Spotswood High School
Encyclopedia
Spotswood High School is a high school in Penn Laird, Virginia
, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains
. As of 2008, it competes in the AA division of the Virginia High School League. Its current rivalries include Turner Ashby High School
and Harrisonburg High School
.
A committee, composed of community persons from the Elkton and Montevideo attendance areas, as well as Central Office staff members, three Principals and several teachers from both Montevideo and Elkton High Schools, was organized to develop the education specifications for the proposed new plant. Although the proposal to build the new school was not implemented at this time, the work of the educational specifications committee served as a foundation for the planning of the present school.
During the summer of 1976 the School Board voted to build a senior high school, grades 10-12, to house Montevideo and Elkton High School students. A committee of twenty-one people was appointed to draft a set of educational specifications for the proposed new facility. The committee completed its report during the 1976-1977 school year, and later revised it when a specific starting date for construction was established.
Specific plans for names, nicknames, and colors were developed by a committee of nine persons that made final reports to the School Board in December 1978. The School Board reviewed the report and voted to name to the school the Spotswood Senior High School, in memory of Alexander Spotswood. The Board decided to leave the decision for the school's nickname and colors to the administration and students.
Spotswood High School was established in 1980 as Spotswood Senior High School, serving grades 10-12. James Upperman was the first principal. The school was named in honor of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Spotswood
. The school colors
, blue and gray, were selected from the colors of the two high schools it consolidated in the 1980s: Elkton High School (blue and gold) and Montevideo (maroon and gray). In the fall of 1984, Spotswood became a 9-12 school and changed to its present name, Spotswood High School.
In 2009, Rockingham County Public Schools took notice of the increased population in the eastern portion of Rockingham County and opened it's fourth high school, East Rockingham High School. The opening of ERHS alleviated the overcrowding problem at Spotswood and cut the enrollment of the school in half. Due to the new school districts being similar to those of the former Montevideo and Elkton High Schools, many anticipate that a Spotswood/East Rockingham rivalry may evolve in the near future. Spotswood and East Rockingham have only played each other in one sport to date, which was an inaugural football game played at ERHS. Spotswood won the game 42-0 and the two have not played in each other in any sporting event since. As the East Rockingham student population continues to grow, the school will eventually move up to VHSL Class 'AA' (ERHS is currently Class 'A') and possibly renew the rivalry.
to have the following enrollment characteristics. In 2008, the student population was approaching 1500, but after the new East Rockingham High School opened in 2009, the overcrowding problem was eliminated.
In 2005, the girls basketball team won the Group AA State Championship. In 2010, the girls basketball team finished as Division 4 State Runner-Ups, and in 2011, they finished in the Division 3 State Final Four, losing in the semi-final round to the eventual state champion. They have won back-to-back district titles and were Region III Champions in 2010 and 2011. The girls basketball team is coached by Chris Dodson.
Spotswood cheerleading squad claimed seven straight district titles from 2001-2007, a Region II Championship and runner-up, and two Group AA State Championship Runners-up and a 2007 Region III Finalist. They lost the district title in 2008, however won the crown back in 2009 and 2010. In 2008, they were Region III Runner-Ups and were VHSL AA State Finalists in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
In 2007, 2008, and 2009 the boys cross country team captured the Massanutten District and Region III titles and placed 7th, 4th, and 2nd respectively in the state.
In 2011, the SHS Girls Tennis team won their 11th straight district title. They also won the Region 3 title in 2008 and 2009. The Boys Tennis Team is also among the best in the district, they have won back-to-back district titles in 2010 and 2011.
The girls swimming team is also a powerhouse. They have won 8 straight district titles and in 2011 were Region III Champions.
In 2008-2009, the boys basketball team was Massanutten District champs, Region III Champs, and were a state finalist. In the 2009-2010 season, the boys varsity basketball team were the Massanutten District Regular Season Champions, along with being the Region III Division 4 Runner-ups, and advanced to the VHSL Division 4 State "Final Four", finishing with a record of 21-5. In the 2010-2011, the Blazers surprised many people by repeating their performance the previous year with a District Tournament Title, being Region III Runner-ups, and again making an appearance to the VHSL Division 3 "Final Four".
The new home page for Spotswood Blazer athletics is www.spotswoodblazers.org and information for the entire Valley District can be found at www.valleydistrictva.org
Spotswood High School, in Penn Laird Virginia, has several musical groups - currently, concert band, wind ensemble, two percussion ensembles, a jazz ensemble, and the Marching Trailblazers, composed of winds, percussion, and the color guard.
The band program at SHS has won numerous musical awards in many categories for each group, including several Honor Band awards, which require a superior rating from each the Symphonic Band and the Marching Band. A Virginia Honors Band award requires that the marching band receive a superior rating (I) at the annual state marching festival, and the highest level concert band of the school also receive a superior (I).
As of 2011, the band has won 4 straight Virginia Honor Band titles and 6 overall since Greg Oaks, the director of Spotswood Bands, has been at SHS, as well as 2 VMEA Blue Ribbon Awards (2008, 2011).
There are usually two or three 'stage' concerts, in some combination of Concert, Symphonic, and Jazz, at SHS per year; in addition, the two concert bands perform yearly at the VBODA District Band Festival. The marching band performs at every home football game on Friday nights, as well as various competitions throughout the fall.
advocacy organizations including the ACLU
and American Library Association
, went to court over an incident covering several weeks in September 1999, when then principal C. James Slye ordered Newton to remove anticensorship pamphlets from his classroom's door that had been posted in observance of Banned Books Week
. The pamphlet in question was a list of books that had been challenged or banned in schools, libraries and bookstores around the country during the late 1990s; these books include several revered and widely read American works, such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
, The Color Purple
, Of Mice and Men
and Death of a Salesman
, but also include highly sexualized or "vulgar" books that the US Supreme Court found legal to exclude from public schools in the 1982 case of Board of Education v. Pico
. http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm The ACLU charged that Spotswood was effectively censoring
the anticensorship message of the pamphlet outside of his constitutional rights and blatantly failed to follow the Rockingham County School Board Policy for mediating issues related to controversial and sensitive materials. The suit was dismissed before the case could be heard, when Newton resigned from the district
.
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...
, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. As of 2008, it competes in the AA division of the Virginia High School League. Its current rivalries include Turner Ashby High School
Turner Ashby High School
Turner Ashby High School is located in Bridgewater, Virginia in the Rockingham County Public School district.-History:Turner Ashby High School opened in the fall of 1956. It became the third consolidated high school in Rockingham County. Schools consolidated were Bridgewater, Dayton, and Mt. Clinton...
and Harrisonburg High School
Harrisonburg High School (Virginia)
Harrisonburg High School, part of the Harrisonburg City School System, is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia.HHS serves grades nine through twelve, and is home of the Harrisonburg Blue Streaks. There are currently 1381 students enrolled...
.
History
Spotswood High School had its formal beginning in 1973 when the County School Board authorized an Eastern Rockingham building study and requested a report on a proposed new high school for eastern Rockingham County.A committee, composed of community persons from the Elkton and Montevideo attendance areas, as well as Central Office staff members, three Principals and several teachers from both Montevideo and Elkton High Schools, was organized to develop the education specifications for the proposed new plant. Although the proposal to build the new school was not implemented at this time, the work of the educational specifications committee served as a foundation for the planning of the present school.
During the summer of 1976 the School Board voted to build a senior high school, grades 10-12, to house Montevideo and Elkton High School students. A committee of twenty-one people was appointed to draft a set of educational specifications for the proposed new facility. The committee completed its report during the 1976-1977 school year, and later revised it when a specific starting date for construction was established.
Specific plans for names, nicknames, and colors were developed by a committee of nine persons that made final reports to the School Board in December 1978. The School Board reviewed the report and voted to name to the school the Spotswood Senior High School, in memory of Alexander Spotswood. The Board decided to leave the decision for the school's nickname and colors to the administration and students.
Spotswood High School was established in 1980 as Spotswood Senior High School, serving grades 10-12. James Upperman was the first principal. The school was named in honor of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Spotswood
Alexander Spotswood
Alexander Spotswood was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army and a noted Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He is noted in Virginia and American history for a number of his projects as Governor, including his exploring beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, his establishing what was perhaps the first...
. The school colors
School colors
School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. Most schools have two colors, which are usually chosen to avoid conflicts with other schools with which the school competes in sports and other activities...
, blue and gray, were selected from the colors of the two high schools it consolidated in the 1980s: Elkton High School (blue and gold) and Montevideo (maroon and gray). In the fall of 1984, Spotswood became a 9-12 school and changed to its present name, Spotswood High School.
In 2009, Rockingham County Public Schools took notice of the increased population in the eastern portion of Rockingham County and opened it's fourth high school, East Rockingham High School. The opening of ERHS alleviated the overcrowding problem at Spotswood and cut the enrollment of the school in half. Due to the new school districts being similar to those of the former Montevideo and Elkton High Schools, many anticipate that a Spotswood/East Rockingham rivalry may evolve in the near future. Spotswood and East Rockingham have only played each other in one sport to date, which was an inaugural football game played at ERHS. Spotswood won the game 42-0 and the two have not played in each other in any sporting event since. As the East Rockingham student population continues to grow, the school will eventually move up to VHSL Class 'AA' (ERHS is currently Class 'A') and possibly renew the rivalry.
Current administration
- Principal- Dr. Seth Muraskin
- Asst. Principals- Alicia Corral-Clark, Paul DeLaGarza
- Athletic Director- Mary Donnellan
- Resource Officer- Deputy Kevin Dofflemyer
Student body
The enrollment of Spotswood is approaching the 900 mark. The students come from several small towns in the area, namely Grottoes and Keezletown. In 2008, the student body population was reported by the Board of EducationBoard of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
to have the following enrollment characteristics. In 2008, the student population was approaching 1500, but after the new East Rockingham High School opened in 2009, the overcrowding problem was eliminated.
- Grade
9th 10th 11th 12th 213 214 214 211 - Gender
Male Female 429 423
Sports
The Golf team has been very competitive since Linda Failes took over the head coaching role in 1988. They just wrapped up another District title in 2011 by beating 2nd place Harrisonburg by 66 strokes.In 2005, the girls basketball team won the Group AA State Championship. In 2010, the girls basketball team finished as Division 4 State Runner-Ups, and in 2011, they finished in the Division 3 State Final Four, losing in the semi-final round to the eventual state champion. They have won back-to-back district titles and were Region III Champions in 2010 and 2011. The girls basketball team is coached by Chris Dodson.
Spotswood cheerleading squad claimed seven straight district titles from 2001-2007, a Region II Championship and runner-up, and two Group AA State Championship Runners-up and a 2007 Region III Finalist. They lost the district title in 2008, however won the crown back in 2009 and 2010. In 2008, they were Region III Runner-Ups and were VHSL AA State Finalists in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
In 2007, 2008, and 2009 the boys cross country team captured the Massanutten District and Region III titles and placed 7th, 4th, and 2nd respectively in the state.
In 2011, the SHS Girls Tennis team won their 11th straight district title. They also won the Region 3 title in 2008 and 2009. The Boys Tennis Team is also among the best in the district, they have won back-to-back district titles in 2010 and 2011.
The girls swimming team is also a powerhouse. They have won 8 straight district titles and in 2011 were Region III Champions.
In 2008-2009, the boys basketball team was Massanutten District champs, Region III Champs, and were a state finalist. In the 2009-2010 season, the boys varsity basketball team were the Massanutten District Regular Season Champions, along with being the Region III Division 4 Runner-ups, and advanced to the VHSL Division 4 State "Final Four", finishing with a record of 21-5. In the 2010-2011, the Blazers surprised many people by repeating their performance the previous year with a District Tournament Title, being Region III Runner-ups, and again making an appearance to the VHSL Division 3 "Final Four".
VHSL Titles
- 1981 State AA Girls Softball State Championship
- 1981 State AA Girls Cross Country
- 1982 State AA Girls Tennis Spring Championship
- 1993 State AA Boys Basketball Team Championship
- 1995 State AA Girls Cross Country
- 1999 State AA Boys Outdoor Track
- 2005 State AA Girls Basketball Winter Championships
The new home page for Spotswood Blazer athletics is www.spotswoodblazers.org and information for the entire Valley District can be found at www.valleydistrictva.org
Band
Spotswood High School was named a Virginia Honor Band in 2007-2008. This is the first time the band program has received this honor since 2004-2005. The Spotswood Fine Arts Program has also been nominated for the VMEA Blue Ribbon Award, which honors programs in that have worked towards a superior rating for the Marching Band, Concert Band, and Choir-which Spotswood High School did in 2007-2008.Spotswood High School, in Penn Laird Virginia, has several musical groups - currently, concert band, wind ensemble, two percussion ensembles, a jazz ensemble, and the Marching Trailblazers, composed of winds, percussion, and the color guard.
The band program at SHS has won numerous musical awards in many categories for each group, including several Honor Band awards, which require a superior rating from each the Symphonic Band and the Marching Band. A Virginia Honors Band award requires that the marching band receive a superior rating (I) at the annual state marching festival, and the highest level concert band of the school also receive a superior (I).
As of 2011, the band has won 4 straight Virginia Honor Band titles and 6 overall since Greg Oaks, the director of Spotswood Bands, has been at SHS, as well as 2 VMEA Blue Ribbon Awards (2008, 2011).
There are usually two or three 'stage' concerts, in some combination of Concert, Symphonic, and Jazz, at SHS per year; in addition, the two concert bands perform yearly at the VBODA District Band Festival. The marching band performs at every home football game on Friday nights, as well as various competitions throughout the fall.
Controversy
Spotswood made headlines briefly in 2000, when teacher Jeff Newto, with the backing of freedom of speechFreedom of speech in the United States
Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws, with the exception of obscenity, defamation, incitement to riot, and fighting words, as well as harassment, privileged...
advocacy organizations including the ACLU
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
and American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
, went to court over an incident covering several weeks in September 1999, when then principal C. James Slye ordered Newton to remove anticensorship pamphlets from his classroom's door that had been posted in observance of Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals...
. The pamphlet in question was a list of books that had been challenged or banned in schools, libraries and bookstores around the country during the late 1990s; these books include several revered and widely read American works, such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
, The Color Purple
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...
, Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
and Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
, but also include highly sexualized or "vulgar" books that the US Supreme Court found legal to exclude from public schools in the 1982 case of Board of Education v. Pico
Island Trees School District v. Pico
Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that the First Amendment limits the power of local school boards to remove library books from junior high schools and high schools.-Facts:...
. http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/challengedbanned.htm The ACLU charged that Spotswood was effectively censoring
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
the anticensorship message of the pamphlet outside of his constitutional rights and blatantly failed to follow the Rockingham County School Board Policy for mediating issues related to controversial and sensitive materials. The suit was dismissed before the case could be heard, when Newton resigned from the district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
.