River Valley High School (Caledonia, Ohio)
Encyclopedia
River Valley High School is a public high school
in Caledonia, Ohio
. It is the only high school in the River Valley Schools district. In the fall of 2003, a new campus was opened for students due to the possibility of cancer-causing chemicals on the old campus.
Every year, River Valley pays homage to veterans by having a large and appreciative Veterans Day assembly. Up until the 2006 school year, they were headed up by history teacher Richard Jones. They have only 2 Elemantry Schools, called Liberty and Heritage, and a middle school.
Congress established the Defense Environmental Restoration Program/Formerly Used Defense Site (DERP/FUDS) program to clean up properties that were under the jurisdiction of the Secretary and owned, leased, or possessed by the United States and transferred from Department of Defense
(DoD) control prior to Oct. 17, 1986. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages the FUDS program.
The Ohio EPA placed MED on its priority list of sites requiring cleanup in Ohio. Since the property is a FUDS, USACE began the investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) process. Local citizens, frustrated with the lengthy environmental process, involved elected government officials and media. Articles appeared in major newspapers throughout Ohio, including: The Columbus Dispatch
, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio
), The Toledo Blade
, and The Cincinnati Enquirer
. Concerned families initiated stories in the Marion online newspaper, radio stations and television, and eventually gained national news attention in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Good Morning America
, and CBS Evening News
. A feature story also appeared in Family Circle Magazine.
ODH completed a cancer study in July 2001 of 5,475 RVS graduates (1963 to 1999) and concluded that there was no direct link established between the leukemia rate and MED and that there is no evidence that the incidence of cancer overall is significantly higher among the graduates than national background cancer incidence. Furthermore, the case study concluded that continued study of leukemia among Marion County residents and RVS graduates is unlikely to identify additional factors that will explain the leukemia in these populations.
In December 2000, a Memorandum of Understanding and a Cooperative Agreement was signed by the Department of Army, River Valley Schools and State of Ohio to share in the costs of relocating the River Valley Middle and High School campus. As a result of this Cooperative Agreement, the schools were relocated in the fall 2003.
, 3 credits of mathematics
, 3 credits of science
, 3 credits of history
(often referred to as social studies
), a half-credit of health
, a half-credit of physical education
(which is two .25 credit hour classes), and a half-credit of Life Planning (all seniors are required to take this class except those who take at least 3 years of Agricultural Science).
Students planning on going to college after graduation are highly encouraged to take 4 credits of English (with emphasis on composition
), 3 credits of mathematics
(Algebra I, Geometry
, Algebra II), 3 credits of science
(including Physical Science, Biology
and Chemistry
), 3 credits of history
, 2 credits of foreign language
(some schools now recommend 3), and one credit of art
.
River Valley does have a long list of academic classes offered regularly, including Advanced Placement courses that allow obtaining of college credit by taking a test at the end of the school year, and are a weighted grade for your high school GPA. They also offer extra core academic classes, such as Physics, Anatomy and Physiology, Pre-Calculus, and A.P. Calculus, for those who wish to have a more rigorous schedule or to explore an area of academics further. Until the 2005 school year, River Valley also offered 3 foreign languages but had to drop German due to financial difficulties. In 2010 they dropped French, also due to Financial Difficulties.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Caledonia, Ohio
Caledonia, Ohio
Caledonia is a village in Marion County, Ohio, United States. The population was 578 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Caledonia is located at ....
. It is the only high school in the River Valley Schools district. In the fall of 2003, a new campus was opened for students due to the possibility of cancer-causing chemicals on the old campus.
School facts
The school has approximately 400-500 students in grades 9 through 12 and an additional 50 or more that attend the nearby Tri-Rivers Vocational School. River Valley is on "block scheduling" which means that the school day is divided into four blocks (A, B, C, and D). Each full block class meets for 93 minutes per day for 18 weeks, or until the first semester ends. Once the semester is over, students are finished with that semester's classes and have new classes to begin after winter exams. They remain in this second round of classes until the end of the school year. River Valley does not have midterms as a whole student body, like other schools around the state, but individual classes have their own midterms scheduled.Every year, River Valley pays homage to veterans by having a large and appreciative Veterans Day assembly. Up until the 2006 school year, they were headed up by history teacher Richard Jones. They have only 2 Elemantry Schools, called Liberty and Heritage, and a middle school.
Cancer scare
Several families raised concerns about the number of leukemia cases among River Valley High School (RVS) graduates: as of April 11, 1999, there were 94 cases in a population of about 35,000. These families formed a parent group called the Concerned River Valley Families. In August 1997, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) conducted an initial environmental site assessment of the RVS campus. Based on these assessments, a determination was made that the campus was located on a formerly used defense site (FUDS) known as Marion Engineering Depot (MED). The site was used for storing, maintaining and renovating heavy construction machinery for the U. S. Army from 1942 until 1962.Congress established the Defense Environmental Restoration Program/Formerly Used Defense Site (DERP/FUDS) program to clean up properties that were under the jurisdiction of the Secretary and owned, leased, or possessed by the United States and transferred from Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
(DoD) control prior to Oct. 17, 1986. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) manages the FUDS program.
The Ohio EPA placed MED on its priority list of sites requiring cleanup in Ohio. Since the property is a FUDS, USACE began the investigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) process. Local citizens, frustrated with the lengthy environmental process, involved elected government officials and media. Articles appeared in major newspapers throughout Ohio, including: The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since The Columbus Citizen-Journal stopped printing in 1985....
, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
), The Toledo Blade
The Blade (newspaper)
The Blade is a daily newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, first published on December 19, 1835.- Overview :David Ross Locke gained national fame for the paper during the Civil War era by writing under the pen name Petroleum V. Nasby. Writing under the pen name, Locke wrote satires ranging on topics from...
, and The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) and Northern Kentucky. The...
. Concerned families initiated stories in the Marion online newspaper, radio stations and television, and eventually gained national news attention in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, and CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
. A feature story also appeared in Family Circle Magazine.
ODH completed a cancer study in July 2001 of 5,475 RVS graduates (1963 to 1999) and concluded that there was no direct link established between the leukemia rate and MED and that there is no evidence that the incidence of cancer overall is significantly higher among the graduates than national background cancer incidence. Furthermore, the case study concluded that continued study of leukemia among Marion County residents and RVS graduates is unlikely to identify additional factors that will explain the leukemia in these populations.
In December 2000, a Memorandum of Understanding and a Cooperative Agreement was signed by the Department of Army, River Valley Schools and State of Ohio to share in the costs of relocating the River Valley Middle and High School campus. As a result of this Cooperative Agreement, the schools were relocated in the fall 2003.
Academics
In order to graduate, students must obtain 23 credits by the end of their senior year. They are required 4 credits of EnglishEnglish studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
, 3 credits of mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, 3 credits of science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, 3 credits of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
(often referred to as social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
), a half-credit of health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, a half-credit of physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
(which is two .25 credit hour classes), and a half-credit of Life Planning (all seniors are required to take this class except those who take at least 3 years of Agricultural Science).
Students planning on going to college after graduation are highly encouraged to take 4 credits of English (with emphasis on composition
Composition (language)
The term composition , in written language, refers to the collective body of important features established by the author in their creation of literature...
), 3 credits of mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
(Algebra I, Geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, Algebra II), 3 credits of science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
(including Physical Science, Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
), 3 credits of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, 2 credits of foreign language
Foreign language
A foreign language is a language indigenous to another country. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say that Japanese is a foreign language to him or her...
(some schools now recommend 3), and one credit of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
.
River Valley does have a long list of academic classes offered regularly, including Advanced Placement courses that allow obtaining of college credit by taking a test at the end of the school year, and are a weighted grade for your high school GPA. They also offer extra core academic classes, such as Physics, Anatomy and Physiology, Pre-Calculus, and A.P. Calculus, for those who wish to have a more rigorous schedule or to explore an area of academics further. Until the 2005 school year, River Valley also offered 3 foreign languages but had to drop German due to financial difficulties. In 2010 they dropped French, also due to Financial Difficulties.
Athletics
- Football
- Boy's Basketball
- Girl's Basketball
- Baseball
- Softball
- Girl's Tennis
- Boy's Tennis
- Soccer
- Track & Field
- Cross Country!
- Girl's Volleyball
- Golf
- Swimming
Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships
- Boys 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...
– 1966
Extracurriculars
- Industrial Tech Club
- FFANational FFA OrganizationThe National FFA Organization is an American youth organization known as a Career and Technical Student Organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education...
- Marching Band
- Concert Band
- Orchestra
- Show Choir
- Academic Challenge Team
- Musical
- Fall Play
- National Honor SocietyNational Honor SocietyThe National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
Other schools in the district
- Heritage Elementary School
- Liberty Elementary School
- River Valley High School
- River Valley Middle School