Emmaus High School

Emmaus High School
Address
500 Macungie Avenue
Emmaus, PA 18049
United States
Coordinates 40°32′04″N 75°30′21″W / 40.5345°N 75.5057°W / 40.5345; -75.5057Coordinates: 40°32′04″N 75°30′21″W / 40.5345°N 75.5057°W / 40.5345; -75.5057
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1955
School district East Penn School District
Principal Dr. Katherine Kieres
Faculty 152.0 FTEs[1]
Enrollment 2,645 (as of 2014-15)[1]
Student to teacher ratio 17.4:1[1]
Color(s)      Green
     Gold
Mascot Hornets
Website www.eastpennsd.org/ehs/

Emmaus High School is a public high school located in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The school serves grades nine through 12 in Pennsylvania's East Penn School District in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. Emmaus High School is located immediately off Cedar Crest Boulevard, at 500 Macungie Avenue in Emmaus, a southwest borough of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Student population

As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,645 students and 152.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 17.4:1. There were 500 students (18.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 109 (4.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1] The school serves students from Emmaus and its surrounding townships of Alburtis, Lower Macungie Township, Macungie, Upper Milford Township, Vera Cruz, and Wescosville.

Emmaus High School ranks among the top Lehigh Valley high schools in its percentage of graduating students who pursue post-secondary education. Among its Class of 2007, 79 percent of its graduates entered colleges, universities, or other post-graduate education.[2] The school also maintains a program for academically gifted students, which includes advanced classes and a mentorship program. Noting the academic quality of Emmaus High School, Money magazine named Emmaus one of the nation's "Top 100" places to live in 2007 and 2009.

Two middle schools, Eyer Middle School and Lower Macungie Middle School, both located in Macungie, serve grades six through eight and feed into Emmaus High School.

Seven elementary schools (Alburtis, Wescosville, Lincoln, Jefferson, Macungie, Shoemaker, and Willow Lane) feed into the two middle schools and then to Emmaus High School.

History

1880s to 1955

What today is the East Penn School District began in the 1880s as the Emaus School District, using the Pennsylvania Dutch spelling of Emmaus until the name of the town and its associated educational facilities were formally changed to the Biblical spelling in 1938. Upon its founding in the 1880s, Emaus School District began offering high school classes, providing education up to tenth grade in one of the rooms of a 4-room school building on East Main Street, in what was then Emaus. The first graduating class on record was the Emaus High School class of 1890, with two graduates. In 1891 the high school grades were moved to the Central Building on Emmaus's Ridge Street.

Emaus High School obtained a home of its own when, in 1915, the high school moved into a brand new building on North Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets in Emaus. While the building was designated the Jefferson Building, yearbooks of the era identify the school as Emaus High School. By this time, the high school was made up of tenth grade (juniors) eleventh grade (middlers) and twelfth grade (seniors). The yearbook of the class of 1916 pictures 18 graduates, evenly divided between boys and girls.

The Jefferson Building was enlarged several times. By 1934 it was considered a state-of-the-art high school, with 16 classrooms, a library, auditorium, gymnasium, woodshop, and home economics room. By this time, Emaus High School had developed many of the activities and athletic teams that continue to this day, with the 1931 yearbook listing a band, chorus, orchestra (55 players), 16 different clubs, and teams for football, basketball (boys and girls) and debating. Emaus High School's main football rival at this time was East Greenville High, which met the Hornets every year on "Turkey Day" (Thanksgiving). Today, East Greenville students attend Upper Perkiomen High School. In the 1930s, the Emaus High School football field was located about a mile away from the high school, at the site of Emmaus's current recreational Fourth Street Field.

The Emaus High School class of 1931 had 45 graduates, who took either the general or the commercial course. One of the bygone features of Emaus High School life on North Street was "open lunch" where students could walk home for lunch, or go across the street to a student-oriented restaurant.

The Emaus School District has been operating since at least 1861. By the 1930s and 1940s, the boroughs of Macungie and Alburtis contracted with the Emaus district to send their high school students to Emaus High School. There were no school buses running, and out-of-borough students took the Reading Railroad passenger service to the since-disbanded Emaus train station.

Emaus High School becomes Emmaus High School

In 1938, the borough abandoned the Pennsylvania Dutch spelling of its name in favor of the original spelling which had been used from the town's founding in 1759 until 1830. Referenced in the Bible's New Testament, Emmaus is the location in present-day Israel where Jesus appeared to travelers hours following His resurrection. East Penn School District and the high school followed suit in adopting the traditional spelling.

With Emmaus High School's population growing rapidly, the Jefferson Building no longer was able to accommodate the needs of the growing school. The boroughs of Emmaus, Macungie, and Alburtis, along with the townships of Lower Macungie and Upper Milford, merged their school districts into the East Penn Union School District (now known as the East Penn School District). This unified district combined their efforts to construct a vastly expanded high school at 500 Macungie Avenue, in Emmaus, the school's current location. It has since been upgraded and renovated several times to accommodate a growing student population.

1955 to current

In 1955, the first sections of the new Emmaus High School opened. The new building included an auditorium and gymnasium, which far surpassed those of the old building, plus science labs, language labs, and a natatorium (swimming pool). After the high school moved out of the Jefferson Building, that building was briefly used as Emmaus Junior High School, until a seventh and eighth grade wing was added to the new high school building around 1960, making Emmaus High School a six-year high school with a single principal, but separate assistant principals for the senior high and junior high grades. The Emmaus Junior High School building, with its own faculty and administration, was opened on the north side of the high school building in 1965, ten years after the opening of the neighboring Emmaus High School. At that time, Emmaus Junior High School served grades seven through nine. The Jefferson Building, in turn, was designated as one of several Emmaus elementary schools.

By the early 1960s, the number of sports teams at Emmaus High School expanded to include rifle for boys and girls, basketball, field hockey and softball for girls, and football, basketball, wrestling, track and field, cross country, baseball, swimming and golf for boys. A class play was presented annually and, in 1969, Emmaus High School produced its first musical, Bye Bye Birdie.

By 2000, the school's population had grown significantly due to an influx of residents from New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia, and Emmaus High School expanded again, taking over the junior high building in 1998, adding additional space and using the whole complex to house grades nine through twelve. A second major expansion of the high school was completed in 2005.

The Jefferson Building, the first dedicated home of Emmaus High School, was subsequently decommissioned as a school. In 1999, the Jefferson Building was demolished and replaced by Jefferson Elementary School.

In October 2015, Emmaus High School was placed on lockdown, amidst rumors of potential gun violence.[3][4]

School accomplishments

Academics

Emmaus High School ranks in the top academic tier of Pennsylvania public high schools, based on state testing results. In the 2008 Pennsylvania System of State Assessments (PSSAs), Emmaus High School ranked in the top five percent of all public high schools in the state in writing, in the top 20 percent in reading, and in the top 25 percent in mathematics.[5] In 2007, the mean SAT score for Emmaus High School students was 1580.[6] In 2013, Emmaus High School was named the top academically performing high school in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, according to data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.[7]

The school's academic team has made several appearances at the national level, appearing three consecutive years (2003, 2004, and 2005) in the Panasonic Academic Challenge at Disney World. Emmaus High School placed fifth nationally in the competition in 2003.

Emmaus High School also holds the record for the most wins of any high school in Pennsylvania's Scholastic Scrimmage contest, an advanced academic quiz game televised on Pennsylvania PBS affiliates. Emmaus has won the contest eight times (1981, 1983, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2015) and placed second four times (1986, 1991, 2002, and 2014). Its team also has competed and placed in the national High School Quiz Bowl Championship.[8]

Athletics

Emmaus High School competes athletically in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) in the District XI division of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, one of the premier high school athletic divisions in the nation. The school fields teams in all of the association's sports. Its primary EPC athletic rivals are Parkland High School in South Whitehall Township and Whitehall High School in Whitehall Township.

Emmaus High School's mascot is the "Green Hornet." Entrances to the school's campus prominently feature green and gold billboards and flags stating "Home of the Hornets," in the school's colors of green and gold. Since 1955, Emmaus has won LVC championships at least once in every one of the conference's sports, and several of its graduates have gone on to success in professional and Olympic-level athletics, including in the NFL and NBA. Among the Emmaus High School Class of 2007, 26 Emmaus High School athletes signed letters of intent for full NCAA athletic scholarships.[9]

Emmaus High School holds the record for the most recorded conference championships in eight conference sports: boys baseball, boys lacrosse, boys soccer, boys swimming, girls field hockey, girls soccer, girls swimming, and golf. The school holds the second most conference championships in all sports, behind only Parkland High School.[10] Emmaus holds the record for the most Pennsylvania state championships in all sports (13 since 2002) among all LVC schools.[11] In 2017, Adidas signed a four-year deal for exclusive sponsorship of Emmaus' athletic teams.[12]

Basketball

Aaron Gray, an alumnus of the Emmaus High School basketball program, went on to a career in the National Basketball Association, where he played for the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Hornets, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors.

Boys soccer

Emmaus High School boys soccer has played for the District Championship for the past seven consecutive years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), winning three district titles since in that time.[13]

Fitness

Emmaus High School's Marine Corps national physical fitness teams have repeatedly been among the nation's best.

In 2006, its boys and girls team placed second in the Pennsylvania state competition. In 2015, its girls fitness team placed first and its boys fitness team placed second in the national high school physical fitness championships.[14]

Football

The Emmaus football team was co-champion of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference in 1981. In 2008, Emmaus running back C.J. Billera broke school football records for most all-time touchdowns and career scoring.[15] In 2010, for the first time since the 1981 season, Emmaus won Pennsylvania's Class 4A Eastern Conference Championship in football. During the 2010 season, Emmaus senior tailback Joseph Williams broke three school football records: most yards in a single game (282), most touchdowns in a single game (6) and most points in a single game (36).[16] In 2016, the football team won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South division championship.[17] The Emmaus High School football field, located on the school campus, has a cannon that fires anytime Emmaus scores a touchdown.[18]

Four Emmaus High School football players have gone on to careers in the NFL, including current Chicago Bears wide receiver Kevin White and Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Kyzir White.

Girls field hockey

Emmaus High School is known nationally for the success of its girls field hockey team, which is regularly ranked among the nation's best. Emmaus has won the Pennsylvania state championship in girls field hockey eleven times in the program's history, including in four of the last nine years (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015). As of 2016, Emmaus has won the PIAA District XI girls field hockey championship in 28 consecutive seasons.[19] In 2010, the national sports web site, topofthecircle.com, ranked Emmaus the best girls field hockey team in the nation for the third time in the program's history.[20] The Allentown Morning Call has called the program "an organized, multifaceted machine."[21]

In September 2015, Emmaus High School Coach Sue Butz-Stavin set the national high school record for the most victories when she recorded her 840th victory.[22]

Rifle

In the 2016-2017 winter sport season, the Emmaus rifle team had an undefeated season, capturing the regular season championship. They also defeated top rival, East Stroudsburg High School South, to win the playoff championship. They were also the Pennsylvania state championship silver medalists (second place) for the season.

Other sports

Emmaus High School's girls swimming and diving team has proven one of the best in the state, winning the Pennsylvania state championship in six of the last nine years (2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009). Its boys swimming and diving team has been consistently one of the top teams in the state, dating back to the 1970s, and has won state championships in both 2006 and 2007 and has won the District 11 AAA championship for the past nine years (2007-2015).

Emmaus High School has also won Pennsylvania state championships in girls soccer (1997), girls softball (2000), and girls cross country (2007, 2008 and 2009).

In 2008, Emmaus High School's boys volleyball team won the LVC championship and advanced to the Pennsylvania state tournament.

In 2012, the Emmaus High School wrestling team took first place in the United States Military Duels held in South Carolina.

Computer programming team

In May 2017, the Emmaus High School computer programming team won the American Computer Science League Invitational All-Star contest, a global tournament of the best high school-age computer programming teams from around the world held in Thousand Oaks, California.[23]

Music and the arts

In December 2007, Emmaus' men's a cappella group, known as Fermata Nowhere, landed a brief stint on NBC's Clash of the Choirs, performing "Jingle Bells in December 2007. In April 2015, the Emmaus High School chorale performed at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Italy.[24]

School newspaper

The Stinger

Emmaus High School's official student newspaper is The Stinger. The newspaper's name is a reference to the school's mascot, the hornet. The newspaper is produced by a staff of students, who report, photograph and write all of the newspaper's content.

Typically, the newspaper has several sections related to Emmaus High School, including Emmaus High School sports, faculty, coach and student interviews, editorials, local popular culture, and satire and jokes related to school news and events. In most issues, the final page of The Stinger is dedicated to student-drawn comics, which also usually deal with student-related themes.

The Stinger has been known to tackle controversial topics, especially Emmaus High School's long-standing problems with student fights, truancy, and widespread recreational drug use.[25]

Notable alumni

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 School data for Emmaus High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 12, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Academics at EHS," Emmaus High School Official Web Site.
  3. ↑ "Police continue to probe Emmaus High School lockdown over bullets," by Pamela Lehman, The Morning Call, October 30, 2015, Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Emmaus High School students on edge in wake of lockdown," by Keleigh Gibbs, WFMZ News, November 1, 2015, Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ Emmaus High School, Test Results, at GreatSchools.net
  6. ↑ Emmaus High School academics, East Penn School District Web Site.
  7. ↑ "Emmaus High School Tops Academic Performance Index of Lehigh County Schools," Emmaus Patch, December 19, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Emmaus High team competes in National Quiz Bowl event," The Morning Call, June 5, 2015, Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ Emmaus High School Athletic Letters of Intent, Class of 2007, at East Penn School District Official Web Site..
  10. ↑ LVIAC Historical Stats. Archived September 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ "District Titles," LVIAC.net. Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Emmaus High School, Adidas sign 4-year contract", WFMZ-TV, April 26, 2017, retrieved April 30, 2018.
  13. ↑ http://www.emmaussoccer.com/boys/boyshistory.asp
  14. ↑ "Emmaus fitness teams among the best," The Morning Call, June 9, 2015, Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  15. ↑ "A Real Workhorse," The Allentown Morning Call, October 24, 2008.
  16. ↑ "Emmaus gets some revenge," The Morning Call, November 19, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Emmaus stops Trojans on 1-yard line in second overtime to claim EPC South championship," by Keith Groller, The Morning Call, October 28, 2016, retrieved November 19, 2016.
  18. ↑ Longman, Jéré (2013-08-03). "An Involuntary Union of Football Rivals for Philadelphia High Schools". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-11-18. Print: August 4, 2013, page SP1
  19. ↑ Emmaus Skews Comparisons of Leagues' Strengths, The Allentown Morning Call, October 26, 2008.
  20. ↑ "The Final Top 50," TopoftheCircle.com, December 14, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Sportspersons of the Year: Emmaus' Butz-Stavin in a class by herself," The Morning Call, December 31, 2010..
  22. ↑ "Butz-Stavin sets field notches national-best 840th field hockey victory," The Morning Call, September 9, 2015, Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  23. ↑ Peterson, Margie. "Emmaus High computer team tops in the world". themorningcall.com. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  24. ↑ "Emmaus High School chorale performs at Vatican," The Morning Call, April 15, 2015, Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  25. ↑ "The high cost of bad behavior: Costs skyrocketing for East Penn, other school districts," The (Allentown) Morning Call, December 15, 2008.
  26. ↑ Moser, John J. "Allentown native honored with jazz's most prestigious award", The Morning Call, June 27, 2013. Accessed September 17, 2017. "Jarrett graduated from Emmaus High School in 1963 and studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music."
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.