Gregory-Portland High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Gregory-Portland High School
established =
principal = Barbara Cade, Tara Uptergrove, Daniel Smith, Kyde Eddleman
type = Public, Secondary
grades = 9–12
city = Portland
state = Texas
country = USA
enrollment = 1400
mascot = Wildcat
colors = Red and Blue
newspaper = The Cat's Print
website = http://www.g-pisd.org/GPHS/default.htm

Gregory-Portland High School is a large 4A secondary school in Portland, Texas.

Gregory-Portland, which covers grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Gregory-Portland Independent School District.

In addition to Portland, the school also serves the city of Gregory as well as the unincorporated communities of Doyle, Falman-County Acres, and Tradewinds.

Gregory-Portland is a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence 1999-2000 [http://www.g-pisd.org/GPHS/default.htm www.gpisd.org] ] . The Blue Ribbon Award is the most prestigious award a school can be rewarded in the United States. A "Just for the Kids High-Performing School" in reading and Mathematics 2000-2002 [http://just4kids.org/en/texas/school_data/chart.cfm?campus_id=205902001 just4kids.org] ] . A Texas Pathfinder School 2002. Gregory-Portland High was rated 14th in Texas in regards to African-American Achievements [http://teep.tamu.edu/BestTXHS2005.pdf teep.tamu.edu] ] .

The new Gregory-Portland High School was completed in the fall of 2002. The old High School now serves as the Jr. High. The current High School is large enough(in size) to be a 5A school, capable of a student capacity of 2400.

ports

Gregory-Portland or GP has one of the richest Football Traditions in Class 4A. Football being Gregory-Portland's biggest known sport. By 1989, the Gregory-Portland Wildcats were a proven state contender and a force to be reckoned with in High School Football. The Wildcats have won 23 District Championships. Gregory-Portland has made it to the Quarter-Finals 18 times, 6 of them being Champions and moving on to the State-Semifinals. In addition to State-Semifinals, Gregory-Portland has been there 6 times. Gregory-Portland has been to the State Finals 1 time, losing to the perennial state powerhouse Plano Wildcats in a heartbreaker.(21-20)

The Gregory-Portland Wildcat Football Team is ranked among the Top 10 High Schools in Class 4A All Time Playoff Appearances in all of Texas. For Gregory-Portland has been constantly making it to the Playoffs since 1957. As of 2007, Gregory-Portland has been to the Playoffs 34 times.

Gregory-Portland's Playoff Years: (34) 1957, 1969-1980, 1983-1996, 2000-2005, 2007.

In addition to sports, Gregory-Portland's Volleyball team has made it to the State Finals 5 times, winning it twice!

Also, Gregory Portland Soccer has grown in the past years. Even though the furthest they have gone in playoffs is Regional Semifinals in 2006, GP has shown to be at the top. They have won 4 District Championships in a row.(05, 06, 07, 08) School record is 5 District Championships for any team sport. They have a special saying at the end of each home win, TFC. GP soccer stadium is one of the best in South Texas.

The link below is a picture of Gregory-Portland's Wildcat Stadium. It has a seating capacity of 8,000. It is the 3rd largest stadium in the Corpus Christi area, after Buccaneer and Cabaniss Complex. [IMG] http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/Maleman131/wildcatstadium.jpg[/IMG]

GP's Theatre Department

GP’s Theatre and Speech department is arguably the school district’s most successful program, as well as one of the most successful drama programs in the nation. It has been headed by Charlotte Brown for over 30 years and is so successful that its students were followed around by a camera crew during the 2005-2006 school year and resulted in the documentary “Rise and Shine”, which went on to win several awards at film festivals throughout the nation.

The program is known for its success in Texas Forensic Association (TFA), National Forensic League (NFL), and University Interscholastic League (UIL). With TFA, the largest and most competitive speech/debate organization in Texas with over 180 high schools competing and over 1000 competitors at the state competition, G-P Drama has spawned six state championships in the organization’s main and most competitive events, the most recent being Cody Kirkpatrick in 2004 and Marco Ramirez in 2000, both winning in Humorous Interpretation. G-P drama also holds the record for having the most state championships in Humorous Interpretation (four), more than any school in the state. Also with TFA, the school has earned state championships in consolation events (extra events for students who do not make it past first round of state competition), the most recent winners being Ryan Aguirre in Impromptu (2008) and Alex Bergfors in Poetry (2005). With NFL, students Karen Cooper, Leah Chaney and Audie Morris have snagged the national championship in Original Oratory, 2nd place in Humorous Interpretation, 2nd in Dramatic Interpretation, respectively. The program has also produced several national finalists. With UIL, Charlotte Brown has directed 17 plays that have made it to the UIL State Meet and of those 7 have become state championship One-Act Plays, the most recent being in 2002, which resulted in Renae Smith winning Best Actress in the state and Robert Maxhimer winning Best Actor, as well as the Samuel French for most outstanding performer in the state. Brown has also produced multiple state championships in the Prose and Poetry categories, the most recent being Poetry Interpretation winners Justin Blacklock in 2005 and Cody Kirkpatrick in 2004.

Today the program is still under the direction of Charlotte Brown who stages three shows a year, in addition to the weekly tournaments its students compete in all over the state of Texas. Students actively involved in the program usually miss every Friday of school during the tournament season, which runs from August-March, causing the most successful students to miss up to 30 days of school a year. The most popular event is the annual Follies, which is a talent competition and variety show that usually performs to sell-out crowds. Charlotte Brown starts scouting talent from a young age through her summer program “Summer on Stage”, which is a daily summer program for elementary through junior high level kids and is co-taught by her current high school students. Some of her most successful students began in the Summer on Stage program as kids, which prepped them for the demanding and challenging high school program. As seniors, many of the students who participate in G-P Drama find themselves accepted to the most competitive actor training programs in the nation including: New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, Emerson College, Northwestern University, and UCLA. Many alum go on to be successful in all aspects of the entertainment industry.

Other Successful Organizations

In addition to the many successful sports, Gregory-Portland has a band program that has an equal reputation among the music community as being a perennial powerhouse among 4A marching bands. The marching band has finished in the top 16 in the state 13 times, being among the top 10 twelve times, and placing 2nd in the entire state in 1986. The band can also boast an impressive 44 consecutive years of "Superior" ratings of their halftime shows at University Interscholastic League marching contests.

pirit

Gregory-Portland recently won the 2007 Planet 102.3 High School Spirit Contest, and raised the most money for the Ronald McDonald house of Corpus Christi. They were awarded a free concert by group band NLT on November 16, 2007. Rival Calallen High School won it last year, but only came in 8th place this year.

Ethnicity

Gregory-Portland High School's ethnicity distribution for 2005 was 56.9% White, 37.9% Hispanic, 2.4% African-American, 2.4% Asian/Pacific Islander, .2% Native American, and .1% Undecided. [http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/location/q/stid=44/llid=118/stllid=156/locid=930442/catid=-1/secid=-1/compid=-1/site=pes www.schoolmatters.com] ]

ongs

Our Alma Mater
Hail to our high school
Honor to thy name
We pledge our loyalty
Faithful evermore
Hail to the Wildcats
Honor to the Red and Blue
Hail to the alma mater
Gregory-Portland High! [http://www.g-pisd.org/handbooks/StudentParentHandbook2006_2007.doc GPISD Official Page] ]
Our Fight Song
Wildcats forever
Firm together stand
Always true and faithful
Steadily we’ll face the world so fearlessly and
Through the years that follow,
Pledge our loyalty for the Red and Blue
With all our might,
We’ll fight for victory! [http://www.g-pisd.org/handbooks/StudentParentHandbook2006_2007.doc GPISD Official Page] ]

Notable Alumni

Vince Vieluf [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896735/bio Internet Movie Database: Vince Vieluf Bio] ] , an American Actor.
Mitch Morris [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1632070/bio Internet Movie Database: Mitch Morris Bio] ] , an American Actor.
Trey Matthews, Country Music Songwriter
Steven Trevino [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1990160/] ] , a Mexican American comedian/writer

Dress code

Gregory-Portland ISD students are required to adhere to a detailed dress code. Students may wear polo shirts, oxford shirts, pre-approved school club shirts, or turtlenecks [http://www.g-pisd.org/calendar/Student%20Dress%20Code%202006-07.pdf] .

References