Salem High School (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

See Salem High School (disambiguation) for other high schools with this name.

Salem High School is a secondary school located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The school recently added a Visual and Performing Arts Academy; one of several magnet programs in Virginia Beach. Students throughout the city interested in these arts can apply. The class of 2008 is the first graduating class to include students from the academy.

History of the School

Salem High School, located at 1993 Sundevil Dr (numbered in honor of the class of 1993), is built on a 50-acre (200,000 m²) site acquired by the School Board in 1985. Construction of the 258,862-square-foot (24,049.1 m²) building began in July, 1987. The school which contains 85 classrooms, an auditorium, a large lecture hall, a large gym, and two auxiliary gyms, opened on September 5, 1989, to a capacity enrollment of just over 2,000 students. A student committee selected the name, SunDevils, to represent Salem High School in the spring of 1989. The school colors are scarlet, black, silver, and white. A life-sized school mascot was unveiled during the 1991-1992 school year; "Sunny the SunDevil" (identical to the Tasmanian Devil from Warner Bros. Looney Tunes) is depicted on school sweatshirts and athletic programs. The Visual and Performing Arts Academy (VPAA) became an integral part of Salem High School in 2004.

Visual and Performing Arts Academy

The Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Salem High School (VPAA) consists of four strands: music (both vocal and instrumental), dance, theatre, and visual arts. While students typically select one strand as their concentration, they are also encouraged to explore areas outside their selected strand; all seniors participate in an inter-disciplinary final project.

Curricula includes instruction in performance, exhibition, theory, and history of the arts. Independent seminars and performances are also offered throughout the year. In order to graduate, students must acquire 70 "master class" hours (in which students must answer questions regarding attended arts performances and displays), 8 job shadowing hours, and participate in an internship with a professional in the arts (or other major, if the student decides not to major in arts for college).

Admission to the program is based on several criteria: an audition/portfolio evaluation, recommendations by core subject teachers as well as previous teachers in the arts, achievement as evidenced by honors or awards in the arts, and participation in extracurricular and community activities.

The Academy Coordinator is Ms. Eva Melatti

Chorus Department

The Salem High School Chorus department is recognized as being among the finest in the city of Virginia Beach, and the choirs have received national recognition for their outstanding performances. Choirs from Salem have performed in the White House and National Cathedral (Washington, DC), Carnegie Hall (New York, NY), Walt Disney World (Orlando, FL), Cardiff Cathedral (Cardiff, Wales, UK), and Westminster Abbey (London, England, UK). In addition, they have performed multiple times at the Virginia Music Educators Association annual in-service conference and the Southern Division convention of the Music Educators National Conference, and have been the featured ensemble at the Sweet Adelines International Mid-Winter convention. They have sung in a private performance for actor/singer Jimmy Dean and commissioned works from renowned composer Daniel E. Gawthrop. They have performed in concert with the Old Dominion University Concert Choir, the Christopher Newport University Choir, the Greensboro College Concert Choir, and the Virginia Commonwealth University "Commonwealth Singers." In recent years, they have been honored to work with such outstanding choral musicians as: Weston Noble, Eph Ely, Rodney Eichenberger, Jing Ling-Tam, Kevin Fenton, William Powell, Deen Entsminger, Rebecca Reames, and the world-famous ensemble, "Chanticleer."

The choirs have earned Grand Champion, Outstanding Ensemble, Best in Class, and First Place trophies as well as "Superior" ratings in competitive choral festivals in Orlando FL, Las Vegas NV, Atlanta GA, New York NY, Nashville TN, Gatlinburg TN, Richmond VA, Williamsburg VA, and Virginia Beach, VA, and have earned many "Superior" ratings at the VMEA District 2 choral festivals since the festival's inception (singing Grade VI music, the most challenging level recognized).

They have performed major works including Handel's "Messiah," Rutter's "Requiem," Bach's "Jesu, Meine Freude," Schubert's "Mass in G," and "Mass in F," Britten's "Ceremony of Carols," and Vivaldi's "Gloria."

Vocalists from Salem High School have been selected for the All-Virginia Choir every year since the school opened in 1989, and for the elite VMEA Senior Honors Chorus every year since 1990.

The Academy Choral Director is Dr. Don Krudop and the Salem High School Choral Director is Ms. Lynne German.

Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps

The NJROTC unit at Salem was established in 1996 under the authority of Title 10, United States Code, Chapter 102, Section 2031 to "...instill in students in United States secondary educational institutions the values of citizenship, service to the United States, and personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment." The unit motto is "Do right and fear not".

The unit is a competitive force in Area 5, winning the Distinguished Unit Award for the past nine years. The unit is led by Senior Naval Science Instructor Captain Patrick Hunt, USN (ret.), Naval Science Instructor Master Chief Petty Officer James Coltrain, USN (ret.), and company commanding officer Cadet Lieutenant Commander Michael James.

Academic Departments

• Business
• Computer Resource
• English
• Fine Arts
• Foreign Language
• Gifted Program
• Guidance
• Health/P.E.
• Library/Media Center
• Marketing
• Math
• Naval Science (NJROTC)
• Science
• Social Studies
• Special Education
• Technology Education
• Work & Family Studies/Technology

Advanced Placement Courses

• English Language and Composition
• English Literature and Composition
• U.S. History
• U.S. Government
• Human Geography
• Psychology
• European History
• Biology
• Environmental Science
• Physics B
• Chemistry
• Calculus AB
• Calculus BC
• Statistics
• Art History
• Music Theory
• Studio Art

Clubs and organizations

Sports

State Championships
Boys Basketball
-2001

Girls Basketball
-1994

Girls Gymnastics
-1992

Girls Volleyball
-1998

Alma mater

The Silver, Black, and Scarlet
Words & Music by Dr. Don Krudop

(Verse) There's a place that will live in my mem'ry,
When the days of my youth pass away.
In my heart hold it dear,
Though I roam far and near,
And there it shall always stay.

'Tis the place where I left my childhood,
And grew toward what my life would be,
In Virginia, the Old Dominion,
Salem High, I call to thee.

(Chorus) Lift your hearts and lift your spirits,
Lift your voices to the sky,
Raise the Silver, Black, and Scarlet,
Raise them up for Salem High.

Notable alumni

• Timbaland (born 1971), producer, singer, and rapper.
• Isaiah Gardner (born 1985), defensive back of the Toronto Argonauts.
• Shamika Kentish (born 1988), class of 2006, track runner (Sprinter), Beach District Champion, Eastern Region Champion, AAA State Champion, 2006 Salem Female Athlete of the Year, attended Seton Hall University c/o 2010.
• Allynn Walkerbey, Daijreous Poole, and Jessie Nunn, who (along with Brandon Showell from Landstown High School) make up the acapella musical group 4Shore, which appeared on the television show The X Factor in 2011.^[1]

See also

• AAA Eastern Region
• AAA Beach District

References

• School Report Card
• Salem HS official site

Notes

1. ^ "4Shore to visit 3 Va. Beach schools". WAVY News. http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/local/va_beach/4shore-to-visit-3-va-beach-schools_3959620. Retrieved 1 December 2011. 

External links

• Virginia Beach City Public Schools
• Virginia Beach school mascots and colors
• Salem Football @ VHSL-Reference
• Salem NJROTC Homepage
• VPAA Homepage