Weymouth High School

Weymouth High School (WHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Weymouth, Massachusetts that serves students in grades nine through twelve. Weymouth High School also offers a Career and Technical Education Program offering such courses as Aesthetics, Allied Health, Architectural Design, Automotive Technology, Early Childhood Education, Information Technology, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Graphic Communications and Metal Fabrication.

Weymouth High School
Weymouth High School
Address
One Wildcat Way

Weymouth
,
Norfolk County
,
Massachusetts
02190

United States
Information
TypeHigh School
Established1854
School districtWeymouth Public Schools
School number1 Wildcat Way, Weymouth MA 02190
DeanRebecca Fisher
Kevin Long
Jennifer Dolan
Karen Bonner[1]
PrincipalAlan Strauss[2]
Staff136.72 (FTE)[3]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,900 (2017–18)[3]
Student to teacher ratio13.90[3]
Hours in school day6 hours, 45 minutes
HousesMaroon House, Gold House
School colour(s)Maroon & Gold         
Fight songMaroon and Gold
MascotWild cat
Team nameThe Wildcats
NewspaperWHS Free Press
Websitehttp://www.weymouthschools.org/weymouth-high-school

History

Weymouth High School was first established in 1854.[4] Since that time, it has gone through several incarnations:

  • The building that used to house Weymouth High in the early 20th century stood next to the Town Hall on Middle Street.[5]
  • A new building to house Weymouth High opened in 1963 on Commercial Street. A great example of mid-century modernism, it earned a prestigious national architectural award. It housed students in the 11th and 12th grades; 10th graders attended school in the Middle Street building.
  • The town population grew in leaps and bounds in the mid 20th century, necessitating a second high school. In 1970, Weymouth South High School opened on Pleasant Street. The building on Commercial Street became Weymouth North High School. In 1971, an arsonist set fire to the original Middle Street location of WHS, and the current Abigail Adams Middle School was built in its place.
  • The high schools were again merged into one Weymouth High School in 1991, and this new high school was housed in the former Weymouth North High School building.
  • The building that currently houses Weymouth High School opened in 2004 at One Wildcat Way in South Weymouth. This building was the original Weymouth South High School and most recently housed the junior high school students in Weymouth. The old Weymouth South High School is known as the "Maroon Building." The "Gold Building" was newly constructed for the opening in 2004, and was built on the site of the old South Intermediate School. This expansion cost the school approximately $22 million,[6] and took about two years to complete.
  • With the opening of the facility at One Wildcat Way, several security staff were introduced to maintain order among students..

Terminology
  • The Maroon Building is the first building of WHS constructed. It houses the English, History, Art and Music wings, as well as the gymnasium. The auditorium and one of WHS's two cafeterias are located here, appropriately named the Maroon Cafeteria.
  • The Gold Building refers to the addition completed in 2004. The building's site partially overlaps with where South Intermediate School's track once resided. It houses the Mathematics, Science, vocational education, and foreign language wings, as well as the planetarium, the library and the Gold Cafeteria. Vocational students may also work in its bakery, school store, restaurant, and salon for academic credit.
  • The connector, as it is called informally, is one of two long, wide corridors that connect the two buildings. It leads from south of the gym to the intersection of the Math and Science wings. This connector joins the 2000-level classrooms of the Gold Building with the 100-level classrooms of the Maroon House. It is known to be very crowded in between classes.
  • The back connector is the second corridor that acts as the passage from the English wing to the Science wing.

Athletics and Activities

Weymouth High School students partake in a range of after-school clubs and activities. These activities include chapters of SADD and Amnesty International, a Student Senate, a Math Team, a Concert Band, a Choir, a Drama Club, an FRC Robotics Team, and a Yearbook Committee.[7]

Weymouth High School also has many athletic teams. Fall sports include cheerleading, boys' and girls' cross country, dance team, football, golf, boys' and girls' soccer, swimming, and girls' volleyball. Winter sports include boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' hockey, boys' and girls' indoor track, wrestling, and gymnastics. Spring sports include baseball, softball, boys' and girls' tennis, boys' and girls' lacrosse, boys' and girls' outdoor track, boys' volleyball. Ultimate (Sport), also known as Ultimate Frisbee, is also offered as a club sport in the spring, open to both boys and girls.

In the 2009–2010 Season, Girls Cross Country, Football, Wrestling, and Boys Outdoor Track were Bay State Carey Division Champions.

In the 2014-2015 Season, Boys Hockey were Bay State Carey Division Champions.

Graduation

Weymouth High requires passing the MCAS and a minimum of 21 credits to graduate. A credit is rewarded each time a class is passed with an average letter grade of D- or higher, or at least 60%. The number of credits is dependent on how often the class is taken. For example, a Calculus course that meets every day for the year will reward the student with one credit if that student passes. In classes that do not meet every day or that are only a semester long, such as Psychology, which is only for half the year, will receive reduced credits. In this case, Psychology meets every day in a 6-day cycle for either the first two or last two quarters of the term, so the passing student would receive .5 credits.

For the past six years Weymouth has received Academic Support Grant money to tutor students who have failed the Math and/or English MCAS exam. There are small numbers that need support for the retests. A six-week program is run for these students immediately prior to the exams. The students generally come from studies to tutoring. The student to teacher ratio is often 1:1 or 1:2. This individualized approach has been very successful.

The minimum number of courses that one must take from 9th–12th grade are as follows:[8]

  • 3 credits of History courses (US History II required)
  • 4 credits of English courses (English 9, 10, 11 & senior electives required)
  • 3 credits of Mathematics courses (Class of 2016 and beyond 4 math credits)(Mathematics course in grade 10 required)
  • 3 credits of Science courses (Class of 2015-2017 minimum of 2 lab science, Class of 2018 and beyond minimum of 3 lab sciences)(Biology course required to be taken in grade 9 or 10)
  • 1.5 credits of Unified Arts (Not required for CTE Students)
  • 1.0 credits of Physical Education (CTE students are required to take .4 credits)
  • 0.25 credits of Health Education

Schedule Structure

In contrast with other educational institutions, WHS's non-vocational schedule structure is not static from day to day. The school year is based around a repeating seven-day schedule lettered from A to G with each day broken up into 7 blocks labeled 1 through 7. In a full-length school day, there will be Standard standard blocks of 45 minutes and one long block of 70 minutes that consumes either the preceding or proceeding block.

Alumni Association

The Weymouth High Schools' Alumni Association is an independent, open-membership organization which was created and is operated by persons who have graduated from a Weymouth public high school during the period, 1900 to the present. Membership is open to all graduates of Weymouth High School, Weymouth North High School, Weymouth South High School, Weymouth Vocational-Technical High School, Weymouth Evening High School and Weymouth High School/Vocational Technical High School.

Sources
  1. http://www.weymouthschools.org/node/1976/people-by-department
  2. http://www.weymouthschools.org/node/1976/people-by-department
  3. "Weymouth High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  4. http://www.weymouthschools.org/uploadedFiles/Weymouth_High_School/Alumni/History%20of%20the%20Weymouth%20Schools.pdf
  5. http://www.weymouth.ma.us/history/index.asp?id=1105
  6. Plan by the Massachusetts Treasury to sponsor Weymouth High for the expansion
  7. http://www.weymouthschools.org/whs_sub.aspx?id=1283
  8. The school handbook (.pdf) - Note that it says 1.0 credits of Unified Arts, this is incorrect
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