Green Hope High School

Green Hope High School
Dare To Soar
Location
Cary, North Carolina, United States
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	1927 (as Green Hope School) 1999 (as Green Hope High School)
Principal	James E. Hedick
Grades	9 - 12
Number of students	2263
School color(s)	Maroon and Green
Mascot	Fighting Falcon
Website	greenhopehigh.wcpss.net

Green Hope High School is a school in Cary, North Carolina, serving grades 9-12. In 2006, approximately 2,144 students attended according to the WCPSS page, and with a 95% graduation rate, about 530 seniors graduated. The school consistently has large amounts of students that attend universities like NC State, Duke, and UNC Chapel Hill as well as Ivy League schools. It was ranked as the 206th best high school according to the 2011 Newsweek Rankings of Top US High Schools. GHHS opened its doors in 1999, drawing only freshmen and sophomore students from neighboring overcrowded schools. It added a grade level for the two subsequent years and graduated its first senior class in 2002. It is located next to its sister school, Green Hope Elementary School, which is at an adjacent campus. Both schools are operated by Wake County Public School System. The site also features a tennis facility operated by the Town of Cary.

A recent growth in student population resulted in an off-site "9th Grade Annex" roughly 1/2 mile from the main campus. In the 2006-2007 school year, the 9th Grade Annex was turned into Carpenter Elementary to accommodate the rising number of students in Wake County.

The school mascot is the Green Hope Fighting Falcon; a statue of one graces the school's western lawns.

Leadership

The current principal is James E. Hedick. He holds a Ph.D. in education. Hedick is known for his involvement with coordinating student events as well as profound student involvement.

Academics

The school posted the fifth highest average SAT score in the Raleigh Durham area: 1699 with 94.7% of students taking the test.

Honors and awards

• School of Excellence 2009-2012^{[citation needed]}
• Honor School of Excellence 2004-2008^{[citation needed]}
• School of Distinction 2000-2003^{[citation needed]}}
• Top 2 in graduation rate for large schools in North Carolina2008-2011
• Rated in the top 500 high schools nationally by Newsweek 2009-2011
• Rated in the top 500 high schools nationally by The Washington Post 2010-2011^{[citation needed]}}
• Wachovia Cup recipient for the top overall athletic program in the AAAA classification
• Wells Fargo Cup recipient for the top overall athletic program in the AAAA classification^{[citation needed]}}

Departments

Physics department lab equipment, which is available to AP Physics and other students.

Green Hope currently offers 18 Advanced Placement courses and over 61 honors courses.

• Career and technical education
  • Career Management, Small Business Entrepreneurship
  • Computer Applications I-II, Computer Programming I-II, Computerized Accounting I-II, Digital Communication Systems, Foundations of Information Technology
  • Marketing, Sports & Entertainment Marketing I-II, Strategic Marketing, Principles of Business & Personal Finance, Fashion Merchandising
  • Apparel Development I-II, Family & Consumer Sciences Advanced Studies, Child Development, Early Childhood Development I-II, Teen Living, Trade & Industrial Advanced Studies, Foods I-II
  • Drafting I-III, Furniture & Cabinetmaking I-II, Housing & Interiors I
  • Medical Science I-II, Biomedical Technology, Health Team Relations

• English
  • English I-IV, ap English III-IV
  • SAT Verbal/Math Prep, Special Interest Seminar, Speech I-II, Creative Writing I-II, Intro to Communications & Mass Media
  • Yearbook I-III, Newspaper I-III

• Fine arts
  • Orchestra
  • Student Art Gallery
  • Theatre
  • Visual Arts I-IV, Sculpture/Ceramics I-II, Art History, AP Studio
  • Modern Dance I-IV, Theatre Arts I-IV, Technical Theatre I-II
  • Vocal Music I-IV, Beginning Guitar, Band I-IV, Orchestra I-IV
  • Music Appreciation, AP Music Theory
  • Technical Theater

• Foreign languages
  • Spanish I-V, Spanish I-II for Native Speakers, AP Spanish Language, AP Spanish Literature
  • French I-V, AP French Language
  • Latin I-V
• Math
  • Technical Math I-II, Introductory Math
  • Algebra I: Part I, Algebra I: Part II, Algebra I, Algebra II
  • Geometry, Advanced Functions & Modeling, Analytic Geometry/Trigonometry, Discrete Math
  • Pre-Calculus, Intro to College Math, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics

• Healthful living
  • healthful living I, lifetime sports I-II, team sports I-II
  • weight training I-II, personal fitness I-II, sports medicine I-III, pepi I-II

• Science
  • Earth Science, Marine & Astronomical Science
  • Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Forensics
  • Physical Science, Chemistry, Physics
  • AP Environmental Science, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics

• Social Studies
  • World history, Civics & Economics, United States History, Vietnam War/International Relations, Geography
  • Law & Justice, Sociology, Psychology
  • AP United States History, AP Comparative Government, AP US Government & Politics, AP Psychology

• Special programs
  • Curriculum Assistance, ICR English, ICR Math, ICR Social Studies

• Media Center (Photo — Library and Computer Lab)

Athletics

Athletics Department hallway next to gymnasium.

The Athletics Department operates competitive and intramural sports at the high school. Based on the overall performance of its athletic teams, Green Hope has won three consecutive Wells Fargo Cup (formerly Wachovia Cup) trophies for NCHSAA 4-A schools for the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 school years.

Listing of sports at Green Hope:
Men's Sports	Women's Sports	Coed Sports
Basketball (Varsity and JV) Baseball (Varsity and JV) Bowling Cross country Football Golf Lacrosse Soccer Swimming and Diving Tennis Track and Field Wrestling	Basketball Bowling Cheerleading Dance Team Gymnastics Golf Lacrosse Soccer Softball Swimming and Diving Tennis Track and Field Volleyball	Sailing Team

Green Hope has one of the largest high school cross country teams in the U.S., which was featured in a 2008 USA TODAY article. Green Hope swept the 2010 NCHSAA 4-A cross country state meet, with the boys winning their first ever championship, and the girls' team won their third consecutive state championship in 2011. The GHHS Swim Team is also known for their recent performance at the 2010-2011 State Champsionship Meet, placing 2nd in the state's 4A classification.

Golf

The Men's Golf team at Green Hope has experienced much success since the school opened in 1999. The Falcons have captured five team State Championship Titles (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010) and five individual titles (Brendon Todd, 3, Michael Cromie, 1, and Kevin O'Connell, 1). Golfers from Green Hope have been widely recruited to play Division 1 NCAA Golf. Graduates have played at various Universities across the country including the University of Georgia (Brendon Todd, Michael Cromie), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kevin O'Connell) "Kevin O'Connell". The University of North Carolina. Retrieved 2008-11-07. </ref> University of North Carolina at Wilmington (Will Shambley), the University of Arkansas (Drew Eibner), Pepperdine University (Eric Shriver), Appalachian State University (Dan Gossin), East Carolina University (Elliot Jones and Tripp Brizendine), the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Kyle Sonday and Will Almand) and The University of Virginia (Ben Kohles).^{[citation needed]}

Women's Lacrosse

The Green Hope Lady Falcons Varsity Women's Lacrosse team holds three State Championship titles winning in 2005, 2006 and 2012.

School organizations

The rear of the school, as seen from the Elementary School campus. The football field is visible below the school.

Extracurricular activities, clubs, and other student organizations flourish as a result of student, parental, and faculty involvement.

Men's soccer

In just 10 years, the soccer program has earned a reputation as a soccer powerhouse. The team has reached the State Playoffs nine times - advancing to two State Finals, four semifinals, and three times to the 3rd round. Graduating seniors have proceeded to top programs throughout the country. Alumni have been strong performers at the all-state and all-conference levels.

Theater department

GHHS has a very strong theater department, run by Margret Cook. Each year, the school has one musical production and at least one non-musical production. They are also one of few schools that have a technical theater class. At the triangle's Capital Awards (awards for the state's HS musical productions) Green Hope won 5+ awards, including best Musical, in 2010. The school's most recent musical was The Wedding Singer (musical).

These organizations include cultural, religious, academic, and intramural sports organizations.

Of particular note, due to high levels of student/faculty involvement are:

• Fellowship of Christian Athletes
• Science Olympiad
• Gay-Straight Alliance
• Muslim Students Association
• Environmental Club
• Green Hope Marching Band
• Key Club
• Technology Student Association
• National Honor Society

Other clubs include various honor societies, community outreach programs, extracurricular foreign-language and culture clubs (French, Spanish, Latin), a school paper of news, and athletic boosters.

School demographics

Rural neighborhoods in Cary are rapidly developing...

...into affluent neighborhoods, embodied by this Gazebo in Preston Village, a subdivision located not far from the school. These two images are less than 1/4 mile apart. Green Hope is the district school of many affluent neighborhoods such as Preston and Weatherstone.

The school serves affluent Western Wake, including Cary and Apex. It also features a program to provide bus service from south Raleigh in order to meet county socio-economic status quotas. The future of this program is uncertain as the Wake County Board of Education is debating whether or not to break up this program.

As of 2006, redistricting and explosive population growth may cause dramatic demographic changes. Affluent neighborhoods such as Preston and Weatherstone sit adjacent to old tobacco farms and rural land tracts.

60% of the student body is enrolled in honors or AP courses, compared with only a 4% state-wide average.

In 2005, 31% of students performed at or above grade-level. The school ranks as a North Carolina Honor School of Excellence and meets capacity requirements as a High Growth School. The school is a traditional (non-magnet) school by official designation (and funding considerations).

The school prides itself on technology integration - 100% of classrooms have internet access, and teachers and students use an online course-reporting and grading system like other new Wake County Public High Schools.

History

This display, located in GHHS lobby, showcases some of the historic memorabilia from the previous school.

The school is named for the older, historic Green Hope School, built in 1927. It provided Grades 1 through 12 during its lifetime as a consolidated school. This continued until 1952, when it was re-dubbed Green Hope Elementary School, providing primary-education while the higher grades were reallocated to nearby Cary or Apex High schools. Green Hope Elementary proudly became the first accredited rural school in Wake County. By 1963, it served 172000 students. However, at the time, the school was a whites-only establishment.

Fire and destruction

This grassy field, railroad tracks, and construction rubble are all that remain of the original Green Hope School.

On August 15, 1963 at 1 AM, the school caught fire. Three fire departments responded: Apex, Morrisville, and Yrac. (Yrac Department was created in 1958 as a temporary reorganization of Cary Rural Fire District; in 1998 it was merged with Cary F.D.) Despite this response, the school was completely destroyed. Damage was estimated at greater than $400,000, and the school was not reconstructed.

The cause of fire was officially described as suspicious circumstances. However, arson was suspected as a cause, and firefighters reported a car speeding away from the blaze. Possible motives include opposition to the racial integration of the local districts. This process continued, however, expedited by the creation of Wake County Public School System in 1976. This set the goal of unifying the diverse racial and economic demographic of the growing community, and ensuring that the affluent suburbs and the poorer urban areas of Raleigh received equal and integrated education. However, the site of Green Hope School remained unoccupied until 1999.

The present location of the school is across the road from the old building site.

External links

• Official website
• History of Wake County Public School System Official website
• Yrac Fire Department Report of fire in 1963.