Salem High School (New Hampshire)

Salem High School is an accredited high school located in Salem, New Hampshire, United States that enrolls students who live in Salem and bordering Windham, New Hampshire. There are as of 2006 approximately 2,200 students. The school is equipped with a library, which contains over 20,000 books, as well as a vocational center. The school offers many unique and different classes, ranging from Astronomy to Television Production.

History

The original high school for the town of Salem was Woodbury High School. In the 1960s it was converted to a middle school, and the current building was built. In its existence the school has had one bomb threat [ [http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20011230/FP_003.htm Eagle Tribune story 2001] ] and two avoided shootings. [ [http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20050401/FP_002.htm Eagle Tribune story 2005] ]

Just recently the cheerleading team has won in New Englands the second year in a row and on the same day the boys basketball team won in the basketball championships.

The school has recently suffered from overcrowding, leading administrators to place portable classrooms on the campus. Windham is scheduled to stop attending the school in 2009, and is in the process of building its own high school. The high school for Windham, however, is taking longer than expected. Students in the graduating class of 2010 may have the choice of going to the Windham or Salem High School, but there is some debate over this.

The school has various traditions that include the video yearbook in which many of the students are showcased in one way or another. The Video Yearbook is one of the best in the nation, and has guest starred Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, Bob Barker, Jerry Springer, Regis Philbin, Tim Conway, and many others! Senior Safe Night, the Senior Skits, Carbaret- a marching band fundraiser, A Night of Magic- The Key Club's yearly fundraiser for the Make A Wish Foundation that is also a place to showcase students' talents as the entertainment, and food drives every semester.

Senior Safe Night started when students decided to camp out at the high school and chaperones were eventually called for when students were believed to be involved in illicit behavior in their tents. It has grown from a student-led initiative to one run by members of the communities- many of whom are parents of children in the high school- who want to make sure the seniors can have one last night to hang out before graduation in an environment in which there are no drugs or alcohol. There are usually door prizes and a massive yearbook signing towards the beginning of the night when teachers are there to wish the students fun on their night in.

tudents

A student group publishes "Blue Ink", the student newspaper. The student-teacher ratio is 17.2. [ [http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/51042 Public School Review report] ] In 2004 it sent 83.2% of the graduating class to a 2 year college, four year college, or the military.

About 1/10 of the students in the school are in the Salem Blue Devil Marching Band and Color Guard. Last year they came in 2nd place in the regional finals and were awarded the best color guard and the best drumline in New England. The Salem High School Blue Devil Marching Band has brought many accolades to the school and has marched in various national parades including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Fiesta Bowl Parade, Rose Bowl Parade, and the Citrus Bowl Parade.

There are over 45 clubs that students can join. The clubs are:

* Actor's Guild
* Advanced Computer Applications
* Art Club
* After-school Chorus
* After-school Jazz Band
* Amnesty International
* Anime Club
* Biotechnology Club
* Book Club
* Blue Ink (newspaper)
* Challenge program
* Chess Club
* Christians in Action
* Critics Club
* Colorguard
* Winterguard
* Debate Team
* Distributive Education Clubs of America
* Dungeons & Dragons Club
* Environmental Club
* Family Career and Community Leaders of America
* French Club
* Frisbee Club
* Future Business Leaders of America
* Game Development Club
* Gay-Straight Alliance
* German Club
* Granite State Challenge
* Health Occupational Students of America
* JROTC Drill Team
* Key Club
* Knitting Club
* Latin Club
* Literary Magazine
* Marching Band
* Math Team
* Media Club
* Muslim Students Association
* National Honors Society
* Outdoors Club
* Photography Club
* Peer Tutoring
* Ski Club
* Skills USA
* Spanish Club
* Student Council
* Vocational Honor Society
* Vocational Industrial Clubs of America
* Yearbook
* Young Conservatives
* Young Democrats

Athletics

Salem High School was listed by "Sports Illustrated" in 2008 as having the best athletics program in the state of New Hampshire. [cite web| url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/highschool/05/19/state.no.1/index.html?eref=T1| title="No. 1 in Each State"| date=2008-05-20| publisher="Sports Illustrated"| accessdate=2008-06-02]

The varsity football team made it to the Division I state championship game in 2005 and 2006. The men's varsity basketball team won the Class L state championship in 2007 and 2008. The field hockey team won the state championship game six times between 2002 and 2008.

The school's major rivals are the Astros from Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire.

References

External links

* [http://www.salemschooldistrictnh.com/schools/shs/ Official Website]
* [http://www.measuredprogress.org/nhprofile/SchEnroll.cfm?MyDist=473&MyDistName=Salem&MySch=47322880 Statistics from NH Dep't of Education]