Starr's Mill High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Starr's Mill High School
picture = [http://www.starrsmilltfxc.com/Starr's%20Mill%20High%20school%20Logo.jpg]
principal = Audrey Toney
established = 1997
type = Public secondary
grades = 9–12
city = Fayette County, Georgia (Fayetteville address)
state = Georgia
country = USA
enrollment = 1,800
campus = Suburban
mascot = Panthers
colors = Black and Columbia Blue
website = [http://www.starrsmillhighschool.org/ www.starrsmillhighschool.org]

Starr's Mill High School is a 2005 Georgia School of Excellence located in unincorporated Fayette County, Georgia, United States. It is governed by the [http://www.fcboe.org Fayette County Board of Education] .

The school serves southern Peachtree City, Brooks, and Fayetteville, Georgia

History

Some time after being commissioned by the [http://www.fcboe.org Fayette County Board of Education] alongside Peeples Elementary School and Rising Starr Middle School, Starr's Mill High School relocated from its temporary location at the LaFayette Education Center to its current location at 193 Panther Path during the 1997-1998 school year. Only 8 years later the school was declared a 2005 Georgia School of Excellence, one of only three high schools in the state to receive this honor. In 2005, Principal Sam Sweat left his position, which was filled by Audrey Toney, previous vice-principal in charge of academic affairs.

chool Profile

Starr's Mill High School opened in 1997-1998 with 40 Teachers and 650 Students. The current enrollment is 1,780 students and 112 teachers, and the student population consists of 87% caucasian students and 13% minority students. The school has had one celebrity student, American Idol finalist Paris Bennett.

5% of Starr's Mill minority students participate in the ESOL Program, and 3% of students receive free/reduced price lunches. Most SMHS students reside in Fayetteville and Peachtree City.

Starr's Mill is one of only 3 high schools in Georgia to be declared a School of Excellence in 2005, and it has been ranked as one of the best school public schools in America by Newsweek Magazine.

Academics

The current SAT average at Starr's Mill is 1117, and it had 7 National Merit Finalists for the 2003-2004 academic year. SMHS is consistently ranked in the Top 15 Public High Schools in the state of Georgia regarding academic achievement. 88% of SMHS graduates go on to college.

Starr's Mill High School received a 2005 Silver Award for Highest Percentage in meeting and exceeding academic standards. The Starr's Mill High School Debate Team is one of the most competitive teams in Georgia, having broken the state record for the number of people qualified for the National Tournament three years running. Starr's Mill's Speech & Debate's Molly Munson has won the GHSA Girls Extemporaneous Speaking Championship for the past 2 years (2006-2007), and Jonathan Trebble-Greening just won the 2008 GFCA State Extemporaneous Speaking Championship. The Starr's Mill's student-run newspaper,"The Prowler," is considered one of the best high school publications in Georgia and the country, receiving numerous GHSA awards. The SMHS Academic Team also placed 1st in the state in 2004-2005. This year it recieved the awards for Best Overall and Best Features at GSPA.

Athletics

Starr's Mill High School has had 10 State Championships in less than eight years, with five of the ten championships coming from the soccer program. It also has been ranked the 5th Most Successful Athletic Program in the State (GHSA Directors Cup Standing). The football program, under the leadership of Mike Earwood, has failed to reach the state playoffs 33% of the time (1998, 2003, 2008) in the school's 9 years of existence. In 2000, the team reached the state semi-finals despite only having a varsity football team for 3 seasons. Over the years, the Starr's Mill football program has produced several Division I players such as Reuben Houston (Georgia Tech), Darrell Burston (Florida State), Andy Smith (University of Memphis), Jason Earwood (Georgia Southern), Clint Barbour (Georgia Southern), and Deante "Chick-Fil-A All American" Battle (Northwestern).

With the large number of golf courses in the area, Starr's Mill is known throughout the state as a high school golf powerhouse. 2003 graduate Jeremy Garner was the first panther to play division one golf in college when he was recruited by the United States Naval Academy and later named the Midshipmen's team captain. Evan Scanlan, a classmate of Garner, became one of the most competitive college golfers in the southeast as a starter for Columbus State and would later turn professional.

The Starrs Mill Varsity Boys and Girls Lacrosse teams are fairly new additions to the school. They were formed in 2005. The girls team did exceptionally well in the first season, making it to the 2006 State playoffs. The boys in their third year, made it to the state tournament in the 2007-2008 season. it was the best season they had had since then. Both the boys and girls have sent players from each team to colleges to play. Scholarships have been offered to many players but few have accepted. The boys and girls lacrosse programs, are destined to grow and continue to be successful up and coming programs. The programs have also turned out a few of state wise recognized players. [Tyler Willeson-Tennessee Wesleyan College] [Joel Gossner- Tennessee Wesleyan College] [Peter Glaeser, Sean Gossner, Jake Moore (all turned down scholarships)]

The Boy's and Girls swim teams are noted for excellent showings at the State Swimming championships with the Girls placing 3rd with 2 first place relay finishes and the boys placing 13 with some high finishes. In the regular season they are undefeated for the past eight years.

The Girl's Volleyball teams have built a reputation of excellence in the Region and the State. They won it all in 2004 capturing the 5A State Championship, and followed that up the next 3 years by finishing in the top 4 in the State playoffs, finishing as the State runner up in 2007. Several girls have gone on to play D1 volleyball: Shelley MacBean ( ELon ) , Nikki Patriarca ( Valdosta State ), Kirsten Carr ( Ga. Southern ) , Mary Chaudoin ( Indiana ) , and Alexis Shaffer ( Furman ) .

The boys and girl's cross country teams were the 2004-2005 Region 4 AAAAA Champions, and the girl's 2006 Track & Field team was the Region 4AAAAA Champions. Individual Class AAAA track and field state champions in 2007 included Austin Enriquez in the 1600&3200, and Michelle Stegall in the 400 meter dash. Lauren Marchman was the runner up in PV, and broke the state record. Michelle Stegall(University of Florida) 2008 400 meter dash and 200 meter dash state champion.

The Starr's Mill Baseball team is proud to say they had the best second baseman to every play in Fayette County in 2008. Bryan Hasse, who is now at Reinhardt College, only committed 1 error and made some spectacular plays. He helped the team win a lot of games with his excellent fielding and his outstanding hitting. He was voted by his teammates as team captain and defensive player of the year. Starr's Mill was lucky to have such a great player play for them all 4 years. There will never be another second baseman like Bryan Hasse to play at Starr's Mill High School.

Starr's Mill is also the home of The 2000 GHSA AAA Wrestling State Champions, and The 2001 GHSA AAAAA Wrestling State Champions. Individual wrestling state champions include Gary James, Danny Davidson, Gaylord Bowers, Christopher Coleman(2x), Bradley Connor, and Brandon Witta.

Starr's Mill is also home to the 2007 Tennis State Champions in Class AAAA.

Fine Arts

Starr's Mill had the highest number of students in the state of Georgia selected for the All-State Chorus in 2003-2004 with 39 students. In 2003, Advance Drama seniors were awarded Over $250,000 in theatre scholarships. The Starr's Mill Panther Pride is the Grand Champions of the 2008 Super Bowl of Sound.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Athletics

*Baseball
*Basketball
*Cheerleading
*Color Guard
*Cross-country
*Dance
*Marching Band
*Football
*Golf
*Lacrosse [http://www.smhslax.com/]
*Soccer
*Softball
*Swimming
*Tennis
*Track
*Volleyball
*Wrestling [http://www.eteamz.com/starrsmillwrestling/]
*Winter Guard

Academics

*Academic Team
*Beta Club
*Chorus
* [http://www.starrsmilldebate.com Debate Team]
*Literary Team
*Math Team
*Mock Trial Team
*Newspaper - The Prowler
*Science Olympiad
*Student Government Association
* [http://www.smhsband.org Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Percussion Ensemble]
*Yearbook
*Young Democrats
*Young Republicans
*Ex Libris Book Club
*Creative Writing Club

References

External links

* [http://www.starrsmillhighschool.org/ Home Page]
* [http://www.smhsband.org/ Band]
* [http://www.eteamz.com/starrsmillwrestling/ Wrestling Team]
* [http://www.starrsmilldebate.com/ Debate Team]