Barnstable High School

Barnstable High School

Pride, Respect, Honor
Address
744 West Main Street
Hyannis
Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, 02601
United States
Information
Type Public
Established 1889
School district Barnstable Public School District
Superintendent Dr.Mary Czajkowski
Principal Patrick Clark
Asst. Principal Scott Pyy
Grades 8–12
Enrollment 2,030[1] (2013)
Language English
Color(s) Red & White          
Athletics conference MIAA District D – Old Colony League
Nickname Red Raiders
Rivals Falmouth
Dennis-Yarmouth
Bridgewater-Raynham
Average SAT scores 524 verbal
531 math
503 writing
1558 total (2014)[2]
Newspaper Insight
Yearbook Barnacle
Communities served Town of Barnstable
Feeder schools Barnstable Intermediate School
Website http://www.barnstable.k12.ma.us/Domain/8

Barnstable High School is a public high school (grades 8–12) in the village of Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States, Town of Barnstable. It is the largest high school in Barnstable County on Cape Cod. It is divided into 5 "houses", described as "schools within a school".[3] BHS has approximately 2,400 students in grades 8-12. The school's principal is Patrick Clark. Scott Pyy is the assistant principal.[3] The school is operated by the Barnstable Public School District.

The school was founded in the 19th century after several attempts of creating a public high school. The school was then moved to the High School Road location for about thirty years before being relocated to its present location in 1959. The school has also gone through three different major renovations and building additions over the years, with the last one being completed in 1998.

Barnstable also boasts an arts and music departments. The music department is also home to talented students who have propelled the department to many awards for excellence over the years. The Barnstable High School Drama Club have been the producers of many acclaimed plays and they also been on a webisode filmed by the Warner Brothers Corporation.

Barnstable is also one of the most diverse schools on Cape Cod due to its population of Cape Verdean, Brazilian, and Portuguese-American families in the community.

History

Beginnings

The school itself has had a long and tumultuous history. The several attempts to establish a secondary school in town failed before the founding of the high school. Among the failed schools were: Barnstable Academy 1837; Hyannis High School, 1837; and the Hyannis Seminary, 1849. These schools were mostly run with private funds. There was the feeling though that these schools were insufficient and there was a consensus that a town funded high school should be established. In 1871, it was voted that a high school would be established in West Barnstable and Centerville. In 1872, it was voted that another one be established in Hyannis. A struggle ensued among the three villages on who would get the school. Centerville soon dropped out and this led to a compromise being reached between the two villages. It turned out that Hyannis started classes in 1873, maintaining the school until 1876. Barnstable then oversaw the school from 1876–1879. In 1879, the school moved permanently back to Hyannis. As a result of these moves in location, the first graduating class occurred in 1883. This was caused because when the school would move, the students from which the school was originally located would drop out and the students in the new location would join the school. The first class originally included two people, Miss Phoebee Crowell and Miss Nellie Coleman. Class sizes grew slowly from there. In 1890, the class size was four. The 1895, eleven; 1900, fourteen; 1905, fifteen; 1920, twenty-two. From 1920 on, the classes grew steadily until the first class of over 100, the class of 1949 was graduated.[3]

First permanent location

The school never really had a permanent location until 1905, when a building was erected at the present site of Pope John Paul II High School. In 1930, the building was rebuilt. The building was renovated in 1939, due to the increase of students. Unfortunately, the building was already three stories tall in the 1950s and there was very little room with which the building could use for expansion. This also was complicated by a lack of room for athletic fields, which included McKeon Field and a football/soccer field. It was decided that a new school should be built using land willed to the town by Enoch Cobb.[3]

Modern building

The modern high school building was built from 1956–1957. On September 5, 1957, the new building was officially opened. The original layout included the modern 1200s, 1300s, 1400s, and 1500s.[3]

The original layout lacked the present library and cafeteria, which were added later on. The original library was located near the entrance to the modern library. A unique feature of the building were the two cafeterias. One cafeteria was located near on the site of the weight room and athletic office, and the kitchen was also located on the site of the present weight room. The field house was also absent in the original layout.[4]

Originally, the high school hosted a vocational school in the modern lower 1200s. The basement of the original building also was built as a bomb shelter, not unusual during the Cold War.

Interestingly, the completion of the school did not mean an end to the usage of the old building's facilities. When the school was completed, it lacked athletic fields, which were still under construction. For at least the first year, sporting events were held at the old building.[4]

In 1963, the modern 1600s wing was added. The school underwent a renovation in 1976, which added the field house, cafeteria, library and some classrooms nearby. In 1975, the vocational high school closed because of the opening of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich. The wing was then turned into the art wing for the school. Mechanical drawing was one of the classes offered in the old shop wing.[4]

Renovation

In 1998, the wing that was part of the old vocational high school was demolished so that new classrooms could be added in place of the shop rooms. The new renovation also added the Performing Arts Center, the 1100s, lower 1200s, 1700s, 2200s and 2700s.

Modern day

Today, Barnstable High School is a diverse school with over 20 different spoken languages. The school also has many clubs and community outreach programs. The school has also played host to the 7th and 8th;grades at the time that the Barnstable Middle School at Hyannis was being renovated.

In September, 2008, students were invited to send a YouTube message to Governor Deval Patrick. Twelve students took up this offer, and one student was sent a video reply back. The student was one of three in the state to be responded to in this way, and was featured on a local newscast because of his concern for the arts.[5]

With declining enrollment in the system, it was announced in 2009 that the 8th grade would be moved into the building permanently. The students were then grouped into separate 8th grade teams of Gold I, Gold II, Gold III, & Gold IV. In time, the 8th graders would become a permanent edition to the school, and the 7th graders would return to the Middle School. The team organization today consists of Red I, Red II, Red III, & Red IV.

Athletics

Barnstable High School sports teams are known as the Red Raiders (using a logo similar to the University of Utah), a name they share with Texas Tech University.

W. Leo Shields Memorial Field is the sports field on the campus of Barnstable High School in 2010. On November 25, the Red Raider football team played its first game on newly installed FieldTurf, beating the Falmouth Clippers 46-14. Previously the field had been natural grass and Barnstable is the first school on Cape Cod to have Field Turf installed. Renovations also included new field goal posts. It was also home to the Cape Cod Crusaders of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL).

Girls

Volleyball

The Barnstable High School girls volleyball team has won at least 13 Division One State Championships in the past 15 years, including the past 6 State Championships.[6]

The team holds the state volleyball record for the most consecutive victories,[7] and also holds the state volleyball record for the most consecutive victories.[8] The team's 110-game winning streak came to a halt on October 6, 2007, when the team played Brentwood, California and lost.

Tennis

The girls tennis program has fared very well in recent years. In the 2006 spring tennis season, the entire team went undefeated in the regular season and the team captain and her partner won the South Sectional doubles championship, also earning recognition as Boston Globe All-Scholastic Team winners. That year the Red Raiders won the team South Sectional championship. During the 2011 season, 6 of the 7 girls on varsity were all-stars. During the 2012 season, the team's first and second doubles team faced off in the South Sectional individual tournament finals, with the second doubles team taking home the South Sectional doubles championship. Also in 2012, the team won the MIAA Division I South Sectional championship, and lost in the state championship semifinals to the eventual winners.

Boys

Barnstable High School Football

Barnstable football has won 2 Division 1A State Championships/Super Bowl's in 1995,and in 1999 under former Head Coach Paul "Spanky" Demanche during his seventh, and eleventh season. In 1995, and in 1999, Barnstable was ranked the #1 high school football team in Massachusetts in the final state rankings. The Red Raiders have also won a total of 22 league championships while belonging to several different leagues. In 1951 the Red Raiders finished their season undefeated at 9-0-0. An effort was made by coach Leo Shields to stage a "State Championship" game, but there were no takers and a high school rule prohibited teams from playing more than nine games in a season at the time. In 1907, and 1898 they were undefeated as well, but these seasons were also prior to the birth of the MIAA State Championship/Super Bowl system.

Barnstable has played Falmouth in football on Thanksgiving Day nearly every year since 1895, making the annual game one of the longest-standing high school football rivalries in history. In 2007, the Red Raiders beat Falmouth 19–12 which evened the overall record in the rivalry at 56–56–8.

Other sports

Barnstable also has traditional baseball, soccer, and hockey programs.

Music department

The choral program has won many trophies at MICCA and FiestaVal competitions. The string program has also won a few trophies over the years.

The Barnstable High School Red Raider Marching Band is known for its achievements on and off the field, having been the Division 2 winner in MICCA from 2006 to 2009 (four years in a row). In 2010 the band competed in Division 1 of MICCA due to changes in the number of members in the band.

Throughout the fall and leading into the spring, the Marching Band frequently performs at various venues, including football games, holidays, and community events. Various trips are performed throughout the year, including a bi-yearly appearance at Fiestaval.

The Red Raiders primarily march in the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association circuit, often referred to as MICCA. Other appearances occur at the NESBA and USSBA marching shows around the state. The Winter Percussion unit, an offshoot of the marching band season, compete in Winter Guard International championships on a bi-yearly basis. In April 2009 (their most recent appearance at WGI) the Winter Percussion Ensemble almost made it into the semifinal round achieving their best performance ever at WGI. The winter percussion was the 2004 Class A NESBA Champions. The Winter Guard has won Class Championships in 2000, 2001 & 2004.

Drama club and Performing Arts Center

In the late 1990s, the school received a major renovation and expansion. This project included the construction of the Barnstable High School Performing Arts Center, which also serves as the home stage for the Barnstable High School Drama Club, music department concerts, and Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra. The Performing Arts Center has a capacity of 1,440 people and has hosted a number of events, including large cast musicals that the Drama Club has performed. It also hosts musical performances such as the All Cape and Southeast District music festivals. In 2008, after a nationwide search, the Drama Club was selected by Warner Brothers to produce The Wizard of Oz.[9] Over 360 hours of auditions, rehearsals, classroom lessons and free time was recorded by Warner Bros. Company for webisodes of a real high school musical from start to finish called "High Drama, Against all OZ" to be shown on theWb.com in September 2008 and sold on iTunes as a four part television series.

Technology

Starting with the 2006–07 school year, all staff members at Barnstable High School were given new Lenovo R60 laptop computers running Windows XP Professional. Most class rooms now have SMARTBoards. The school also uses the Moodle Course Management System and the SchoolDude online work order distribution program. Starting with the 2009-10 school year, Barnstable High School ordered a multitude of new iMacs for use in its television production studios, which broadcast locally on local Public-access television cable TV channel 22. Along with the upgrade of the production studio come over 20 new Canon 1080 HD camcorders along with Manfrotto tripods, studio and portable lighting kits, and shotgun, lapel, and wireless (UHF) microphones to be used both in the studio and out in the field.

The High School also features a technology help desk, where students are given the opportunity to learn about the repair and maintenance of school computer and information technology systems. In the 2009-10 school year, a multitude of new 21st century multimedia courses were introduced. One of the primary goals of these courses is to video, edit, and produce content to be shown on Barnstable local access channel 22.

Foreign language department

In recent years, the high school has been home to the annual convention of the Massachusetts Junior Classical League. This also coincides with the creation of a chapter at the school.

Clubs

The school is also home to over twenty clubs. In the 2008–2009 school year, a series of new clubs were created. One of these was a chapter of the Model United Nations. The Astronomy, Drama, Film and Broadcasting, Key, Photography, Student Council, and Young Democrats/Republicans clubs are among the most popular among students.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "CHART: The Most and Least Diverse Public High Schools in MA". GoLocalWorcester. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "SAT Performance Report - School and District Profiles: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education". Profiles.doe.mass.edu. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Barnstable High School Student Handbook, 2008–2009" (PDF). Barnstable High School Technology Office. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Barnacle (ed.). Barnacle Fifty-Eight (Twenty Fourth ed.). Hyannis, Massachusetts: Delmar. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "WBZ-TV Video Archive". CBS Corporation. March 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  6. ↑ Colby, Julia (December 28, 2008). "Barnstable Red Raiders High School Volleyball Team". Julia Zangl Colby. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  7. ↑ McCluskey, Jack (September 22, 2007). "Barnstable spikes win record". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  8. ↑ "Red Raiders roll to fifth straight title". Cape Cod Times. November 11, 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, John. "Barnstable High School Drama Club". Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-29.

External links