Montpelier High School (Vermont)

Montpelier High School (MHS) is a public secondary school, comprising grades 9–12, located in Montpelier, Vermont. MHS serves the Montpelier Roxbury Public Schools District. Schools in the district also include Union Elementary School, Roxbury Village School, and Main Street Middle School.

Montpelier High School
Address
5 High School Drive
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
Information
TypePublic secondary
Established1914
Current building:
1956, addition 1998
School districtMontpelier Public Schools
PrincipalJason Gingold
Enrollment350 (as of 2018)
Color(s)Green, white
Athletics17 sports teams, 12 sports
Athletics conferenceVermont Principals' Association
MascotScreech the Owl
Team nameSolons
Activities20 clubs and organizations
Websitehttps://mhs.mrpsvt.org

Montpelier is located near the center of Vermont in Washington County.

The school's sports teams are called the Solons and the school's colors are green and white. Enrollment in 2006 was 420; in 2012 it was 317.

Montpelier High School, 1915
Montpelier High School, 2006

Recognition

U.S. News & World Report ranked Montpelier High School in the top 500 out of over 18,000 high schools in the United States in November 2007. They initially and incorrectly reported that the school ranked fifth.[1] The school brought the error to the magazine's attention shortly thereafter, prompting a correction on December 10, 2007.[2] The school's correct ranking still puts it in the top 2.8% of American high schools and the best in Vermont (by U.S. News standards).

History

MHS is a successor to the Washington County Grammar School, incorporated in 1813. Montpelier High School first issued diplomas in 1914, the year a new high school building opened on Main Street. That building was replaced by the current building, off Bailey Avenue, which opened in 1956. The old high school building was converted to a middle school, and continues to house grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. The present high school building was enlarged in 1998.[3]

Academics

As of 2006, MHS offers 6 AP classes: Biology, US history, English, Calculus, Statistics, Programming, and Spanish. It offers French, Spanish, and Latin at several levels. Students at Main Street Middle School are offered French I, Spanish I, and Algebra I. Upon successful completion of these courses, students may earn high school credit. MHS is also a site for interning student teachers from the University of Vermont.

As of February 2006, 17 students were attending the Barre Technical Center[4] in the neighboring town. This is a technical and vocational school. Juniors and seniors are eligible to attend.

Courses in MHS's English department include Interpretation of Literature, Irish Humanities, and Creative Writing. Mathematics courses include Economics; Functions, Statistics and Trigonometry; Statistics; and Calculus. Science classes include Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Applications as well as basic and AP computer programming. Social studies classes include World History, Psychology, and Sociology.

Scholastic Aptitude Test

In 2010, the school was first in the state with a 1,705 average score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The state average was 1,546. The national average was 1,509.[5]

In 2005, 74 seniors, 85% of the senior class, took the SAT.

SAT Verbal Montpelier Average

All Students

 Vermont Average

All Students

 National Average

All Students

2001 550 511 506
2002 560 512 504
2003 547 513 507
2004 578 516 508
2005 557 521 508
Back of MHS
SAT Math Montpelier Average

All students

 Vermont Average

All students

 National Average

All students

2001 538 506 514
2002 561 510 516
2003 547 510 519
2004 556 512 518
2005 541 517 520

Clubs and extra-curricular activities

MHS has 20 clubs open to all students, including:

  • Outing Club – This offers opportunities for students to participate in activities like backpacking, hiking, winter camping, canoeing, hiking, caving, rock climbing, and much more.
  • Masque – The school's theater program. Masque puts on a two plays a year; one being a musical.
  • The Solon Spectrum – The school's newspaper. It is published online every month. https://web.archive.org/web/20161102135846/http://www.solonspectrum.com/

Athletics

Most sports have a varsity and a junior varsity team. MHS plays in Division II in every sport, except track and field and boys' tennis. In 2015, the boys' cross country running team won the Division II state championship.

These sports are offered at MHS:

Fall season

South side of MHS

Winter season

Spring season

The school also participates in Unified Sports, a program of Special Olympics. Unified Sports teams consist of all types of students, including those who are differently-abled. The unified sports include soccer, bowling, snowshoeing, basketball, and softball. They compete against other schools.[6]

MHS has many sports facilities on campus, including:

  • Baseball diamond with field hockey/soccer/lacrosse field in outfield and a scoreboard
  • Soccer/football field surrounded with a dirt/fine gravel track with grandstand and scoreboard
  • Softball diamond with scoreboard
  • Field hockey/lacrosse field
  • Four outdoor tennis courts
  • Basketball court in gym
  • Weight room, recently repainted and renovated with new workout machines
  • Climbing wall
  • Outdoor 400 meter track

Hockey is played at the Montpelier Civic Center. The ski team skis at a variety of locations, sometimes at the school but usually at U-32 or at the Morse Farm Touring Center nearby. The golf and tennis teams play scheduled games off-campus. The Cross Country teams practice together at a variety of locations, including Hubbard Park and the North Branch Nature Center.

Greenhouse and composting
The greenhouse

MHS is home to a solar greenhouse. Students built it in 2004 from lumber from fallen trees. The goal of the greenhouse was to reduce the school's ecological footprint and to be an example of sustainability. The greenhouse also has a web cam that has operated seasonally.[7] Students who take biology are responsible for planting, watering and harvesting their sections of the greenhouse.

Organic greens grown in the greenhouse are used in the school cafeteria. Food waste from the kitchen and cafeteria have been composted and used in the greenhouse's soil.[8]

Library Media Center

The Montpelier High School library media program is constantly evolving to best meet the needs of students, staff and community members. The fiction collection is continuously expanded and updated with newly-published and classic books in various formats. The non-fiction and reference collection is kept current with online database subscriptions. The library website allows access to these databases, online newspapers, the library catalog, research support, tech and social media tips as well as reading suggestions. These services are available 24/7 from any device with internet access or in the library during school hours. Multimedia equipment (video and audio recorders, tripods, laptops and other devices) are also available for school related projects. The space is open, light filled, flexible and accessible and hosts a wide range of academic, social and civic activities throughout the year.[9]

Montpelier High School library

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. "America's Best High Schools: From Massachusetts to California, a look at the schools that excel in teaching students". U.S. News & World Report. November 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  2. Curran, John (December 10, 2007). "Oops! Vermont school's No. 5 ranking by U.S. News was a mistake". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  3. "Montpelier High School Profile – Montpelier, Vermont (VT)". publicschoolreview.com. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  4. "Welcome to the Barre Technical Center Homepage". learningnetworks.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  5. Burlington Free Press retrieved 14 September 2010
  6. "Unified Sports". vtso.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  7. "Greenhouse webcam". mpsvt.org. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  8. "Vermont Compost Company". vermontcompost.com. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  9. "MHS FY17 Handbook.pdf". google.com. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  10. "Montpelier High Holds 143rd Graduation". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT. June 18, 1956. p. 2 – via Newspaper.com.

44.260337°N 72.5876097°W / 44.260337; -72.5876097

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