| Alvirne High School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1950 |
| Type | Secondary |
| Principal | Bryan K. Lane |
| Faculty | 160 |
| Students | 1500 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | 200 Derry Road, Hudson, New Hampshire, United States |
| District | Hudson School District, NH SAU 81 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Maroon & Gold |
| Mascot | Bronco |
| Website | Alvirne High School |
Alvirne High School is located in the town of Hudson, New Hampshire with an enrollment of approximately 1,500 students from grades 9-12. Alvirne gets its name from a prominent Hudson family, the Alfred and Virginia Hills family, who left a large piece of property to the town in the early 20th century to provide land for the building of a high school. A contraction of their names (Alfred and Virginia) provides the name for the school. The school mascot is the Bronco, and the school colors are maroon and gold.[1]
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The school was almost never built. A tract in the Hills' will providing for the school required that it open by a certain date. Behind schedule, the town held 4-H horticulture classes in the partially complete building to meet the literal deadline.
On September 8, 1974 a large fire gutted the building, requiring most of it to be rebuilt. The agricultural school was opened in the 1950s, and the modern vocational building opened in 1993. The large, 100-year-old Alvirne barn was heavily damaged by a fire in late March 1993, a year after the Palmer Vocational Center was opened.[2]
The school's Gymnasium is named after former principal Chester J. Steckevicz.
Alvirne High School is the only high school in the Hudson School District, under the authority of School Administrative Unit # 81 of New Hampshire (SAU81). The Superintendent of Schools is Randy Bell. The system is under the direction of the Hudson School Board, consisting of 5 elected members (elected by town vote) and one student representative (non-voting; elected by Alvirne's student body).[3]
Alvirne teaches a standard college preparatory course of study, but also features an extensive vocational education program. Various Advanced Placement and Honors level classes are available for those who excel in core subjects.[5]
Alvirne offers several Advanced Placement Programs. They include: AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, AP United States History I & II, AP American Government, AP Statistics, AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP French, AP Spanish, and AP Physics. The school is renowned for its numerous high-scorers on the AP exams. For over 10 years, 99% of all students taking the AP Calculus exam have passed with a 5, the highest score possible; the scores of AP US History and AP Government students are also continually very high.
Alvirne offers both French and Spanish classes in its foreign language department. Classes range from level 1B to level 5. There are also Honors Spanish and French classes (Advanced Placement preparatory) for academically accelerated students.
The campus is home to the Wilbur H. Palmer Vocational-Technical Center, a comprehensive vocational education center that features programs of study in finance, accounting, agriculture mechanics/diesel technology, banking, biotechnology, building trades, business, culinary arts, early childhood education, floriculture, health occupations, landscaping, marketing, natural resource management/forestry, production agriculture, and veterinary technology.[6]
The program focuses on application-based education and centers around student-managed businesses. The center features several fully operational businesses that are open to the public, including a bank, convenience store, restaurant, day care, and dairy farm. The dairy farm has cows, chickens, turkeys, sheep, and a barn on campus.
Alvirne is home to NH-20031, a unit of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.[7] The unit is one of four AFJROTC units in New Hampshire. NH-20031 was founded in 2003 and has grown to a size of about 120 cadets. Cadets have the option of joining the "Drill Team" to compete in drill competitions with other AFJROTC units in the area. The unit is active in community service such as the "Adopt a Highway" program and Color Guard events. The unit focuses on the development of leaders and "Citizens of Character."
In 2010, Alvirne's JROTC program earned the rating of "Distinguished Unit." NH-20031 was also rated as "Exceeding Standards" during its inspection at the beginning of the 2011 school year. This is the highest rating an AFJROTC unit can receive during an inspection.
While Alvirne High School has always had a music program, the marching band and competitive concert bands began with the addition of Gerry Bastien to the music program in 1995. The marching band began as a volunteer pep band for the growing football program, continuing to become respected statewide for unique and challenging shows, even among larger high schools such as Londonderry High School and Salem High School. Throughout the years, the band has grown from 32 members to over 160, including a full drumline, pit, and color guard. The concert band has also grown through the past decade, having gone to Walt Disney World and marched down Main Street U.S.A. in 2002, 2006, and 2010. They have traveled to places like Maryland, Ohio, New York, Virginia, and Canada. The jazz ensemble (stage band) has become known worldwide, traveling with the marching band to Florida and going across the Atlantic to Germany in 2001, 2006, and 2009. The entire music department has also been hosting its annual "Cabaret" each spring for the last decade, starting at one performance to an entire three-performance weekend that the public raves about the entire year.[8]
The Bronco Barn, Alvirne's school store, is the only Hallmark Cards School Store in the United States. Besides selling food and drink items, the store sells student and faculty apparel, balloon orders, Hallmark cards and much more. It is operated by marketing students.[9]
Alvirne High School's student newspaper is Bronco Talk. Alvirne's journalism classes support the newspaper by reporting on controversial issues and covering stories that are important to the community.[9] Bronco Talk has a website, that is current with the most recent issue of the newspaper, and also includes past issues of the newspaper. Also, among other features, businesses can find out how to advertise in Bronco Talk.[10]
Checker's is Alvirne's school restaurant. Students can pre-order and enjoy a restaurant meal during their lunch period Tuesday through Thursday. Parents and members of the general public are also welcome to visit the restaurant. Checker's also hosts special occasions, such as alumni reunions and honor society inductions.[9]
Class Act is Alvirne's school theatre program.
Seniors get the chance to run Alvirne High's very own television studio, broadcasting the morning announcements three times a week. This tradition was started by Jan Monihan-Cooney and later taken over by Eric Pascoal starting the fall of 2008. A worthy tradition every year at Alvirne High School, Studio 19 is something many kids at Alvirne look forward to taking a part of as seniors. Using top-of-the-line cameras, a green screen, teleprompters, the Avid video-editing suite, etc., Studio 19 stays at the top of Alvirne's academic accomplishments and keeps the school unique.
The National Honor Society at Alvirne is committed to excellence. Members are academically proficient and are supporters of the Alvirne community. Members of the NHS volunteer around Alvirne and throughout Hudson in many different ways.[13]
The Société Honoraire de Français (SHF), or French National Honor Society, was established at Alvirne in 2007. Members of the SHF must have an A in a French class (French 2B or higher) and must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. Members must strive to learn French and must be proficient speakers and writers of French.[14]
The Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH), or Spanish National Honor Society, held their first inductions in March 2007.[15]
The National Music Honor Society (also known as the Tri-M (Modern Music Masters) Music Honor Society) held their first inductions in the Fall of 2004. Members of Tri-M must uphold a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and be actively involved in the school's music program, either in a band or a singing group, or both. Tri-M promotes the ideals of service to the school music program, the school-at-large, and the community.[16]
Alvirne is home to a chapter of the National Technical Honor Society.
Alvirne fields athletic teams in baseball, football, cheerleading, cross country, golf, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, tennis, softball, basketball, track, swimming and ice hockey.
Alvirne High went many decades without a football team, despite being one of the largest high schools in the state. It had long been rumored that the Hills' only son died during a football game and the school did not conduct a football program out of respect. After the 1974 fire, some residents questioned if the school should continue its "no football" tradition since the town would be rebuilding the school. It was assumed that such a stipulation was a condition of the high school's charter, however, when it was learned that this had never been recorded, local supporters encouraged the formation of a football team. In fall of 1994, Alvirne High School fielded its first junior varsity football team, with varsity play beginning in 1996. The varsity first made the playoffs in 1999, with their second appearance being in 2009 under Coach Robert Nimblett.
Fans of Alvirne often chant the phrase "Shut 'em down Bronco's!" and "Where's the Rodeo?"
Alvirne was listed in the 1980 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.[17] Alvirne High School math students built a slide rule measuring 320 feet 11.1 inches in length. It was completed in March, 1979. The record was broken later that year by students at the University of Illinois.