Salem High School (Salem, Virginia)

Infobox School
name= Salem High School


imagesize= 75px
streetaddress= 400 Spartan Drive
city= Salem
state= Virginia
zipcode= 24153
country= USA
district= Salem City Public Schools
superintendent= Dr. H. Alan Seibert
principal= Mr. Caleb L. Hall Jr.
assistant_principals= Bill Gerrol
Scott Habeeb
Sandy Hadaway
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 9-12
language= English
rival= Amherst County High School
Cave Spring High School
Hidden Valley High School
Pulaski County High School
Northside High School
nickname= Spartans
yearbook= Laconian
newspaper= Oracle
publication= Delphi (literary magazine)
colors= colorbox|maroon colorbox|silver Maroon and Silver
conference= Virginia High School League
AA Region IV
River Ridge District
established= 1977
enrollment= 1,323
enrollment_as_of= 2006-07
homepage= [http://www.salem.k12.va.us/shs/ Official Site]

Salem High School is a public high school in Salem, Virginia. It is the sole high school for the [http://www.salem.k12.va.us/ City of Salem public school system] .

History

Salem High School was opened for the 1977-1978 school year by [http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/ Roanoke County public schools] . The student bodies of Andrew Lewis High School in Salem and Glenvar High School in western Roanoke County were consolidated into Salem High School. Some members of the community petitioned without success to have the new school retain the Andrew Lewis name in honor of the colonial era general. The predecessor to Andrew Lewis High School was also called Salem High School, so the name was not without precedent. The incoming students from Andrew Lewis and Glenvar voted to adopt maroon and silver as the new school's colors and Spartans as the nickname.

In 1983, the city of Salem decided to establish an independent school district. Beginning with the 1983-1984 school year, enrollment in Salem High School was limited to the city of Salem. Glenvar High School was reopened to serve western Roanoke County.

Academics

Salem High School is a comprehensive high school which includes the grades 9-12 with a student enrollment of 1,322. The school offers over 150 courses that include academic, vocational, and Advanced Placement courses. Salem has offered the International Baccalaureate degree program since 1990 has . Approximately 50% of graduates attend a four year college and while another 40% attend a two year college. Mean SAT scores are 500 in verbal and 513 in math. Pass rates for Virginia's Standards of Learning tests average a little over 90%, which makes the school fully accredited.

Athletics and Extracurriculars

Salem High School is a member of the Virginia High School League and competes in the AA River Ridge District, a district currently in Region IV of Group AA. Salem competed in the now defunct Group AAA Roanoke Valley District when it was opened but dropped down to the Group AA Blue Ridge District in 1988, a few years after Glenvar's student population left. When the Blue Ridge split in 2003, Salem was assigned to the new River Ridge District. Salem was a member of Region III from 1988 to 2007. Salem has enjoyed championship level success in athletics since the early 1990s. Best known is the football team, which plays in the Salem Football Stadium, and has captured six Group AA, Division 4 championships, in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, and 2005. Salem has also won Group AA state titles in boys basketball (1994, 1999), boys tennis (1993, 1994), girls volleyball (1998), girls soccer (2003), and softball (1991). The school's only Group AAA team state championship was won by the boys golf team, in the spring of 1983 (the last year in which the VHSL staged golf as a spring sport).

The Quiz bowl team (2003), coached by Mr. Fred Campbell, and Forensics team (2006, 2007, 2008), coached by Mr. Mark Ingerson, have also won Group AA VHSL state championships. The Forensics Team has won eighteen individual state championships in nine or ten VHSL categories since 2004. John Kayrouz has been the school's most dominant forensics competitor, winning three straight individual championships (Storytelling 2005 and Humorous 2006 and 2007). Mo Amin also distinguished himself by winning an individual state championship (Foreign Extemporaneous 2005) and becoming the first person in school history to place in state finals all four years of high school (2004-2007). Kane Kennedy (Prose), Jonathan Walker (Poetry), and Amy Sailer (Oratory) all have won back-to-back state titles in their respective categories. The Forensics team has won four straight region titles and five straight River Ridge District championships. The school's Pride of Salem marching band has also won several competitions. Salem High School supports three publications: the Laconian yearbook, the Oracle newspaper, and the Delphi literary magazine. The Laconian, directed by Mrs. Katie Reid, was awarded a Gold Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) in 2007. Of 1800 yearbooks presented to the CSPA, less than 2% win gold. Only eleven high school yearbooks won gold in 2007, with Salem winning its first Gold Crown. The school offers a total of 31 clubs.

Trivia

*Salem High School student Gaurav Raja held the North American record for memorizing digits of pi. Raja broke a 27 year old record when he recited 10,980 digits in June 2006; he lost the record in December 2006 when another person recited 12,887 digits.

External links

* [http://www.salem.k12.va.us/shs/ Salem High School]
* [https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=139&schoolName=1824 Virginia Department of Education Report Card]
* [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/va/1589 Great Schools site]