Kennesaw Mountain High School

Infobox School
name = Kennesaw Mountain High School

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imagesize =
location = 1898 Kennesaw Due West Road
Kennesaw, GA 30152
country = USA
district = Cobb County School District
principal = Dr. Kevin Daniel
teaching_staff = 104
SAT = 1536
year = 2008
grades = 9-12
language = English
rival = Harrison High School
mascot = Mustangs
mascot

school_colors = Dark green, silver, and black color box|#008000color box|silvercolor box|black
yearbook = Equus
established = 2000
students = 2,895
grade9 =
grade10 =
grade11 =
grade12 =
picture =
homepage = [http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/~kennesawmountain www.cobb.k12.ga.us/~kennesawmountain]

Kennesaw Mountain High School (KMHS) is a public high school located in Kennesaw, Cobb County, Georgia. It was founded in 2000 as a magnet school specializing in science and mathematics and is one of fifteen high schools in the Cobb County School District.

History

tudents

Kennesaw Mountain High School, named after Kennesaw Mountain, was founded in 2000. The convert|323727|sqft|m2|sing=on high school, built on a 75 acre site, was intended to have a capacity of 2,000 students, but due to the rapid population growth in Cobb County, the school quickly became overcrowded. Before the school was built, juniors, as opposed to freshman and sophomores, from Harrison High School (the main output) were given the choice whether to stay at their current school or change to Kennesaw. Approximately 240 juniors decided to change -- much more than expected. [cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADA545EF04859C&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=AJC News Archive|accessdate=2007-01-13] Kennesaw Mt is the largest school in the Cobb County School District with 3,100 students.

Construction

Construction of the five buildings at the campus began in August 1999 and was completed in 14 months. The design, by Passantino & Bavier, Inc., used steel bowstring joists to allow for an arched roofline and the convert|140|ft|m|sing=on clear span required for the gymnasium. Design and construction of the campus is the only Georgia project featured by the Steel Joist Institute. [cite web|url=http://www.steeljoist.org/pages/default.asp?navid=129|title=Steel Joist Institute, Featured Projects|accessdate=2007-01-12]

Students

SAT/ACT

As of 2006, KMHS is ranked 6th in Cobb County for average SAT score with a 1561, 43 points above the national average. [cite web|url=http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/Departments/CCSD/CCSDAccountability/testscores/2006/8-29-06_SAT.pdf|title="Cobb County School District 2005-2006 Test Scores"|accessdate=2007-01-12]

As of 2006, KMHS is ranked 4th in Cobb County for average ACT score with a 22.3, 1.2 points above the national average. [cite web|url=http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/Departments/CCSD/CCSDAccountability/testscores/2006/8-17-06_ACT%20Press%20Release.pdf|title="Cobb County School District 2005-2006 Test Scores"|accessdate=2007-01-12]

Curriculum

The Academy of Mathematics, Science, & Technology at Kennesaw Mountain is one of five magnet schools in Cobb County. They currently provide the following classes:
*Math: Magnet Geometry, Magnet Algebra II, Magnet Analysis
*Science: Earth Science, Magnet Biology, Magnet Chemistry, Magnet Physics, Advanced Scientific Research, Advanced Scientific Internship
*Technology: Introduction to Technology (paired with Honors 9th Literature)

For magnet courses, students are given an extra 0.5 on their GPA, if the student receives an A in the particular class.

Extracurricular activities

Varsity football

*Head Coach: Scott Jones
*Offensive Coordinator: Tom Clark
*Defensive Coordinator: Jason Roquemore

Marching band

Kennesaw Mountain High School is well-known for having one of the best high school marching bands in the nation. The band marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2005 and has been a Finalist in the Bands of America Grand National Championships every time they have competed there -- four times. Its achievements were recognized by the 2005-2006 Georgia State legislative session. [cite web|url=http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2005_06/fulltext/hr310.htm|title="Georgia General Assembly House Resolution 310", adopted 2/22/05|accessdate=2007-01-12]
*Head Director: David Starnes
*Assistant Director: Jeff Harper

[cite web|url=http://wgi.org/events/scores/historicalscores.php|title=WGI Past Scores]

tudent groups

The "Mustang Men"

The class of 2004 began the tradition of remarkable spirit at Kennesaw Mountain; namely, they are credited with starting the act of bare-chested letter painting. The "Mustang Men" were composed of four notoriously rambunctious sophomores: Tyler Jacobs, Martin Aspin, Chris Ghattas, and Adam Morehart. During the opening football game in Fall 2001, they unveiled themselves as the first and founding group of Kennesaw Mountain High School's lasting tradition of half-naked and high-spirited students. Boasting "KMHS" in black and green paint upon their chests, they became an immediate enjoyment for parents, fellow students, and athletes. "Other schools did it, but not like them," noted Brandy Mathis, another member of the 2004 class, "they were absolutely nuts!" A football or basketball game was very seldom missed by the four students, and their energizing antics were never lacking. It was during halftime of their final football game that the Mustang Men walked out onto the field and ceremoniously painted four spirited sophomores with their letters, effectively passing on their title in hopes that Kennesaw Mountain's students would maintain or elevate the amount of school pride and spirit that their 2004 class had helped create.

The "Kilt Squad" and the "K-Side Krazies"

The Spirit Leaders of Kennesaw Mountain created two major student groups for supporting the athletic teams:

The "Kilt Squad" consists of four seniors at KMHS who paint their faces and chests and also wear kilts to the football games. The founding fathers of the K-Side Kilt Squad (est. 2005) are Ben Ramsey (K), Ross Durrence (M), Stephen Halford (H), Samer Massad (S).

The "K-Side Krazies" are a student group which was formed after the famous "Cameron Crazies" from Duke University. The Kilt Squad does not play an integral role in the Krazies; they only paint themselves for the football games.

References

External links

* [http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/~kennesawmountain/ Official site]
* [http://www.kmhsmagnet.com/ KMHS Magnet School]
* [http://www.kmhsfootball.com/index.php KMHS Football]
* [http://kmhssoccer.org/ KMHS Soccer]
* [http://www.kmhsbasketball.com KMHS Basketball]
* [http://eteamz.active.com/KMHSVarsityBaseball/index.cfm? KMHS Baseball]
* [http://www.kmbo.org/index.htm KMHS Band]