Joplin High School

Joplin High School

Truth, Honor, and Loyalty. Red, Silver, and Navy!
Location
Joplin, Missouri
United States
Coordinates 37°04′05″N 94°30′21″W / 37.0680°N 94.5057°W / 37.0680; -94.5057Coordinates: 37°04′05″N 94°30′21″W / 37.0680°N 94.5057°W / 37.0680; -94.5057
Information
Type Public
Opened August 1885
School district Joplin School District
CEEB code 261585
Principal Dr. Kerry Sachetta[1]
Faculty 110
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 2,158
Color(s)      Cardinal Red
     Silver
     Navy
Team name Eagles
Newspaper SpyGlass
Website www.joplineagles.org

Joplin High School is a comprehensive public high school in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri, USA. The first high school was founded in 1885. JHS has a student population of almost 2,200 students in grades 9-12. Joplin High School is fully accredited by AdvancED and North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Joplin High School is also a designated Missouri A+ School of Excellence. Franklin Technology Center, a vocational and technical education school, offers secondary and adult education classes.

History

In 1885, Joplin High School began with just a few students and was located where the current Memorial Hall now stands on 8th and Joplin Ave. In 1888, three years later, diplomas were awarded for the first graduating class. Soon thereafter, as the population of Joplin grew around the start of the 20th century, so did the number of students graduating annually.

In 1911 the students built a biplane and on October 11, 1911 Harold Robinson piloted the plane and it crashed killing a bystander, James Kinney.[2]

In the early of days of public secondary education, not everyone attended high school. However, with the comprehensive high school movement and expanded curriculum offerings in the early 1900s many students persisted with their education.

Following the inception of Joplin High School in 1885, there was one public high school until 1933. However, from 1934 to 1956 Joplin had two public high schools. In addition to the program offered at Joplin Senior High School, Lincoln High School offered African-American students a high school education. In the late 1950s, Lincoln High School students joined up with Joplin Senior High School students and attended school together at the present location at 2104 Indiana Avenue.

Later, in 1968, Joplin High School split into two high schools, one named Parkwood at 2104 Indiana Avenue and the other was named Memorial High School at 310 W. 8th Street. Joplin had two public high schools for the next 17 years until the two schools came back together to form Joplin High School for the 1985-1986 school year and until the present time.[3] Since 1885 over 34,400 students have graduated from public high school in Joplin.

Extensive renovations completed in 2003, included a new library/media center, science classrooms, a renovated performance theater, and an expanded cafeteria. In 2005, a 1,300 sq ft (120 m2) studio for the television station (JET-14) was added to the JHS campus which offers students the opportunity to create television programming using industry-standard television equipment.[4] The JHS campus also includes Kaminsky Gymnasium and baseball, soccer, and softball fields (on campus), as well as an off-campus Junge Field.

After three years in temporary campuses as a result of the 2011 tornado, Joplin High School opened at 2104 Indiana Ave. on September 2, 2014. The new 488,000 square foot facility combines a college, career and technology focused education along with Franklin Technology Center. The formal ribbon cutting ceremony was held on October 3, 2014. Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan attended the ceremony and spoke to the crowd. A 6 1/2 mile ribbon representing the destructive path of the 2011 tornado was a part of the ceremony. Joplin High School Student Council President Sadie Wallner cut the ribbon.

Tornado

On May 22, 2011, a tornado that killed 161 people in Joplin extensively damaged the high school and Franklin Tech.[5] The high school's graduation ceremonies had just taken place about three miles away on the Missouri Southern State University campus shortly before the tornado struck.[6] According to principal Kerry Sachetta, "You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like. I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw."[1] In the weeks after the tornado, it was determined that the campus was irreparable and would need to be completely rebuilt. Planning for a temporary school began four days after the May 22 tornado. School officials announced in June 2011 that juniors and seniors in the 2011-12 class (and possibly later) would attend classes in a section of Northpark Mall.[7][8][9] Classes began in the renovated former Shopko location as scheduled on August 17, 2011.[10][11]

On May 20, 2012, President Barack Obama addressed the JHS graduating class's commencement ceremony, held almost one year to the day of the deadly tornado.[12][13]

In 2012 Jim Spellman of CNN said "There is an uncommon maturity to the students at Joplin High School. Two students from the school died, many others lost their homes, and all are part of a battered and bruised community."[14]

Temporary Campus and facilities

From August 2011 to May 2014 the school was located in a renovated former Shopko store at Northpark Mall. The design of this temporary facility was awarded the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International's 2012 James D. MacConnell Award for excellence in school design.[15]

Franklin Tech has been relocated to temporary facilities in multiple locations in Joplin.[16]

On May 22, 2012, the groundbreaking ceremony was held marking the start of construction of the new permanent replacement school. Construction costs for the new 488,000 plus-square-foot facility designed by Corner Greer Associates of Joplin, MO and the Overland Park firm DLR Group, which includes a state of the art vocational technical center, are expected to be $120 million.

College and career readiness programs

Joplin High School offers and extensive array of courses including Advanced Placement (AP) courses, College Dual Credit courses, Articulated Credit courses for some colleges, On-Line and Blended Courses, the Missouri Option diploma program, and a Flex Diploma Program (named Eagle Flex). In addition, Joplin High School works closely with Franklin Technology Center. Franklin Tech offers a wide variety of career programs for high school students and adults, adult basic education and GED preparation classes, and a comprehensive offering of Community Education classes. Vocational training has been available through Franklin Technology Center for over seventy years. FTC is a Southwest Missouri area vocational school managed by the Joplin School District and accredited by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation.

Athletics and co-curricular activities

Joplin High School offers more than 20 sports and is a member of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. JHS students have over 35 clubs and organizations to choose for student involvement. Joplin High School has won state championships in several sports over the years and is a member of the Ozark Conference. The JHS Band performs and competes at high level at many local and state competitions; Has also a very successful Winterguard and Winter Drumline.

Noted alumni

References

  1. 1 2 "Joplin tornado kills 89; toll could climb". STLtoday. Associated Press. May 23, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011. 'You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like,' said Kerry Sachetta, the principal of a flattened Joplin High School. 'I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw.'
  2. ↑ "Aviation Victims Now Number 100" (PDF). New York Times. October 15, 1911.
  3. ↑ http://www.joplinschools.org/Page/830
  4. ↑ http://joplin-eagles-television-jet-14.joplin.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/integrated_home.phtml?&gid=2170833&sessionid=d3eb7c5e935bb95b8b7a108ee69e9948&t=
  5. ↑ "Storm Event Survey". National Weather Service Springfield, Missouri. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  6. ↑ http://www.ky3.com/news/kspr-tornado-strikes-joplin-major-damage-reported-20110522,0,7268775.story
  7. ↑ "Mall will be school for Joplin students displaced by tornado". KYTV. Associated Press. June 10, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Joplin juniors, seniors will attend school at mall in fall". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Associated Press. June 10, 2011.
  9. ↑ Operation Rising Eagle, Joplin Schools Facility Information, retrieved 2012-10-03
  10. ↑ Zager, Alan Scher (August 17, 2011). "School starts in tornado-torn Joplin". WWLP-TV. Associated Press.
  11. ↑ Joplin students return to school in temporary facilities, KJRH.com, 08/16/2011, retrieved 2012-10-03
  12. ↑ Obama visits Joplin one year after tornado, speaks at high school commencement, Washington Post, May 21, 2012, retrieved 2012-10-03
  13. ↑ Washington Examiner, May 22, 2012, retrieved 2012-10-03
  14. ↑ Spellman, Jim. "A year later, Joplin is 'on the mend'." CNN. Monday May 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  15. ↑ CEFPI MacConnell Award, retrieved 2012-10-03
  16. ↑ Franklin Tech Joplin webpage, retrieved 2012-10-03
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.