Pittsford Mendon High School

Infobox School
name = Pittsford Mendon High School


imagesize = 140px
caption = School's main entrance
established = 1972
type = Public high school
grades = 9–12
district = Pittsford Central School District
principal = Karl Thielking
viceprincipal = Gerry Eckert
Suzanne Remington
enrollment = 969 (as of 2005-06)
faculty = 75.0 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 12.9
teamname = Vikings
colors = Maroon and Gold
rival = Pittsford Sutherland High School
streetaddress = 472 Mendon Road
city = Pittsford
state = NY
zipcode = 14534
country = USA
coordinates = Geolinks-US-buildingscale|43.059983|-77.518845
website = [http://pittsfordschools.org/schools.cfm?subpage=217 School website]

Pittsford Mendon High School is a public high school in suburban Rochester, Monroe County, upstate New York. It is one of two high schools in the Pittsford Central School District, the other being Pittsford Sutherland High School. Pittsford Mendon is located at 472 Mendon Road (from which the school gets its name) in the town of Pittsford, near the town of Mendon, New York.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 969 students and 75.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.9. [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3623160&ID=362316003241 Pittsford Mendon High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed March 1, 2008.]

Awards and recognition

In 2007, Pittsford Mendon was ranked 94th nationwide in [http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/?sort=Rank&count=1236&start=0&limit=100&year=2006&Search=undefined Newsweek's Top 1,300 High Schools in the United States] . Rankings are calculated using "a ratio that takes the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate, and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2006 divided by the number of graduating seniors."

The school was ranked in 58th place nationwide in "Newsweek's" May 8, 2006, issue, listing the Top 1,200 High Schools in The United States. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12532678 The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools] , "Newsweek" May 8, 2006] . Pittsford Mendon High School was ranked as Number 39 in the United States in Newsweek's 2005 survey. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8759025/site/newsweek/ "America's Best High Schools"] , "Newsweek", August 5, 2005] .

Academics

Mendon offers a variety of courses, with numerous Advanced Placement (AP) courses in Science, English, Social Studies, Math, Art, Foreign Language, and Music. Some contest that the reason for Mendon's excellence in both the quality and quantity of AP courses is the freedom allowed to students after the exams. Unlike most students in New York State, Mendon students were not required to attend their AP classes after the AP exam has been taken, encouraging many students to take courses they would not otherwise have enrolled in. In the 2006-2007 school year this policy was ended by the district to mixed criticism by teachers and students.

Activities

Theatre

Pittsford Mendon High School presents two theatre events each school year: a drama play in the fall and a musical in the spring.

In the summer of 2005, Pittsford Musicals held its production of the award-winning musical "Cats", the country's first non-professional performance of the Broadway show. In the spring of 2006, Pittsford Mendon High School opened its production of the award-winning musical "Miss Saigon", the first such performance by an American high school. In recent years, Mendon has consistently performed challenging and rewarding shows such as "Jekyll & Hyde", "Les Misérables", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aida", "Up the Down Staircase", and "Guys and Dolls".

Athletics

In the winter of 2002-2003, Mendon Basketball won its first Section V championship in 20 years.

The boys' and girls' soccer teams consistently perform well, routinely winning League and Sectional titles. In 2003, Mendon Girls soccer won the Section V title, defeating long term rival Aquinas. In 2005-2006 the boys' soccer team won the Sectional and State Titles. Coach Joe Borrosh spent 32 seasons at Pittsford Mendon becoming the winningest coach in Section V boys soccer. Under Borrosh, Pittsford Mendon won 498 games (second all-time in the state), 16 Section V championships and a record six state titles. [ [http://www.redwingsbaseball.com/frontierfield/FFwalkoffame_amtrcoaches.html Frontier Field Walk of Fame] , accessed March 22, 2007.] Borrosh's 498 wins place him 30th among the winningest boys' soccer coaches in the United States. [ [http://www.nscaa.com/downloads/HSBCoachingRecordsWins.html High School Boys Coaching Records: Winningest All-Time Coaches by Victories] , updated December 18, 2006.]

Of notable mention is the girls' and boys' swimming team, which has a current win streak of over 100 meets spanning several years and including several state titles; Pittsford Men's and Women's Swimming consistently takes the top place in Section V and in New York State. The boys tennis team also holds dozens of Section V Class AA titles; the most recent coming in the 2005 and 2007 seasons.

Faced with a new budget cut affecting Pittsford Central Schools, the golf team, gymnastics team, and bowling team will be discontinued from 2008-2009 school year onwards.

Music

Mendon has several music groups, including Select Choir, Show Choir, Women's Choir, Polyphonic Choir, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble and Concert Band. The senior voice and instrumental groups typically participate once a year in seminars and judged competitions, and have won distinguished awards at places such as Disney World, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City. The music department is currently chaired by Mark Puma.

An active parent group called FAME (Families Advocating for Music Education) provides support and funding of the Music activities. A Cabaret event is held during the winter months, in which students perform a varied selection of instrumental and vocal pieces.

Extracurriculars

Pittsford Mendon High School has a number of competitive academic clubs. Mendon's Fed Challenge team consistently places first in New York State, and won the national competition in 2005. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_May_17/ai_n13723376 Pittsford Mendon High School Economists Win The Fed Challenge National Championship along with Citibank Scholarships, Awards and Grants Totaling $50,000; Greenspan Quizzes Students During Video Appearance at Competition] , "Business Wire", May 17, 2005] [ [http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/education/2005/an050524.html Pittsford Mendon High School Team Wins National Fed Challenge Competition in Washington, D.C.] , Federal Reserve Bank of New York press release dated May 24, 2005] Many of this team's alumni go on to some of the United States' most elite colleges, applying their skills to careers in finance and related fields.

Pittsford Mendon's Model United Nations club has won awards at the multiple conferences in attends each year in the region.Fact|date=March 2008

tudent Council

Throughout the course of time, the student council has represented the diverse viewpoints of Pittsford Mendon High School students. Prior to the 2004 elections for 2005 student council seats, students were allowed to give speeches in front of the entire school. Student Council at Mendon is unique, because of the All-School Student Council. All-School Student Council has a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. These same positions exist for each the class-specific student councils. The All-School Student council holds monthly meetings.

Notable alumni

*Tyson Beckford, supermodel, actor. [ [http://www.democratandchronicle.com/homes/community/pittsfordmendon/alumni.swf Where Am I Now?] , "Democrat and Chronicle" (Rochester), accessed March 22, 2007]
*Nicole Fiscella - Isabel Coates on "Gossip Girl"
*Stephen Gilfus, Co-Founder of DC based educational software developer Blackboard Inc. Nasdaq:BBBB and Chairman and Angel investor of [http://www.upsideover.com/Blackboard-Co-Founder-Invests-in-Outdoor-Gear-for-Kids-s/200.htm Upside Over Inc.]
*Peter Kluge, Actor [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0460191/ IMDB] , "IMDB," accessed August 8, 2007]
*James Satloff, Investment bank CEO [ [http://www.unterberg.com/newsperspec/news_press_details.asp?id=7 Unterberg, Towbin website] , accessed August 8, 2007] , Internet company CEO [ [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/inform/ New York Times BITS Technology Blog] , "New York Times," July 4, 2007] , Ski Company CEO [ [http://www.freeskier.com/freeskier/news.php?news_id=327 Freeskier Magazine] , "Freeskier Magazine," December 6, 2005]
*David Stainton, President of Walt Disney Feature Animation [ [http://www.democratandchronicle.com/homes/community/pittsfordmendon/alumni.swf Where Am I Now?] , "Democrat and Chronicle" (Rochester), accessed May 6, 2007]
*Joy Tanner (1966-), Nora MacDonald on Disney's "Life With Derek"

Feeder patterns

Park Road, Thornell Road, and the southern part of Mendon Center Elementary Schools feed into Barker Road Middle School, then to Pittsford Mendon High School.

References

External links

* [http://pittsfordschools.org/schools.cfm?subpage=217 Pittsford Mendon website]
* [http://www.mendontheatre.com/ Mendon Theatre]
* [http://www.pittsfordschools.org/webpages/mhscounseling/index.cfm?subpage=14760 Past Mendon students' college admission decisions]