Weston High School (Massachusetts)
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| Weston High School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 444 Wellesley Street Weston, Massachusetts 02493 USA |
|
| Information | |
| School district | Weston Public Schools |
| Affiliation(s) | none |
| Principal | Anthony Parker |
| Vice principal | Natalie Cohen |
| Enrollment |
685 (2004-2005) |
| Type | Public high school |
| Grades | 9 – 12 |
| Team name | Wildcats (Red Tide for swimming) Wayland-Weston Crew) |
| Homepage | Weston High School |
Weston High School is a high school (grades 9-12) in Weston, Massachusetts, United States, a suburb 12 miles west of Boston. The school is located at 444 Wellesley Street in Weston. In 2004-2005 it had 685 students. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. It has been ranked 60th best high school by US News and World Report for 2008.
In September 2004, Boston Magazine rated Weston High the number one public high school in Massachusetts.
Contents |
[edit] Mission statement
The mission of Weston High School is to challenge all students to excellence, promote a climate of respect and support, and encourage and facilitate the growth, abilities, and talents of students, so they will live healthy lives characterized by reflection, responsibility, wonder, daring, and enthusiasm for life-long learning.
[edit] The campus
Weston High School is a large brick building, surrounded by trees and sports fields. There are several fields, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, and a large track, shared by the Middle School, which is located on an adjacent campus.
The building itself consists of a large gymnasium, weight room, library, theater and tech center, dance studio, music rooms, auditorium, computer labs, and many classrooms. The building is split into different wings for the many departments. The Science Department has its own wing near the middle school fields on the first floor. The Math Wing is also located near the middle school fields. The photography lab and the Art Room are located on the first floor directly across from the cafeteria. The Clay Art studio room is located in the Math Wing, and the Video Production room is located in the science wing. The Language and additional Math classrooms on the second floor above the science wing. English and history classes are spread throughout a circular wing below the Library and in the library itself. The school also features a full digital video studio where actor Ted Garland, who played an extra in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull teaches.
[edit] Sports
The Wayland-Weston Crew team is currently ranked as the #2 High school crew team in the nation. Weston High School is a member of the Dual County League (DCL). Most of the sporting teams compete in Division III MIAA, but girls field hockey is Division I, boys and girls swimming and girls lacrosse Division II, and boys and girls cross country Division IV. Weston High's principal rival is the neighboring Wayland High School.
The swim team, the Red Tide, is among Weston's premier teams. The boys' team has been undefeated for 103 straight dual meets, and they have won the state championship every year for the past ten years. Three of these years ('01, '03 and '05), it was named the national dual meet champion by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association for schools <900 people. The girls team, prior to placing third last year, placed second in the state meet for eight years straight. In 2008, the Red Tide was led by senior captains Graham Frankel, Chris Rossborough and Stuart Butts to glory once again, as they captured their tenth straight state title, setting 5 total state records in the process.
The track team is also a program on the rise, with many strong athletes in the 2010 class. Captains John Skillman, DCL champion in the one mile, 4th place runner in the Division IV two mile, and 13th place in the two mile at the Massachusetts State Meet, and Tyler Freeman are eagerly anticipated in their events. Although the girls team is slightly more short-handed, they do an excellent job consistently every year.
The Weston Boys Ice Hockey team is another athletic program worth noting. After having their program eradicated more than twenty years ago, at the beginning of the 05-06 season, led by a troop of ambitious parents, and a determined Pete Foley (former athletic director), the program was reinstated. Mentored by head coach Linc Cornell (Division III coach of the year, Boston Globe coach of the year and Metro West Coach of the year, for the 06-07 season), their record through the first two seasons was 28 wins, 9 losses, and 7 ties. The 06-07 squad played their final game when they lost a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in overtime to Savio Prep in the Division III North Finals. When 14 of those players left to either college or prep school, everybody who knew about Weston Hockey had their doubts for the team's future. However, led by Senior Captain Andrea Pasquale, the young troop of skaters banded together and made tournament play for the third season in a row, shattering the expectations of all their critics. This Cinderella team will look for revenge from the previous two years as they fight their way through the Division III North State Tournament.
The Weston Boys soccer team is led by captains Sawyer Thompsons, Ben Ritter, and Tyler Freeman.
Weston High School's 2007-2008 Girl's Basketball team makes a charge at the rest of Massachusetts when they beat the number 1 ranked seed in the tournament.
[edit] Music
Weston's music program is directed by Christopher Memoli, while Dr. Therese Provenzano directs the chorus. Weston also offers an AP Music Theory Class, taught by Colleen Toland. 31 students were accepted to the MMEA Northeastern Sr. Districts Festival in January 2007, and 13 students were accepted to the MMEA All-State Conference.
The High School Chorus, along with the Community Chorus and InCoro Novo, has a performance at Regis College every year when they perform a selection from the vocal repertoire. In 2006, the work was Bach's Magnificat and in 2007, the work was Mozart's Requiem. The large chorus is accompanied by selected high school orchestra members and adult musicians.
Starting in February 2007, the high school music department started implementing http://moodle.learningnetworks.com/ into its curriculum. This site allows students to submit prerecorded playing tests that are graded and used to determine seating in band/orchestra/wind ensemble.
Weston's Music Department also runs the Weston Friends of Music, a parent group that has regular meetings and helps collect tickets during concerts and other tasks that help contribute to the well-being of the weston school music department.
In addition, Weston has a theater program after school. The Weston High School theater performs three plays a year and competes in a theater festival nation wide every year. (one musical and two non musicals) The theater has high expectations for those who are involved for several members go on and act as a career. Anyone is welcome to see the performances, and see Christopher Memoli conduct the pit orchestra.
In addition to a full concert choir and chorus, the Weston High School has two student run Acapella groups called the Town Criers (for boys) and the Pralines(for girls).
[edit] Notable alumni
- Joe Naughton, class of 1969, held the state record in the shot put for 34 years with a throw of 63'9", inducted into Massachusetts High School Track Coaches Hall of Fame
- Grover Norquist, class of 1974, political activist and lobbyist, journalist for The American Spectator, president of Americans for Tax Reform
- Ben Mezrich
- Susan Carls, executive producer of Yahoo!
Kerry Ecker, class of 1989, accomplished business man and beginning novel on poetry in Indian culture.
