Newton South High School
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| Newton South High School | |
| Address | |
|---|---|
| 140 Brandeis Road Newton, Massachusetts, 02459, U.S.A. |
|
| Coordinates | |
| Information | |
| Principal | Brian Salzer |
| Faculty | 220 (as of 2007) |
| CEEB Code | 221548 |
| Enrolment | 1790 |
| Campus size | 33.477 acres |
| Motto | Bona Mens Omnibus Patent |
| Mascot | Lion |
| Established | 1960 |
| Homepage | http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/nshs/ |
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 758th out of all public high schools in Newsweek's The Complete List: 1,200 Top Public Schools list.
Contents |
[edit] Mission statement
Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff,
- Is dedicated to peace and love for all
- Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment
- Creates a climate of safety and kindness
- Encourages students to take pride in their family's economic status
- 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] Organization
Newton South places all students into one of four houses, in which they remain for the duration of high school. Unlike many other schools, the houses at 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: Mrs. Donna Gordon
- Assistant Housemaster: Matt Briggs
- Secretary: Janice Ingemi
- Counselors: Lenny Libenzon, James Medieros, Donna Segal
- Goldrick House
- Housemaster: Dr. Edward Jackson
- Assistant Housemaster: Peter Bates
- Secretary: Janis Rotker
- Counselors: Sue Batler, Bill Murray, Margaret Chung
- Goodwin House
- Housemaster: Mr. Charles Myette
- Assistant Housemaster: Mary Ann Price
- Secretary: Angela DeRubeis
- Counselors: Kathryn Jason, Kara Veley, Marcy Davidson
- Wheeler House
- Housemaster: Ms. Kathryn Daviau
- Assistant Housemaster: Robert Jampol
- Secretary: Priscilla McCoy
- Counselors: Jeff Kraunz, Kristin Santos, Homer Turner
[edit] Partnerships
The Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program is the oldest exchange of public secondary school students between the United States and the People's Republic of China. The city of Newton hosts students and teachers for four months each fall and sends students and teachers to Beijing each spring. It has become a tradition for the Jingshan students to give an entertaining presentation about their culture to the school just before returning to their country.
Newton has also had a long-standing relationship with its sister city of San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Every February, a small group of Newton South students go to Nicaragua to live with local families and do community service.
[edit] South notables
Roger Myerson, Newton South class of 1969, was one of the three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2007 "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory". http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2007/index.html
During the mid and late 90's Newton South's Men Tennis Team lead by Coach Dr. Edward Jackson "Doc", made a state record of three consecutive state finals, bringing Newton South the State Championship in 1997. 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 Men's Basketball team led by Coach Killilea reached the Division 1 South final during the 2001-2002 season, posting one of the best results in school history.
The TRACK and field team perennially rank among the best in the state. Coached by Newton South and Boston College Alumni Matt Capstick and by Steven McChesney, a high school and college (Oregon University) All-American in his youth.
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. Newton South's team finished first at the BU competition in June of 2007. The Science Team finished first in the Western Suburban Science League and fourth in the state Science Olympiad for the 2005-2006 season. They then went on to finish third in state during the 2006-2007 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, and again in 2007. In recent years, it has been home to many finalists and champions at prominent national tournaments.
The Newton South Mock Trial team won the state championship in 2008.
The budding Programming Club at Newton South has also had early success, placing first at the Providence College High School Programming Contest in its first year attending, merely one year after the club's creation. It was also the first team to beat the consistently strong Westborough High team in 8 years. It also won a competition held at Fitchburg State College.
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.
Jonathan Mann, class of 1965, World Health Organization chief against AlDS.
Ben Morse, a Class of 2000 graduate and writer for one of the student newspapers, The Lion's Roar, has gone on to write for Wizard Magazine and Marvel Comics.
Marisa Catalina Casey (class of 1997), co-author of Born in Our Hearts: Stories of Adoption, is the Founder and Executive Director of the arts education nonprofit Starting Artists, lnc. located in Brooklyn, NY.
Newton South is also cited for having one of the strongest performing arts programs in Massachusetts. The Newton South Jazz Band has won a gold medal performing in the lAJE Jazz Festival in both 2006 and 2007. Also, the Newton South Madrigals won a gold medal at the MICCA chorus festival in 2008..
[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, with The Lion's Roar also earning national acclaim. 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 2007 and 2008, Denebola won first place at the annual New England Scholastic Press Association conference. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, Denebola also won the Massachusetts Press Association's Award for General Excellence at Suffolk University.
In 2007, both editors in chief of The Lion's Roar finished first and second, respectively, in the 2007 JEA Massachusetts Journalist of the Year Award. In November of 2007, The Lion's Roar placed 10th in the nation for "Best of Show" in Philadelphia at the National Scholastic Press Association's annual convention. All five of the Lion's Roar write-off participants placed in their respective categories, earning the highest and second highest distinctions. One of the editors-in-chief was also published in "The Best Teen Writing of 2007" for a story she wrote about a teacher battling cancer. She also received a Gold Award from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
In its December 2007 issue, Denebola reported on five hidden security cameras found at the school [4]. According to the article, students, parents, faculty, and administrators were unaware of the cameras, three of which were disguised as smoke detectors. The article was written about in the local newspaper, The Boston Globe [5], and reports appeared on local tv channels WCVB, WHDH, and WBZ.
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 controversy. 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" [6], 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 Education 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, and refers its students to the Brookline Driving School. [7]
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.
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. Noam Chomsky spoke on April 11th, 2007 about the War in Iraq and American policy in the Middle East. Alan Dershowitz, at the invitation of the Social Awareness Club and the Jewish Student Union, spoke to students on June 5th, 2007 on the Arab-Israeli conflict and American foreign policy. Jodi Picoult, author of many popular adult novels, spoke to a small group of students in February 2007 before the release of her book Nineteen Minutes.
On February 8th, 2007, the Newton South STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition chapter organized a Darfur Benefit Concert with the well known band, State Radio, raising over $23,000 for Save the Children and the Genocide Intervention Network. [8]
On March 28th, 2008, for the first time in Newton South's history, the Mock Trial team became the Mock Trial state champions. Mock Trial is a program of the Massachusetts Bar Association. The team will advance to the national championships in Delaware.
On May 8th - 10th, 2008, Newton South joins forces with Newton North High School for the 25th anniversary production of their Shakespeare in the Schools annual performances, returning to the original Romeo & Juliet. Begun in conjunction with Shakespeare & Company of Lennox, MA, in 1983, the first production was Romeo & Juliet, directed by Kevin Coleman and Steve Carlebach. It included an unusual casting option in which the roles of Romeo and Juliet were played by three different people, each, transitioning at key character "evolution" for each role. While many of the early productions were performed for one weekend at North and another at South, the schools now alternate years to host. The anniversary show is held at Newton North High School.
