Avon High School (Connecticut)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Avon High School

motto = Avon High teaches its students to use their minds well.
established = 1958
city= Avon
state = Connecticut
country = USA
campus =
type = Public
principal = Jason Beaudin
faculty = 67
students = about 1000
grades = 9–12
address = 510 West Avon Road
district = Avon Public Schools
mascot = Falcon
colors = Blue and White
newspaper =
yearbook = Nova
website = [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/AvonHigh]
footnotes =
picture =

Avon High School is a high school in Avon, Connecticut, United States serving grades 9-12. As the only high school in the Avon Public School system, it's only feeder school is Avon Middle School. The student population is about 1000, but projections see huge increases for future enrollment. Because of this, the school is undergoing extensive renovations. Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, the principal is Jason Beaudin.

Renovation

The school has been under renovation since 2006 and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2008. The school has been renovated once before, an effort that was completed in 1997. The new renovation includes the addition of classrooms, a second gymnasium, a new kitchen and cafeteria, orchestra room, 2 or more media centers, and several interior cosmetic changes.

The following areas are currently open: the new gym (the old one is currently under renovation), the bathrooms and lobby area around the new gym, and the new cafeteria and kitchen.

Changes To The 2008-9 Year

Following Len Fenelon's retirement from his role as assistant principal, Dr. Scott Ratchford will join the AHS faculty as Assistant Principal and will deal most closely with grades 9 and 11. Students of the 2008-9 year will also be the first to use the newly revamped library and academic wing (housing English, Science, Special Education, and Computer Science classes). In addition, due to the increase in student population, the traditional 3-cycle lunch wave system has been modified to accommodate four 25-minute lunches. Other minor changes include several new flat screen announcement screens, new trees and plants, as well as over 250 new computers.

Academics

Academic departments include Math, Social Studies, English, Science, World Languages, Health, Visual Arts, Music, and Physical Education. There are 67 Subject area teachers. [ [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/info/Staff/default.asp?BID=1 Staff Directory for Avon High School ] ]

In order to graduate, students must earn a minimum of 22.5 credits according to the following distribution: [ [http://mail.avon.k12.ct.us/~cboland/?OpenItemURL=S00A45377 AHS Guidance: Avon Public Schools CT ] ]
*English- 4 credits
*Social Studies- 3 credits (1 of United States History, 0.5 of Civics)
*Science- 3 credits (1 of Biology)
*Mathematics- 3 credits
*Physical Education- 1 credit
*Health- 0.5 credit
*Humanities- 0.5 credit

The capstone of the Avon High education is the Senior Mastery Project, a required component of the 12th Grade Humanities curriculum. Students spend one semester researching a topic of their interest with the close guidance of a faculty adviser. The semester culminates with an extended essay explaining the research, a visual presentation to be displayed in the library, and a 30 minute presentation during Senior Mastery Night.

World Languages are not required, but are encouraged. Languages offered include Spanish, French, and Latin. Arts credits are also not required, but most students will elect to take at least one arts unit. Most departments offer electives in addition to the core curriculum. Past offerings have included Law, Genocide, Writing Workshop, Anatomy and Physiology, and Marine Biology.

The Arts

Arts offerings include music, visual arts, and theater arts.

The music offerings at Avon High School have expanded in recent years. Ensembles currently include: [ [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/arts/apsarts/performarts/index.htm#ahsmusic New Page 1 ] ]

Bands
* 9th grade Concert Band
* 10th grade Concert Band
* Wind Ensemble

Choirs
* Girls Concert Choir
* Mixed Concert Choir
* Chamber Choir
* Women's Choir
* Men's Choir

Other musical opportunities include the ever expanding strings program, jazz band, American School Band Directors Association festivals, American Choral Directors Association festivals, and Connecticut Music Educators Association All-State Festival.

Activities

The Avon High website notes that, "Avon High offers a great variety of extracurricular activities for students to get involved. A wide array of sports teams is well complemented by an eclectic mix of school clubs and groups." [ [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/avonhigh/activities/ Avon High Extracurricular Activities ] ] Popular extracurricular activities include Student Government, the Avon Volunteers On Newness (A.V.O.N.) Club, Diversity Club, FIRST Robotics Team, Katie's Club, Model United Nations, National Honor Society, and Yearbook. The Model U.N. club has been successful in local and state level competitions, and the Robotics Team was recently ranked in the top four internationally at the Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. [ [http://www.uberbots.org Avon High School Robotics Team ] ]

Traditions

Avon has many unofficial student traditions that have lasted over the years. Some of the most commonly observed traditions include seniors decorating their cars on the first day of school. Senior girls also wear dresses and tiaras on the first day of classes. For the homecoming pep rally, juniors wear blue and seniors wear white, while freshmen and sophomores wear both blue and white. Only seniors are permitted to dress up for Halloween, the celebration of which surrounds the senior parade through the hallways of the school for faculty and underclassmen. For graduation, girls wear white and boys wear blue. Most seniors decorate their caps for the graduation ceremony. The school mascot is the falcon and the colors are navy and white. The yearbook is called the NOVA, which is Avon spelled backward.

Sports

Avon High School has an extensive and successful athletics program that frequently earns recognition in the North Central Connecticut Conference and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. Several athletes have earned All-America status and many athletes go on to have successful collegiate athletic careers. Offerings include cheerleading (co-ed), cross country (boys and girls), field hockey, football, soccer (boys and girls), volleyball, crew, basketball (boys and girls), ice hockey (joint program with St. Paul's Catholic High School), Swimming, Wrestling, Baseball, Golf (boys and girls), lacrosse (boys and girls), softball, tennis (boys and girls), track (boys and girls). [ [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/avonhigh/activities/athletics/ Avon High Athletics ] ]

Facilities for field hockey, football, cheerleading, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, track, and girls lacrosse are located at the High School. Boys lacrosse and girls tennis play at the Middle School. Soccer, softball, and cross country have home bases at the Fisher's Meadow recreational facility. Strong sports rivals include Canton High School, Farmington High School, Simsbury High School, and Suffield High School.

Recent notable accomplishments by Avon High athletic teams include several CIAC state championships. Teams that have not recently won state championship that are known for their strong performances include field hockey, girls lacrosse, volleyball, and wrestling.

CIAC state championships

[ [http://www.casciac.org/scripts/champions.cgi CIAC Sports Champions Database Search ] ]

Notable alumni

*Will Friedle, who played Eric on Boy Meets World, attended Avon High School.
* Ryan MacFarlane, actor and model, attended Avon High school.

External links

* [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us Avon Public Schools website]
* [http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/avonhigh/renovation/ Avon High School Renovation Updates]
* [http://ahsfootball.homestead.com/home.html/ Avon Football Online]

References

# http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/info/Staff/default.asp?BID=1
# http://mail.avon.k12.ct.us/~cboland/?OpenItemURL=S00A45377
# http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/arts/apsarts/performarts/index.htm#ahsmusic
# http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/avonhigh/activities/
# http://www.avon.k12.ct.us/avonhigh/activities/athletics/