Acton-Boxborough Regional High School

Infobox Private School
name = Acton-Boxborough Regional High School


established = Unknown
motto = "Home of the Colonials"
religion = none
type = Public
campus = Charter Rd. Complex
head_name = Principal
head = Alixe Callen cite web | url = http://ab.mec.edu/abrhs/about/index.shtml | title = ABRHS: About| date=August 22, 2008 ]
city = Acton
state = MA
country = USA
class =
ratio =
mascot = The Colonial
colors = Blue & Gold
year = 2004
SAT = 613 verbal
638 math
athletics = 32 Interscholastic Teams
faculty = 156
enrollment = 1,807 [ citeweb| url=http://doc.acton-ma.gov/dsweb/Get/Document-8521/Marginal+Cost+Est+HS.xls|title=Town of Acton, Massachusetts Finance Committee|date=August 22, 2008]
homepage = http://ab.mec.edu/abrhs/|

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS) is a high school in Acton, Massachusetts. It serves the Massachusetts towns of Acton and Boxborough, with roughly 500 students per grade level in grades 9 through 12. ABRHS has consistently ranked among the highest-rated secondary schools in Massachusetts.Fact|date=August 2008

ABRHS Facility

The Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS) is situated down-hill from the Raymond J. Grey Junior High School, at 36 Charter Road in Acton. Raymond J. Grey Junior High School occupies the facility that, until 1973, was the high school. ABRHS was renovated and expanded in 2004.

Academics

The school has been ranked high academically including being ranked 2nd in Math and 10th in Critical Reading SAT scores among Massachusetts high schools [http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/08/29/2006_sat_scores_for_massachusetts/] . Families are known to relocate to Acton and Boxborough to enable their children to attend ABRHS.Fact|date=September 2008

ABRHS offers a wide range of subjects, and students have the option of taking CP (college prep), AE (accelerated enriched), Honors, or advanced placement (AP) (college credit) classes. There are prerequisites for honors and AP classes, and students are usually accepted with A or B averages in the prior level.

More than 95 percent of ABRHS graduates attend college within two years of graduation.

In the 2005 English language arts section of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam, 438 10th grade students participated in the section, 48 percent of whom scored "Advanced", and 42 percent scored "Proficient". Only 8 percent scored "Needs Improvement", and 2 percent did not pass. In the mathematics section for the same year, 439 10th grade students participated in the math section, and 74 percent scored "Advanced", and 16 percent scored "Proficient". Only 6 percent scored "Needs Improvement", and 4 percent did not pass. [cite web|author=Massachusetts Department of Education|date=2005-09-27|url=http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2005/results/data/files.html|title=Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System School Results|accessdate=2006-05-24]

In 2006, students from the school were awarded a grant from MIT, which only twenty high schools across the United States received, to develop a reusable fire-extinguishing grenade. Cisco Systems provided additional funding and mentoring for the students. [http://web.mit.edu/invent/n-pressreleases/n-press-07IT.html]

For the past three years, individual students or groups of two students were nationally recognized in the Siemens-Westinghouse science competition. George Mossessian and Prabhat Putchakayala achieved semifinalist status with their paper entitled "Random Non-Partitioned Iterated Function Systems Algorithms for Fractal Image Compression using Artificial Neural Networks." 300 other submissions across the country achieved semifinalist status. [http://www.siemens-foundation.org]

Academic Decathlon

ABRHS's academic decathlon finished first at the Massachusetts Academic Decathlon meet in 2008, the school's 8th consecutive win. At the national competition held in Anaheim, California, ABAD came 13th in the nation.

Future Business Leaders of America

ABHRS'S FBLA Club has taken home the gold in most of the categories in the state competition for several years. They are dominant in this club on a state level, because two of their current officers, are state officers, including President.

Math Team

In 2007, ABRHS's math team finished second at MAML and competed at NEAML (New England Competition) on April 27, 2007. In 2008, the team achieved 4th place in the MAML state championship. In the 2008 NEAML, ABRHS came in first place and tied with Lexington.

Science Team

ABRHS's science team won the state Olympiad in 1993, 2005 and 2006. Each year, the team represented Massachusetts in the National Science Olympiad, placing 14th nationally in 2006 and 12th in 1993. However, in 2007, the science team finished second to Newton North High School at the State Science Olympiad Meet. In 2008, the team finished third in the state meet.

Envirothon

An environmentally oriented science competition, which requires a team of five to compete in different challenges, finished 3rd at the 2006 competition overall with 1st in the aquatics and 2nd in the soils subsections.

Speech and Debate

The Speech and Debate Team has won or placed in several state tournaments.

Athletics

Field Hockey

The Acton-Boxborough Field Hockey Team is head coached by Mae Shoemaker. The team finished their 2007 season with one loss and as Division I State Champions.

Track

The Track team is led by coaches David James, Brian Crossman, and Ryan Steege. The Girl's Winter Track Team went Undefeated in 2005 and were the Dual County League Champions. In 2006, the Girl's team won the Dual County League and MA State Division 1 Championship. The Boy's Winter Track Team won the 2008 Dual County League with a score of 84 points.

Football

Acton Boxborough's varsity football team has won the Dual County League division 13 times since 1993. Bill Maver is the coach and has coached sports in Acton for 20 years. The varsity team has won 5 "Super Bowls" in a row. During that time, the team broke a state record for consecutive victories by winning 52 consecutive games before losing to the Bridgewater-Raynham Trojans, and later in the 2005 season had their 59-game league winning streak snapped on Thanksgiving Day.

Volleyball

The Acton Boxborough volleyball team was founded in 2003.In 2006 the team went to the state competition placing third.

occer

The Acton-Boxborough Girl's Varsity team finished its 2007 season with a record of 22-0-1, allowing only 5 goals the entire season. The team was the Massachusetts Division 1 State Champions and finished the season ranked 2nd in the nation.

Acton-Boxborough Boy's Varsity soccer team, led by Coach David Baumritter, reached the MIAA State Championship finals in 2006. The squad reached the state tournament but bowed out early in the 2007 season. It has sent multiple players to successful college soccer careers.

Wrestling

The Acton-Boxborough Wrestling Team has had numerous successful wrestlers. In 2007, Max Tabachnik won the DCL tournament, placed 3rd at Sectionals, and came in 6th in the State at 140 lbs. In 2008 Nick Peterson won the Heavyweight division at the DCL Tournament. AB's greatest wrestler, Bronson Lingamfelter, was a high-school All-American and a two-time New England Champion in the Heavyweight division. He was given a scholarship to Brown University.

wimming

The Acton Boxborough High School swimming and diving team has historically been one of the top teams in the state.

Acton-Boxborough Ultimate

Acton-Boxborough Ultimate, or ABU for short, is the Frisbee team of ABRHS. It nearly won the state championships numerous times in the past. In the spring of 2008, the team was seeded 11th and finished 9th in the state.

Cross Country

The Acton-Boxborough High School and Junior High School offer Cross Country running for students. Also, there is cross country skiing in the winter.

Tennis

The boy's tennis team has been one of the north section's top teams for the last few years. In 2007 it beat long standing rival Concord-Carlisle to win the title of North Section champions. The girl's team made it to the semifinals that year, finally losing to Andover. In 2008 the girls dominated the first round of the MIAA's individual tournament. Two of the three singles positions made it to semi-finals, and the third to quarter finals. First doubles also made it to quarter finals, and second doubles made it to the previous round. The girls are also currently tied for first place in the DCL with Westford (2008). They are also the North Sectional Division I Champions in Massachusetts. The girl's tennis team won the DCL and north section, and this year they are the Massachusetts Division I Girl's Tennis State Champions.

Gymnastics

The girl's gymnastics team program has been built up over the years to place fifth at the state competition in 2008 in addition to winning the Dual County League title multiple times in the past several years.

Extracurriculars

Marching Band

This ensemble is led by Mark Hickey, who has been director for the last 16 years.ABRHS's marching band has been awarded the best band marching in the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade for the past six years. In 2003, the band played at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and in 2004, they marched in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. The band went on a trip to Ireland to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin in 2006, and was awarded "The Best Band Overall in Dublin's St. Patrick's Day Parade," and received an award for "most entertaining" at the Limerick International Band Competition. In spring of 2008, the band traveled to Washington, D.C. to march in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. Drum majors for the year 2008/2009 include:

-Connor Finnegan (head drum major), Ben Sezwyck, and Amy Piermarini.

Chorus

ABRHS's Choral Program has two choirs, the chorus as well as Women's Ensemble. Both are open to all students. The select ensemble, the Madrigal Singers, performs in neighboring communities between Boston and Worcester, and has been awarded the Gold medal at MICCA. The choral program also supports two a capella groups, Downbeat and 13 Fish Named Jennifer. Each year, the chorus performs cabaret, a variety show, and a Madrigal dinner to entertain the town. The choirs sing repertoire from different time periods and composers.

In the spring of 2007, the Concert Choir, Madrigals and Women's Ensemble traveled to Italy for one week on a concert tour.

Proscenium Circus

ABRHS's drama club, Proscenium Circus, is open to all students who are interested in learning more about the theater, on the stage and behind the scenes. The club has over 100 members and produces several productions each year. A-B Friends of Drama, a nonprofit organization, helps to support PC through fund-raising and volunteers.

Notable Alumni

*Seth Abramson, poet
*Tom Barrasso, NHL hockey player
*Jamie Eldridge, 37th Middlesex District representative, House of Representatives
*Jeff Norton, NHL hockey player
*Caroll Spinney, Sesame Street puppeteer who performs Big Bird
*Bob Sweeney, NHL hockey player

External links

* [http://ab.mec.edu/abrhs/ ABRHS Homepage]
* [http://abfom.org ABRHS Friends of Music (Band, Color Guard, and Chorus) Home Page]
* [http://www.ABDrama.org Proscenium Circus (Drama Club and Friends of Drama) Home Page]
* [http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2005/results/data/school.pdf MCAS results data]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/11/see_who_hangs_on/ Acton Boy to participate in survival based reality show]
* [http://www.wickedlocal.com/acton/news/x1302708138 The Laramie Project @ AB]

ee also

*Raymond J. Grey Junior High School
*Acton, Massachusetts

Notes