Hanover High School (New Hampshire)

Coordinates: 43°41′56″N 72°17′02″W / 43.69889°N 72.28389°W / 43.69889; -72.28389

Hanover High School is the only public high school in the Dresden School District, in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. In 1963 it became the first interstate high school in the country as part of a bill that was the last ever signed into action by John F. Kennedy. Today it accepts students from several communities in New Hampshire and Vermont. Enrollment is approximately 786 students, the majority of whom come from the towns of Hanover (New Hampshire) and Norwich, Vermont. 11% of the student body attends on a tuition basis from towns such as Cornish and Lyme, New Hampshire, and Strafford and Hartland, Vermont. The school employs 79 full-time faculty members.

Academics

Hanover High was recognized in 2009 by BusinessWeek in their "America's Best High Schools" annual article as having the "Best Overall Academic Performance" in New Hampshire, with a GreatSchools rating of 10/10.^[2]

The school is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and over 96% of students are accepted to or are planning to attend post secondary education after graduating.^[1]

Of the 79 professional staff at Hanover High School, 90% hold at least a Master's degree, while 15% hold a Master's degree + 60 credits or a doctorate.^[3] As of 2011, Hanover teachers were the highest paid in the state of New Hampshire.^[4]

The academic program is divided into the traditional five departments: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language. Each department offers a selection of courses; however, all freshmen must take a standard set of courses. As students advance, additional opportunities become available. The school's curriculum and policies emphasize individual student freedoms. For example, seniors often elect to design and complete an independent study project that academically explores a personal interest. With Dartmouth College a short walk from the school, some students attend courses at the college when they have exhausted the high school's offerings.

The academic atmosphere is generally student-centric, with off-campus privileges widely available and with a council of students, faculty, and community members (founded in 1974) whose governing power extends in many areas beyond that of even the school principal.

Extracurricular and elective activities

Hanover's physical education program, for 9th graders, has an extensive outdoor ropes course, which is one of the largest in the world with over 35 high ropes course elements, as well as a comprehensive indoor ropes course and climbing wall. Begun in 1988 by physical education teacher Glyn Reinders, the outdoor education program has become the core of Hanover's physical education curriculum and is considered one of the premier high school programs in the country.

The girl's cross country team was 4th in the nation during the 2007 season. The boys varsity soccer team has won the state championship for the last six years, as well as the state sportsmanship award for the past four years. The boys hockey and lacrosse teams are both the smallest schools in Division I, yet Hanover almost always makes it to the state finals in at least one of the sports, if not both. The 2009 fall campaign was especially successful, with field hockey, boys cross country, girls cross country and boys soccer all being crowned state champions.

The school boasts a large number of music ensembles (both official and student-run), publications, community service organizations, an official drama group "Footlighters" that puts on two shows and a musical each year, a student-organized drama group "SOS; Students On Stage" that puts on one show a year, and a quiz bowl team that has in recent years won both New Hampshire and Vermont state championships.

Hanover High School is one of the few public schools in New Hampshire to have a crew team. It is the largest sport at Hanover, with one in every six students participating. They have been recognized as one of the top public school rowing programs consecutively in New Hampshire.

HHS is a democratic school revolving around The Council. The Council has the authority to act on all matters at Hanover High School not controlled by school board policy, state policy, administrative regulations established by the Superintendent of the Schools, and rules and regulations published in the Student Handbook of Hanover High School. Council elections are held each spring.

Athletics

Hanover has a comprehensive athletics program, with players competing at both the varsity and junior varsity levels. Sports offered include baseball, basketball, cross country running, cross-country skiing, crew, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, ski jumping, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, Ultimate, and volleyball. The boys' cross country running team won back-to-back state championships in 2008 and 2009. The boys' soccer team is perennially the most successful team at Hanover, having won the Class I state championships every year from 2005–2010,and the Division I title in 2013. They have won a state-record total of 18 overall, while the boys' ice hockey team is very successful in the competitive NH Division I, where nearly all the other schools are much larger than Hanover. The boys' golf team has been consistently one of the top programs in the state, winning approximately 20 state championships since the early 1980s. Many former Marauder golfers are now members of the PGA. In 1989 the golf team finished an undefeated 48-0 season under coach Glyn Reinders and were named by the Boston Globe "New England Team of the Year".

Notable girls teams include the perennial power house cross country team, which won the Class I state championship from 2004 through 2009, and placed 4th at the Nike Team Nationals high school championships. The football team is a strong force in NH Div IV, but hasn't won a state championship since 2005, despite making it to every state final since then. In recent years swimming has become one of the favored sports, along with crew. One out of every six Hanover High students row in the spring each year.

Varsity sports fielded include:

Club sports include rugby union, fencing, ultimate, and Fall Crew.

Notable alumni

• Barbara Bedford, Olympic swimmer
• Russell Wolf Brown, professional runner
• Charlie Clouser, musician (Nine Inch Nails)
• Stu Hamm, musician
• Jim Holland, Olympic ski jumper
• Joe Holland, Olympic Nordic Combined skier
• Mike Holland, Olympic ski jumper
• Hannah Kearney, gold medalist in the 2010 Winter Olympics (skiing)
• Julia Krass, Olympic freestyle skier
• Elizabeth McIntyre, Olympic freestyle skier
• Kevin Pearce, professional snowboarder
• Matt Pond, musician
• Mary Roach, science writer
• Tom Shear, musician (Assemblage 23)
• Jon Spencer, musician (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion)
• Dmitry Steesy, fashion designer ^[5]

References

External links

• Official website