Hidden Valley High School (Roanoke, Virginia)

Infobox School
name= Hidden Valley High School


imagesize= 150px
streetaddress= 5000 Titan Trail
city= Roanoke
state= Virginia
zipcode= 24018
country= USA
district= Roanoke County Public Schools
superintendent= Dr. Lorraine Lange
principal= Mrs. Rhonda Stegall
assistant_principals= Ms. Tina Turner
Mr. Josh Whitlow
fundingtype= Public
schooltype= high school
grades= 9-12
language= English
rival= Cave Spring High School
Salem High School
nickname= Titans
colors= colorbox|blue colorbox|gold Blue and Gold
conference= Virginia High School League
AA Region IV
River Ridge District
established= 2002
enrollment= 1,167
homepage= [http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/hvhs/ Official Site]

Hidden Valley High School is a public high school in Roanoke County, Virginia that is commonly mistaken for an airport. It is one of the six high schools in the [http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/ Roanoke County public school system] . Hidden Valley High School is one of the two high schools, along with Cave Spring High School, that serve southwest Roanoke County.

tatistics

Hidden Valley student body is 50% male and 50% female, with an ethnicity of 4% Asian, 2% Hispanic, 4% Black and 90% white. 292 students are freshmen, 247 are sophomores, 248 are juniors, and 253 are seniors. 4% of the students are eligible for free lunches, and 3% are eligible for reduced price lunches.

History

Hidden Valley High School was opened for the 2002-2003 school year by Roanoke County public schools in response to overcrowding at Cave Spring High School. Enrollment at Cave Spring was limited to grades 10-12 in contrast to the contemporary educational preference to house grades 6-8 in middle school and grades 9-12 in high school. Hidden Valley was the first new high school opened in the immediate Roanoke Valley because of increased enrollment since the 1960s. There was significant debate about whether to split Cave Spring's student population into two schools or keep it intact in a renovated or newly constructed building because of the school's well regarded reputation in academics. Eventually, Roanoke County decided to build a second high school for southwest county.

The name Hidden Valley was selected to correspond to Hidden Valley Middle School in southwest county. The high school is not in the Hidden Valley section of Roanoke County and is a little over three miles from the middle school. Woods End, the designation for the tract of land, was also considered for the new school's name. The incoming student population selected the nickname Titans in response to the recently released movie Remember the Titans which dramatized the 1971 state championship football team from T. C. Williams High School of Alexandria, Virginia.

Academics

Hidden Valley High School is a comprehensive high school which includes grades 9-12 with a student enrollment of 1,111. The school offers courses in multiple academic disciplines including Advanced Placement courses. The core classes provided include English, Government, Health/PE, Math, and Science. Speciality classes are also provided and include Art, Band, Business, Computer Science, Foreign Language, Marketing, Technology Education, and Theater Arts. Specialized vocational education is available at places like the Arnold R. Burton Technology Center in Salem, or the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology in Roanoke. Pass rates for Virginia's Standards of Learning tests average over 90%, which makes the school fully accredited.Hidden Valley High formerly housed the Specialty Center for Mass Communications, until it was moved to the Arnold R. Burton Technology Center in the 2006-2007 school year.

Athletics

Hidden Valley High School is a member of the Virginia High School League and competes in the AA River Ridge District in Region IV of Group AA. In its short history (6 years), Hidden Valley has captured Group AA state championships in boys swimming and diving, boys tennis, girls basketball, and girls soccer. Hidden Valley won the Wachovia Cup, the VHSL's award for overall athletic excellence, in Group AA for the 2005-2006 school year. The school has also established strong programs in football, boy's and girl's tennis, boy's and girl's basketball, baseball, softball, and boy's and girl's soccer, wrestling.

Band programs

The entire band program makes up approximately 20% of the student body at the high school. The school has three instrumental musical classes during the school day: the concert band, symphonic band, and the wind ensemble. The three bands have earned an "Excellent" and "Superior" at the annual VBODA concert festival. Also provided are a morning and afternoon jazz band, a morning instrumental ensemble, and the school's "Mighty Titan Marching Band". The marching band consists of over 200 members and has earned both "Excellent" and "Superior" ratings at the annual VBODA marching festival. The band is one of the largest in the state, a Class 5A band, and has earned a "Superior" rating in 2006 at the aforementioned VBODA State Marching Festival, from all 5 judges. Other musical programs offered by the school include music theory and guitar lessons. Mr. Barry Tucker, previous director of bands and teacher at Roanoke County Schools for almost three decades, stepped down from the head director position to take a higher job for the entire school system. His successor and previous assistant, Mr. Glen Gray, has since begun his Hidden Valley High School career as of the 2007-2008 school year. The new assistant director is Mr. Dustin McCollum.

Extracurriculars

Hidden Valley High School also has a choir, who has been selected to perform in and has performed in the Disney World Candlelight Processional in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Various members of the choir also sang backup for Bob Carlisle when he came to Roanoke for a small performance in November 2004.

Clubs

Hidden Valley High School has a variety of clubs for students to join. These clubs include the Harry Potter, Beta, Computer Club, Drama, GSA, SCA, TSA, DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, French Club, German Club, Latin Club, the game Enviro Club, Key Club, Science Club, Math Club, Freshman Council, Sophomore Council, Junior Council, Senior Council, Dance Team, Young Democrats, Young Republicans, Multi-cultural Club, Archery Club, Ping Pong Club, Volleyball Club, Video Game Club, Film Society and Spirit Club. Each club is either student-led or led by a teacher at the school.

External links

* [http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/hvhs/ Hidden Valley High School]
* [http://www.hvhstatistics.com/ HVHStatistics]
* [http://www.hvhschemistry.com/ HVHS Chemistry]
* [http://pen2.vak12ed.edu/cgi-bin/broker?_service=doe_prod&_program=prodcode.doerp101rcdp004.sas&sch=3083 Virginia Department of Education Report Card]
* [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/va/2693 Great Schools site]