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Gloucester High School (Virginia)
Encyclopedia
Gloucester High School is a fully accredited public high school located four miles from Gloucester Courthouse
(the county seat
) in Gloucester County, Virginia
, USA. It is operated by Gloucester County Public Schools
, a Virginia
public school division
.
The current complex was originally built in 1976, and has been expanded several times since. The high school was formerly located at the current Page Middle School building, which now houses sixth to eighth graders. The current high school facility remains the only high school in the county, even though student numbers have risen steadily since its construction date.
cable TV channel. The most recent renovations were completed in October 2006, and included a $700,000 renovation of the school's auditorium.
During the summer of 2007, Gloucester High began outfitting classrooms with LCD projectors. Most recently, another wing of the school began renovations to add a cardiovascular workout room. The room will include treadmill
s and other cardiovascular workout machines.
Grading at GHS is done on a full credit basis, where after completing 2 semesters, a full school year class, 1 credit is granted. This is a change from past years where a half credit was awarded after the completion of 1 semester.
.
Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia
Gloucester Courthouse is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,269 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Gloucester Courthouse is located at ....
(the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
) in Gloucester County, Virginia
Gloucester County, Virginia
Gloucester County is within the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area in the USA. Formed in 1651 in the Virginia Colony, the county was named for Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, third son of King Charles I of Great Britain. Located in the Middle Peninsula region, it...
, USA. It is operated by Gloucester County Public Schools
Gloucester County Public Schools
Gloucester County Public Schools is a Virginia public school division which serves Gloucester County, Virginia.The school division operates nine schools, of which, six elementary , two intermediate , and one high school...
, a Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
public school division
School division
-Canada:In Canada the term is used to the area controlled by a school board and is used interchangeably with school district, including in the formal name of the board. For example, see List of Alberta school boards.-United States:...
.
The current complex was originally built in 1976, and has been expanded several times since. The high school was formerly located at the current Page Middle School building, which now houses sixth to eighth graders. The current high school facility remains the only high school in the county, even though student numbers have risen steadily since its construction date.
Renovations
A major addition was built onto the school in 1993 and functions mainly as the school's science wing and is fully equipped with 3 computer labs, 2 full scale chemistry labs, as well as other classrooms with enough equipment for simple demonstrations. It is known to students and faculty as D-Hall. Also included in the expansion was a foreign language hall at the opposite end of the building, built onto A-Hall. Less extensive renovations have occurred since then, including the office and guidance offices in 2005. Beginning in April 2006, the industrial arts facilities were remodeled into new art rooms by the beginning of the following school year, freeing up the previous art rooms for normal classroom use. The old primary art room became the newsroom of the school newspaper, the Dukes' Dispatch. During the summer of 2006, the school's television production facility was updated with new equipment and made into a studio. The school then began producing programming for its own local Public-access televisionPublic-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV channel. The most recent renovations were completed in October 2006, and included a $700,000 renovation of the school's auditorium.
During the summer of 2007, Gloucester High began outfitting classrooms with LCD projectors. Most recently, another wing of the school began renovations to add a cardiovascular workout room. The room will include treadmill
Treadmill
A treadmill is an exercise machine for running or walking while staying in one place. The word treadmill traditionally refers to a type of mill which was operated by a person or animal treading steps of a wheel to grind grain...
s and other cardiovascular workout machines.
Class structure
Gloucester High School operates on an A-Day B-Day block scheduling structure. The school day begins at 7:40 am EDT and ends at 2:20 pm EDT. Every day there are three classes just over 90 minutes in length and one class 53 minutes in length. The 53-minute class meets every day. The following day will contain three other 90-minute classes and the 53-minute class, totaling in seven classes. There are four lunch blocks, each 25 minutes in length, which take place in third block.Grading at GHS is done on a full credit basis, where after completing 2 semesters, a full school year class, 1 credit is granted. This is a change from past years where a half credit was awarded after the completion of 1 semester.
Facilities
The facilities of Gloucester High School include:- Various sports installations
- American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
stadium - Quarter mile track
- Eight tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts - Two baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
fields - One soccer field
- Weight TrainingWeight trainingWeight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
building - Main gymnasium with pull-out bleachers and locker rooms
- Auxiliary gymnasium
- A large plot of land for multiple uses by gym classes
- American football
- Academic installations
- Large Auditorium (Renovated 2006)
- Fully equipped science laboratories
- Nine computer labs, each with roughly twenty-five computers and a ceiling mounted LCD projectorLCD projectorAn LCD projector is a type of video projector for displaying video, images or computer data on a screen or other flat surface. It is a modern equivalent of the slide projector or overhead projector...
- A fully equipped, state-of-the-art library
- A driver's education driving range
- TelevisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
production lab - GreenhouseGreenhouseA greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
for Horticultural classes - An auto-mechanics facility
- Complete restaurant kitchen facilities for the student-run International Café
- Other installations
- Three cafeterias: a large open area known as The Commons, as well as two conventional cafeterias.
- Nurse facilities including an emergency defibrillator
- 3d printer for architectureArchitectureArchitecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
classes - Student parking lot
Athletics
Gloucester High school is in the VHSL AAA Division 6 and plays in the Peninsula District of VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
Fall Athletics
- American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
- Field HockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
- Cheer Leading
- Boys/Girls VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
- Boys/Girls Cross countryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
Winter Athletics
- Boys/Girls BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- Boys/Girls Winter track
- Boys/Girls SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
- GymnasticsGymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
- WrestlingWrestlingWrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
Spring Athletics
- Boys/Girls Soccer
- Track and field athletics
- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
- SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
- Boys/Girls TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- CrewCrewA crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...
Theatre
Gloucester High School has also been recognized for its drama department. Every year the drama department, or Duke Troupe, compete in a regional competition theatre as well as perform two public shows a year, a fall play and a spring musical. Past shows include South Pacific, Little Shop of Horrors, A Christmas Carol, Grease, Dracula, Footloose, Scheme of a Driftless Shifter, The Wizard of Oz, Anybody for Tea, Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, and just recently,The hit Broadway musical Hairspray. The school's performances are open for participation by any student at the school, not just those enrolled in theatre classes.Culinary Arts
Gloucester High School operates a fully functioning dining room called "Dukes Bistro". The culinary program places a heavy emphasis on French cuisine, as well as Gloucester County's historical significance in the seafood industry. The culinary program has competed on a state and national level, winning first place in Virginia in 2009 and 2011. Rock on Chef Riva (Chef of GHS in 2010-2011)School Events
- Spirit Week is held the week of Homecoming and consists of themed days including Movie Character Day, Sports Team Day, Wacky Day, Twin Day, and Red and Gold Day. On the day of the game, Friday, students dress in the high school colors, red and gold and hold a pep rally outside on the bleachers of the football field.
- Foreign Language Week is a week, usually in March, when students and teachers celebrate foreign languages. Students create displays and, along with teachers, organize a banquet to take place after school. The banquet, held in the Commons, consists of ethnic foods cooked and served by the school's culinary students. Language classes usually perform skits and songs for those in attendance.
- Junior Ring Dance is essentially junior prom. It is sponsored and run by the junior class, and it is during this dance that the Juniors are presented with their class rings.
- Senior PromPromIn the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...
- Senior Graduation takes place every year in mid-June.
- NJROTC Ball takes place every year for ROTC cadets and their dates only.
Notable faculty
- Jon StewartJon StewartJon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
of the Daily Show was the assistant soccer coach at GHS while a student at The College of William and Mary, from which he graduated in 1984.