ends.
The north connector (also called simply the "new connector"), is the second corridor that acts as the passage from the English wing to the Science wing. This is, also, on the second floor at both ends.

[edit] Students & Faculty

As of the 2006-2007 school year, there are well over 2000 students attending Weymouth High. There is no official tally as of this writing.

A view from the air of the campus

[edit] Schedule Structure

In a full-length school day at WHS is broken up into 7 periods, also known as blocks, lettered from A to G. There are 6 days in the full schedule, each with a unique order of classes.

[edit] Rotating Schedule

When the school was finally finished in 2004, a new schedule system was implemented to have a class a different point of the day. With this schedule, blocks A, B, C, F, and G change the time that they are held at, but blocks D and E remain stationary because the lunch schedule must remain constant.

To illustrate this further, this table shows when each block would be on each day:

Rotating Schedule Example
Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
A	B	C	A	B	C
B	C	A	B	C	A
C	A	B	C	A	B
D	D	D	D	D	D
E	E	E	E	E	E
F	G	F	G	F	G
G	F	G	F	G	F

This was used up until the 2006-2007 school year.

[edit] Floating Block Schedule

The floating block schedule is a take on the rotating block schedule that has a double block of one subject each day in the 6-day cycle. This schedule effectively removes one class from each day. This new schedule, now used as of the time of writing, was implemented for largely unknown reasons. When rumours initially struck in the late 2005-2006 school year, there was confusion about how it would work and general hostility within the student body towards it. The office that builds schedules, Guidance, would not reveal how it would work or even why it was being implemented until May of 2006. It was assumed that it was a move to eliminate studies (blank blocks that do not have an assigned class to it). This schedule, unlike its predecessor, moves the D block around, but the E block is still stationary.

Floating Block Schedule Example
Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
A	B	C	A	B	C
B	C	A	D	C	A
B	C	A	D	A	B
D	D	B	C	D	D
E	E	E	E	E	E
F	G	F	G	F	G
G	F	G	F	F	G

[edit] History

Originally, Weymouth High served as the junior high school in Weymouth, serving the students from 8^th and 9^th grade. It only consisted of the Maroon House (not called that at the time). Because of the upcoming expansion in 2002, (see below), this school was extended into 7^th to 9^th as South Intermediate School was demolished.

[edit] Expansion

In 2002, it was decided that Weymouth High was simply too small to contain its current students and upcoming student classes. The school board wrote up a plan for an addition that would roughly double the size of the school. This would add on a new cafeteria and a new football field. It would also turn the current library into what is now known as the Humanities Center. To make room for all of this, the nearby South Intermediate School would need to be demolished and the old track and field area destroyed.

This expansion would cost the school over USD$1 million, and would take about two years to complete.

[edit] Graduation

Weymouth High requires passing the MCAS and a minimum of 20 credits to graduate. A credit is rewarded each time a class is passed with a letter grade of D- or higher, or at least 60%. The amount of credits is dependent on how often the class is taken. For example, a Calculus course that meets every day for the year will reward the student with 1 credit if that student passes. In classes that do not meet every day or that are only a semester long, such as Psychology, which is only for half the year, will receive reduced credits. In this case, Psychology meets every day in a 6-day cycle for either the first two or last two quarters of the term, so the passing student would receive .5 credits.

The minimum amount of courses that one must take are as follows (note that these all must be taken from 9th to 12th grade):^[2]

4 credits of History courses (US History II required)
4 credits of English courses (English 9, 10, 11 & senior electives required)
3 credits of Mathematics courses (Mathematics course in grade 10 required)
3 credits of Science courses (Biology course required to be taken in grade 9 or 10)
1.5 credits of Unified Arts
0.8 credits of Physical Education
0.5 credits of Health Education