Duluth High School

Duluth High School is a public secondary school in Duluth, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It provides education for grades 9-12 and is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools.

The school was built in 1958 to serve Duluth, Berkeley Lake, and unincorporated portions of western Gwinnett County. As of 2011 it had approximately 2360 students enrolled.

DHS holds a Blue Ribbon School award. In its 2012 Georgia rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked it tenth among all public, charter and magnet schools, fourth among all public schools, and first among all Gwinnett County public schools.

History

Early years

Education in Duluth was first mentioned in records around 1880, according to Flanigan's History of Gwinnett County,^[1] and was called Duluth Academy. It began with 59 students who were taught mathematics, science, and the classics. The first building was a frame structure on the site of the former Duluth Middle School at 3057 N. Peachtree Street. The land had been donated by Singleton Howell, son of Evan Howell, a successful merchant and farmer. In 1907, the frame building was moved to the front of the lot and replaced by a brick building. The first students graduated in 1912.

In 1933, Duluth was accredited and was housed in one large building and staffed by 12 teachers. The school property was valued at $35,000.

In the summer of 1935, lightning struck the steeple of the school and fire destroyed the building. Classes were held temporarily in the old Baptist and Methodist churches while a new building could be constructed. Until 1938, the school included only grades 1 through 11. 12th grade was added in 1954.

1950s

A bond issue in 1955 provided $659,000 to be added to $1,807,000 of state funds to erect four high school buildings: Central Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, South Gwinnett in Snellville, West Gwinnett in Norcross, and North Gwinnett in Suwanee. Hooper-Renwick Elementary, Sugar Hill Elementary, Harmony Elementary, and Hull Elementary were also built. These funds also provided for additions to Dacula, Lilburn, Duluth, Centerville, Norcross, Snellville, Grayson, Bethesda, and Suwanee schools.

In the school year of 1957–58, Duluth High School as such ceased to exist for the secondary-level (grades 8-12) students. They were consolidated into West Gwinnett High School in Norcross. This school was located so far from Duluth that parents of many of the students were unhappy, and campaigned for the recreation of a high school in the Duluth vicinity.

The strong parental influence was heard as the people of Gwinnett County voted for a school bond and construction program to begin on a school to be located on Brock Road. Duluth High School would once again be in existence. Before Christmas in 1958, the high school students attended classes at Duluth Elementary School, while awaiting the completion of their new building.

Duluth High School is now located at 3737 Brock Road NW, Duluth. When the recreated Duluth High School was opened for attendance in 1958, the building consisted of 12 classrooms and an enrollment of 200. The faculty consisted of 10 teachers, as compared to the 150 employed in 2006.

1960s and 1970s

Purple and white were chosen as the colors and the wildcat was chosen as a mascot. In 1962, the original gymnasium was completed on donated land. The school buildings were further extended from 12 to 16 rooms in 1963, and to 18 in 1967. A vocational building was added in 1971.

New football stands were constructed in 1966. The Lions Club donated money for tennis courts to be built in 1967 and a new football field house in the spring of 1969. A new vocational building was completed in 1970, housing an expanded home economics department, library, and industrial arts department.

1980s

In 1985 a 5,000-seat stadium was opened and named after Tim Maxwell, the first Duluth resident to be killed in World War II. In 1986, new additions and renovations included a 300-seat theater, four science laboratories, a choral suite, new art facilities, expanded band room, media center, a new cafeteria, and 24 new classrooms.

Enrollment grew to approximately 1,200. More courses were offered, including fine arts, foreign languages, gifted, AP/joint enrollment, debate, and computer programs. The Guidance Department, begun in 1968, increased to a full-time staff of three. In 1984, "Project Twin City" was conceived to enable cultural exchange between six students from Duluth, Georgia, and Duluth, Minnesota.

1990s

In 1969, 1971, and 1972, the football team claimed regional championships with North Georgia championships won in 1973, 1975, and 1980. A larger gym was completed in 1989. The old gym was used for physical education classes, additional basketball practice, and wrestling.

The school continued to expand throughout the 1990s as Gwinnett County grew and received National School of Excellence status in 1991, and in 1992 was recognized by Redbook Magazine as one of the "Nation's Best 140 Schools."

The 500 Building opened in the fall of 1997 with a media center, a main office, and classrooms for science, language arts, and mathematics. By the 1998–99 school year, enrollment had reached 2,155.

2000s

A new field house with a weight room, coach's offices, media room, and locker rooms was completed in 2001. A stadium with new home stands and track was completed for the opening of the fall football season in 2002. The press box was named for "the voice of the Wildcats," State Representative Brooks Coleman. The old gymnasium built in 1962 was connected to a large new gym with indoor walking track, exercise room, coach's offices, and physical education classrooms. In 2003, the new gym was dedicated and named for former Duluth basketball coach and athletic director, Joe Marelle, and was officially opened for the 2003 basketball season.

Duluth's enrollment reached 2,620 in the 2002–03 school year. As construction began on the new 600 building, 54 temporary classrooms filled every empty space on the campus. Approximately 1,000 students were transferred to the new Peachtree Ridge High School in nearby Suwanee in the fall of 2003. Enrollment increased again to approximately 2,000 by 2005.

By the start of the 2005–06 school year, the campus of Duluth High was brand new. The cafeteria was expanded and was flanked by landscaped courtyards featuring a circular bricked entrance to the new 600 building. The 400 Fine Arts building features a refurbished and enlarged choral room, band and orchestra rooms, and art facilities. The 300 Technology Building houses updated multimedia and computer labs. The four-story 600 Building includes the new main office, a 600-seat theater, and more than 60 classrooms for science, social studies, foreign languages, and special education.

In 2004 and 2005, Duluth students earned Hope Scholarship grants, and the success of its Advanced Placement program resulted in Duluth receiving the 2005 "Siemens Award for Advanced Placement for Georgia" bestowed by the College Board to schools showing excellence in math and science.

Student extracurricular clubs and activities continued to be recognized locally and nationally. Two state championships in girls' softball and competitive cheerleading, along with championship soccer, have kept Duluth's athletes in the news. Duluth's swim and dive team had eight Top Ten finishes at the State Championships between 1999-2008, with Kelsey Scott becoming Duluth's first individual girl state champion swimmer when she won the 500 freestyle in 2005. She was followed by girl diver Lexie Bryant, who won the 2006 State Diving Championships, becoming the first Duluth girl diver and Gwinnett County girl diver to win state. The 2005 and 2010 National Geography Champion came from Duluth. Duluth's Orchestra was ranked the #1 public high school orchestra at the 2005 National Orchestra festival in Reno, Nevada. Duluth's musicians and choral students hold seats in state orchestras and choirs.

2010s

In 2010, the 600 building was changed into the "Freshman Academy" (abolished two years later), where all freshman had their core classes of World Geography, Algebra I, Language Arts, and Biology classes. All grades now attend classes in these buildings. In 2012, the social studies department moved all of their classes onto the second floor of the 600 building.

Academics

For the 2005-2006 year, Duluth had an average score of 1593 on the SAT, the second-highest average score in the county.

Duluth High has been selected as the recipient of the 2005-06 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement in Georgia based on its performance and participation in the disciplines of math, science, and technology.

Sports

Duluth High School currently competes in the state's largest and most competitive region (7-AAAAAA ).^[2][3] Duluth High School has rivalries with Norcross High School and Peachtree Ridge High School. The Duluth-Norcross rivalry is one of the oldest in Gwinnett County.

The men's soccer team won the Georgia State Championship Title in 2015.

The school has won three state titles in competition cheerleading (2004, 2005, 2007) and has been past state champions or finalists in softball (1999 champions), baseball (1951 champions, 1995 runner-up), football (1973, 1975, 1980 runner-up), boys' soccer (2003 runner-up, 2015 champions), and boys' swimming (1998 and 1999 runner-up).^[4]

The CLAW Squad (competition cheerleaders) was named 2007 Team of the Year by the Georgia Cheerleading Coaches' Association and 2007 National Team of the Year. They won the 2007 Georgia High School Sports Association's CO-ED Cheerleading State title, for the third time in the past five years.

In 2014 the first all-girl competition team from Duluth made it to state sectionals.^[5]

In the 2014 school year, Duluth High School's varsity football team fell to a 2-8 record for the season. The football team has had 19 consecutive losing seasons from 1996-2014. In January 2015, Bob Swank was named as the Head Football Coach. Duluth is the hometown of the 1980 Heisman Trophy winner, George Rogers.

During the 2012-2013 basketball season, the Duluth boys completed their first regular season with a winning record (13-12) since 1998.

Music

Duluth has many different orchestra ensembles, including Beginning, Concert, Symphonic, Sinfonia, Philharmonic, and Chamber Orchestra. The Duluth High School Chamber Orchestra was ranked third in the nation after performing at the 2007 National Orchestra Festival in Detroit, Michigan. Duluth High School Chamber Orchestra also won a competition in New York and performed in an evening performance at Avery Fischer Hall in Lincoln Center in 2013. They were accepted to perform in the Midwest Conference in Chicago in December 2014. The Duluth High School Band program consists of two performing ensembles: the Symphonic Concert Band, which plays throughout the school year, and the Wildcat Marching Band and Color Guard, which perform at DHS home and away football games and local competitions.

Since 2003 the Duluth High School Choirs have received the highest honor at LGPE at Festival every year. In 2007, the Duluth High School Advanced Women's Ensemble was chosen to perform at the annual GMEA convention in Savannah, Georgia.^[6]

Clubs and activities

Some of the clubs and extracurricular activities offered at Duluth include:

Campus

Duluth's eight buildings are the Joe Marelle Gymnasium, Old Gym, 100 Building, 200 Building, 300 Building, 400 Building, 500 Building, and 600 Building.

The 100 Building houses physics and the NJROTC, along with the curriculum office on the first floor, and the cafeteria on the lower floor.

The 200 Building is one floor, housing the athletic office and foreign language classrooms.

The 300 Building holds home economics and technology classrooms and the counseling office.

The 400 (Fine Arts) Building houses the orchestra, chorus, and band rooms.

The 500 Building houses many junior and senior classes, along with the library on the top floor.

The 600 Building has many freshmen and sophomore classes, along with the auditorium, main and attendance offices, and the main entrance. This building is the tallest on campus, with four floors.

The Joe Marelle Gymnasium is two floors, and is a large gym with the entrance on the second floor. The Old Gym is two floors and is connected to the Joe Marelle Gym. The Joe Marelle Gym, the Old Gym, and Cecil Morris Football Field are split off from the 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 buildings by the bus lane.

Feeder schools

Schools that provide students for Duluth High School include Berkeley Lake Elementary, Chattahoochee Elementary, Charles Brant Chesney Elementary, B.B. Harris Elementary, Coleman Middle School and Duluth Middle School.

Notable alumni

• James Dashner, author
• Nick Green, Boston Red Sox infielder
• Brian McCann, New York Yankees catcher
• George Rogers, 1980 Heisman Trophy winner

References

External links

• Official school website