| Manhattan High School | |
|---|---|
| Manhattan High, West Campus | |
| Location | |
| 2031 Poyntz Avenue Manhattan, Kansas, 66502 United States |
|
| Information | |
| School type | Public secondary |
| Established | 1882 |
| Principal | Terry McCarty |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Enrollment | 1,984 |
| Color(s) | Blue, White and Red (accent color) |
| Mascot | Indians |
| Rival | Junction City High School |
| Newspaper | 'The Mentor' |
| Website | School Website |
Manhattan High School is a fully accredited public high school in Manhattan, Kansas, serving students in grades 9-12. It is part of the Unified School District No. 383. For the 2010–2011 school year, Manhattan High had an enrollment of 1,984 students.[1]
The school is divided into two campuses. The main building is the West Campus, containing grades 10-12, while the East Campus is for ninth graders. The two campuses are approximately one mile apart.
Manhattan High School was listed by Newsweek in 2009 and 2010 as one of the top high schools in the U.S.[2] The school's athletic teams are referred to as the "Indians," and have won more than 40 state championships. Notable alumni of the school include Fred Andrew Seaton, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior.
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The first dedicated secondary school in Manhattan opened in 1882 at the current site of the Manhattan High School "East Campus."[3] The East Campus of the school consists of two limestone buildings that are connected by a glass walkway (built in 1978). The first building (on the far right side in the accompanying photo) was opened in 1914 to replace the town's original secondary school. The second building (on the left side of the accompanying photo) was constructed in 1918 as a separate building for junior high school students (grades 7,8, and 9).
The West Campus is a red brick building that was constructed in 1956 to be the new high school. Both of the older buildings (the current East Campus) were then utilized for junior high school students. Over the next 40 years, the new high school faced recurring overcrowding issues and was significantly expanded, but the new school simply proved unable to keep up with the town's population growth. After considering and rejecting the idea of building a second high school in Manhattan, in 1996 the town instead built two new middle schools, and moved the ninth grade to the East Campus.
The West Campus is laid out in five parallel hallways, with an open space between each and a central "commons area." Each hallway is lettered from south to north. Classes in the industrial arts are held in a detached building behind the West Campus. A large greenhouse and a new fitness center are also detached from the main building. The West Campus houses two gymnasiums; one is used as a general purpose facility and the other is primarily for basketball and volleyball games.
The East Campus is composed of two three-story limestone buildings, connected with a glass walkway and an annex in the rear (not visible in the above photo), built in 1928. The campus also has a detached gymnasium built behind the main stone buildings.
Manhattan High School was listed by Newsweek in 2009 as one of the top high schools in the U.S.[2] Only six schools in Kansas made the list. The school district was also awarded a Blue Ribbon in the 2007 Education Quotient Study, ranking it in the top third nationwide.
There are a wide range of learning opportunities offered at MHS, from tutoring for learning-impaired students to dual credit classes at Kansas State University, and a wide range of elective classes. Currently the school offers electives from performing arts to language arts to physical arts. Manhattan High is also the hub of a state-wide virtual education academy called the iQ Academy Kansas.[4] The online classes give students the opportunity to study and learn at their own personal pace. 240 students were enrolled in the program as of 2007.[5]
In the 2008-2009 school year there were five National Merit Finalists from Manhattan High.
Manhattan High has teams competing in baseball, basketball (boys and girls), bowling (boys and girls), cross country (boys and girls), football, golf (boys and girls), soccer (boys and girls), softball, swimming & diving (boys and girls), tennis (boys and girls), track & field (boys and girls), volleyball (girls), and wrestling. The school competes at the 6A level (largest schools) in the Centennial League. Manhattan High has its own football stadium, Bishop Stadium, which seats 4,000 spectators.
The athletics program has received some national recognition. On June 19, 2007, Sports Illustrated published a list of the top high school athletic programs in each state, and Manhattan High School was declared the top high school athletics program in Kansas for 2007.[6] Also, Manhattan High's football team was nationally ranked in the USA Today poll during the 1987 and 1988 seasons.[7]
Manhattan High's sports teams are called the "Indians." In light of debate over the use of Native American mascots in athletics, the use of the name "Indians" by the high school has been questioned since it was adopted. The mascot name was intended, in part, to honor Frank Prentup, a former football coach of the high school who claimed Indian ancestry. In 2001, the Unified School District 383 Board of Education voted to retain the mascot name but would restrict how the Indian could be portrayed.[8]
| State Championships[9][10] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Sport | Championships | Year(s) |
| Fall | Football | 4 | 1943^, 1961+, 1974, 1988 |
| Volleyball | 4 | 1986, 1987, 2003, 2010 | |
| Cross Country, Boys | 2 | 1983, 1984 | |
| Cross Country, Girls | 2 | 1977, 1979 | |
| Golf, Girls | 11 | 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 |
|
| Winter | Wrestling | 2 | 2004, 2007 |
| Swimming and Diving, Boys | 2 | 1993, 1995 | |
| Indoor Track & Field, Boys | 1 | 1977 | |
| Spring | Golf, Boys | 8 | 1948 (2-Man), 1966 (2-Man), 1971, 1978 (2-Man), 1991, 1994, 2004, 2006 |
| Baseball | 2 | 1992, 1998 | |
| Track and Field, Boys | 1 | 2009 | |
| Track and Field, Girls | 2 | 1989, 2002 | |
| Total | 41 | ||
The Manhattan High Debate and Forensics team is ranked among the top schools in the nation by number of degrees by the National Forensics League. Manhattan High has competed at the state in all the NFL events and at the national level in many of the events. It is one of the largest teams by members in the state. The team is coached by Shawn Rafferty.
Manhattan High School's newspaper, the Mentor, was founded in 1919. It is one of only a few weekly student newspapers in Kansas. The paper is printed every Friday that school is in session by the Manhattan Mercury. More than 1,600 copies are distributed for free to students, staff and community members. In 2011, the Mentor switched from a tabloid newspaper to a broadsheet. The staff launched their own website, www.thementor.com
The school's journalism students have won a number of state-wide awards in competitions administered by the Kansas Scholastic Press Association.
Manhattan High School's marching band, The "Big Blue" Marching Band performs at every home football game, in parades, and in band festivals. The concert band performs during the spring season. There is also an orchestra, choir, jazz ensemble, symphonic band, and wind ensemble. An ensemble of volunteer players is used as the pit orchestra for the school musical.
Manhattan High has a drama and stagecraft program. A four performance musical is put on annually in mid-November, showcasing the talent of MHS thespians. Performances take place in the Rezac Auditorium at the West Campus. It has an active performance calendar that includes a fall Broadway musical with full pit orchestra, a Winter Gala featuring large performing groups, a winter play, a spring play, student directed one-act plays, showcase concerts for show choirs and jazz band, as well as the traditional large-group concerts each quarter. Every other year, MHS choirs partake in a music festival at Disney World over spring break. Pops and Sugar and Spice show choir are auditioned ensembles who perform in the community throughout the course of the school year. Each require a combo band, made up of MHS students.
Manhattan High also has dance and a competition teams. The dance team performs at home football games, basketball games, and wrestling events, performing halftime routines as well as sidelines (at football games). The competition team, the elite division of dance team, holds tryouts every year. Competition then takes several routines to various regional competitions, including pom, hip-hop, jazz, novelty, solos, and duets. The competition team also performs halftime routines on its own at basketball games. The dance team also attends Universal Dance Association (UDA) camp over the summer, where they perform various routines.
— West Campus — East Campus