Francis Howell Central High School

Infobox School
name = Francis Howell Central High School


motto =
established = 1997
type = Public
affiliation =
district = [http://www.fhsd.k12.mo.us Francis Howell]
grades = 9-12
president =
principal = Dr. Sonny Arnel
head of school =
dean =
faculty =
staff = 140
students =
enrollment = 2182
athletics = Football, soccer, hockey
conference =
colors = Blue and Silver
mascot = Spartan
free_label =
free_text =
free_label2 =
free_text2 =
location = 5199 Highway N
Cottleville, Missouri
coordinates =
country = USA
homepage = [http://fhc.fhsd.k12.mo.us http://fhc.fhsd.k12.mo.us]

Francis Howell Central High School (abbreviated FHC) is the third high school created in the Francis Howell School District. The school is located in Cottleville, Missouri, but a large part of its student population comes from its larger neighbor St. Peters. Home of the Spartans, Francis Howell Central is a four-year comprehensive high school offering programs in college preparatory, vocational, honors/advanced credit, advanced placement and a special education program.Fact|date=May 2008

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Brief History

FHC opened in the fall of 1997 with only freshmen and sophomore students. The school had been built in a series of phases; much of what is visible today had not yet been constructed at the time of its opening. The school's founding principal was Mr. Don Muench. The building opened with fairly small number of teachers, due to low student enrollment at the time. In 2001, the students and staff were shocked following Muench's death. After some time, Mr. Steve Griggs was hired as the new building principal. The change in leadership was difficult for many individuals, as many were very close to Muench. Griggs remained principal until 2006, when he transferred to a new position in the district's administration. Mr. Jack Ameis, former principal of Francis Howell North High School, served as the interim principal for the 2006-2007 school year. Starting with the 2007-2008 school year, Dr. Sonny Arnel returned to Central to serve as head principal. He's AWESOME!

Athletics

Francis Howell Central supports three athletic seasons, with all sports supported by their own Booster club, selling products that help benefit their individual sport. Teams participate against other local schools in the surrounding area.

Fall Sports *Cross Country *Girls' Softball *Spartan Football: http://www.fhcspartanfootball.com *Girls' Volleyball *Boys' Soccer *Girls' Tennis *Boys' Swimming *Girls' Golf

Winter Sports * Boys' Basketball * Girls' Basketball * Boys' Ice Hockey * Boys' Wrestling * Girls' Swimming *Spartan Elite Winterguard *"Evolutions" Winter Drumline

Spring Sports *Track *Baseball *Boys' Rugby *Girls' Soccer *Boys' Golf *Boys' Tennis *Boys' Volleyball * Ultimate Frisbee

Year Around *Sensations *Cheerleading *Marching Band

Clubs

Students attending Francis Howell Central have clubs to choose from including, but not limited to the following:
"Armageddon Unlimited" a.k.a. Games Club
Art Club
DECA
FBLA
FCA
FCCLA
Knowledge Master Open
National Honor Society
Pep Club
Robotics
Scholar Quiz Bowl
Youth In Government

The Spotlight Players

The Spotlight Players is the school's theatre troupe, which produces at least three main stage shows per season, in addition to "second stage" productions and fund raisers. They perform in the school's 513 seat auditorium. In addition to theatrical productions, The Spotlight Players host the school's "Battle of The Bands", as well as the annual talent competition, "Talentpalooza" (in coordination with the school's Student Council), "The Student-Directed One Acts", as well as several other events — all of which are repeated annually. The school's theatrical history, consist of over 25 main stage productions since the school's opening. The most successful of these shows have often been Broadway musicals, such as "42nd Street", "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", "Les Miserables", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Oklahoma!". Over the course of the year, the organization involves between 200-300 students interested in the theatrical arts.Fact|date=May 2008

partan Regiment

The Spartan Regiment is FHC's marching band. They have competed in several national events, including winning first place in several awards, and Grand Champions at the Orange Bowl in 2003.Fact|date=May 2008 During that competition they brought home 15 awards. At the 2001 Cotton Bowl they came home as Grand Champions, winning several awards. A recent success is in being Grand Champions in the 2007 Cotton Bowl, where they took 10 awards, including 4, first place, Grand Champion trophies. In October 2006, it was announced that the Regiment would travel to Beijing, China between July 10 and July 21, 2007, to play for the Cultural Festival for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The regiment was unable to attend the festival as the sufficient funds were not raised. There was a substantial amount of controversy surrounding their inability to attend.Fact|date=May 2008