Ridley High School

Ridley High School
Established Fall, 1925
Type Public High School
Principal Mr. William E. Mills
Faculty 130
Students 2140
Grades 9-12
Location 901 Morton Avenue,
Folsom, Pennsylvania, USA
District Ridley School District
Mascot Green Raider
Website www.ridleysd.k12.pa.us

Ridley High School serves the Ridley School District. Ridley High School is located in Folsom, Pennsylvania, and has an average student population of 2,100. The school draws students from many socioeconomic backgrounds, due to Ridley Township's economically diverse population. The new high school opened in September 2001. The original building, previously known as Ridley Township High School, was completed in 1934 and was built, in part, by funding from the Works Progress Administration. The library, auditorium, and gym additions of the old school, built in the late 1960s still stand and are used as a community center. The school had added a pond for the students involved with environmental classes and activities. The Ridley football team was the Central League champion in 2006 and 2007. Ridley is also home to one of the finest natatoriums in Delaware County. Recently, Ridley High School received a grant by the Classrooms For the Future: several hundred laptops, WiFi enabled printers, and touch sensitive smartboards.

Contents

Academia

The school's academic program offers a huge variety of elective classes such as technology courses, and includes basics such as math, English, science, art, social studies, health, and physical education, as well as foreign languages, including Spanish, German, French, and Italian. Other course offerings include Computer Applications and Family and Consumer Sciences. A total of four, 85-minute classes are held in a day due to the school's block scheduling. Ridley operates on a two-semester schedule, with two marking periods in each semester. Ridley High School has established the Emerald Academy, an extremely rigorous course of core plus classes and extended time periods what normally takes weeks to finish is done in two days or less.

The Emerald Academy

Ridley High School is also home to the Emerald Academy, a small group of students, from 9th to 10th grade, within the school. The Academy is a collection of advanced classes, and has one extra class in the day, making a total of five classes. The classes are also shorter at 66 minutes with the exception of the elective block which remains at 85 minutes. These classes include mathematics, English, a science, social studies, a foreign language, health and gym in addition to an elective class. The rigorous pace of the program is meant to prepare the students for AP classes.

Sports

Ridley is very well known for its athletics as well as its academics. The football program has the highest winning percentage all-time in Pennsylvania. Ridley football has a rivalry with nearby Interboro High School football and play an annual match on Thanksgiving. An event that occurs before the Thanksgiving game is a student-run contest called "Miss Interboro", during which the football team dresses up as females and are voted on who looks the most like a student from Interboro. The Ridley Football team was PIAA District 1 and Central League champions in 2007. The football team also was Central League co-champion and District 1 champion in the 2009 season.

Its boys' lacrosse program is also well known in the country for winning several state titles throughout the past 15 years, including 3 straight titles 2001-03. The girls lacrosse team of 2007 lost in the state championship. The wrestling coach, Carl Schnellenbach, coached his 600th win in December 2005 and holds the record for most wrestling coaching victories in Pennsylvania. The patch on the back of the wrestling jackets has been updated to celebrate Mr. Schnellenbach's 659 wins.

Ridley has also had great success in the pool. The Diving team has 10 state medals that include a back to back championships for Josh Bonner. The diving tradition has also reached into the college ranks, producing 6 D-1 divers at Florida State, Penn State, Rutgers, East Carolina, and Drexel. Erin Saunders, in 2007, took gold at the Big East Conference Championship for Rutgers. Ridley's swimming has also found great success with numerous district one qualifiers. Ridley's swim coach Kurt Slenn's recorded his 250th win on December 29th, 2009.

The mascot of the school sports teams is the Green Raider. While the mascot was originally represented by a Native American of the Lenni-Lenape tribe, the school and district have tried to reduce the amount of Native American imagery in use. The Ridley logo is now a stylized letter R, referred to as "The Rockin' R." The Sports in Ridley High School include:

Windscript

Ridley High School's literary-arts magazine serves as an outlet for student creativity. Windscript won the Gold Crown Award from Columbia University in both 2005 and 2006.There are many other clubs and events that occur throughout the year at Ridley High School.

Archive

The Ridley High School yearbook is a student publication. The all color book is a compilation of student interests, activities and achievements. Pages have been featured in Josten's (publisher) Look Book and the National Scholastic Press Association's Best of the High School Press. Best of the High School Press, NSPA’s slick, full-color book showcases examples of the finest student journalism in the country.

Notable Alumni

External links