J. J. Pearce High School

Joseph Jones Pearce High School
Location
1600 North Coit Road
Richardson, Texas, Dallas County, 75080
United States of America
Information
Type High School/secondary school
School district Richardson Independent School District
Principal Beverly Vance
Grades 9-12
Color(s)          
Mascot Mustangs
Website School Website

J.J. Pearce High School is a high school located in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is named after Joseph Jones Pearce, who served as superintendent for the RISD from 1946 to 1977.[1] It is one of two Richardson Independent School District high schools to have a natatorium. In 2005, it had an enrollment of 2,015 and a student:teacher ratio of 22:1.

Pearce was established in 1967 with a group of tenth graders housed at Richardson North Junior High School. Prior to 1967, all high school students in the Pearce area attended Richardson High School. In 1968 the school moved to its current home on Coit Road; the campus has been expanded several times since.

Newsweek has also ranked Pearce at #528 in the top 1,000 high schools in the nation. Schools were ranked based on the number of students who signed up for Advanced Placement courses and AP tests. Pearce was named a 1988-89 National Blue Ribbon School.[2]

Pearce High School also has a Academic Decathlon team. The school holds the record for the most national wins in United States Academic Decathlon history claiming five first place titles, and has also succeeded in being in the top ten schools in the state competition since its founding.. They were a recognized school in 2007-2008, also. J.J. Pearce High school was mentioned in the fifth season of the TV series King of the Hill; episode Kidney Boy and Hamster Girl: A Love Story. The school was mentioned as a recently eliminated opponent of Arlen High School in a radio contest to have the band No Doubt perform at prom.

Contents

Fine arts

J.J. Pearce has a choral program. The Acapella Choir was selected as the 2008 TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) State Honor Choir, and performed at the TMEA convention in February in San Antonio, Texas. This is the second time the Choir had been selected to perform at TMEA, the time before being 1988. More recently, the entire choral department was invited to perform at the Vatican in Italy. The group performed there in June 2009.

The J.J. Pearce band has performed at such prestigious institutions as the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and Carnegie Hall in New York City. The band has been named the Texas Honor Band twice, once in 1984 in the 5A category and again in 2001 in the 4A category. J.J. Pearce is also one of only four schools nationwide to receive the coveted Sudler Flag of Honor twice from the Sousa Foundation. In 2011, the J.J. Pearce "Mighty Mustang Band" was one of twenty 4A Texas high-school bands to advance to the Texas UIL Marching Band Competition in San Antonio.

The graduating class of 1987 was reunited on the TV Land original program High School Reunion, which premiered March 5, 2008.

Lynn Shaw gained fame as Pearce Theater director and teacher for 25 years, having taught Jessica Simpson during the pop singer's days at Pearce. Shaw died of cancer August 7, 2009. In January 2010, a Tribute Show was held with former students coming back to reprise their roles in various musicals. Proceeds from the show established the Lynn "Zed" Shaw scholarship fund; the first recipients of the scholarship were announced at the show - seniors Avery Hurst and Rachel Moss. ABC's Nightline featured Ms. Shaw and the tribute show in a segment airing April 15, 2010, re-airing December 24, 2010.

The school will make history as one of the 50 high schools/colleges asked by Rodgers & Hammerstein to perform Phantom of the Opera in 2012.

The school has had a number of students who have pursued careers in the arts including aforementioned Simpson and 2008 graduate Elizabeth Judd who has been cast in the 2010-2011 National Tour of Spring Awakening. Actress Amanda Alch also attended JJ Pearce High School, and will be portraying Megan McDurst in the upcoming film Bad Kids Go to Hell, based on the comic book of the same name.

Athletics

The high school has had successful teams in all sports with state championships in team Gymnastics, Swimming, Tennis, Golf, volleyball,and Soccer. The Pearce Women's varsity soccer team won the 4A state championship in 2009 and 2010.[3]

Individuals athletes have succeeded as state champions in Track, Tennis, Swimming, Gymnastics, and Golf.

The traditional team sports of football, basketball, volleyball, and baseball/softball have been popular with participation and school support that is within the norm for a suburban public high school, there have been district championships with postseason play in all of the above with individual players and coaches honored.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)
  3. ^ [2]

External links

High schools