North Penn High School

North Penn High School
Address
1340 Valley Forge Road
Lansdale, Pennsylvania 19446
United States
Coordinates 40°14′06″N 75°18′55″W / 40.2351°N 75.3153°W / 40.2351; -75.3153Coordinates: 40°14′06″N 75°18′55″W / 40.2351°N 75.3153°W / 40.2351; -75.3153
Information
School type Public
Opened 1955 (original building), 1971 (current building)
School district North Penn School District
Superintendent Curt Dietrich
CEEB code 392155
Principal Todd M. Bauer
Grades 10-12
Color(s) Navy and Columbia Blue
Nickname Knights, Maidens
Publication The Troubadour (literary magazine)
Newspaper Knight Crier
Yearbook The Accolade
Website www.npenn.org/northpennhs/site/default.asp

North Penn High School is a part of the North Penn School District and is located in Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania, about a mile outside of Lansdale borough, 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia, along Valley Forge Road (PA Route 363). It operates under the Principal Todd M. Bauer, who replaced longtime principal Burton T. Hynes in 2015.[1] Hynes was referred to as "BTH" lovingly by staff and students. The school colors are Navy and Columbia blue.

North Penn High School was created in 1955 as the result of a joint venture of seven school systems (Hatfield Joint Consolidated, Lansdale Borough, Line Lexington Independent, Montgomery Township, North Wales Borough, Towamencin Township and Upper Gwynedd Township) to educate students from three former high schools: Hatfield High School, Lansdale High School, and North Wales High School. The original North Penn High School building was an expansion of the building that had served as Lansdale High School since the 1930s. The former Hatfield and North Wales buildings were eventually converted to elementary schools. The North Wales building is still used for this purpose today. The Hatfield building, later renamed the E.B. Laudenslager Elementary School, was replaced by a newer building in 1971. The current North Penn High School was constructed in 1971 because of severe overcrowding at the original school. The former high school building, located on Penn Street in Lansdale, is now Penndale Middle School.

North Penn High School is among the largest statewide, with student enrollment for the 2005-2006 school year at 3,423.[2] Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are represented at the high school. Freshmen, although commonly the first year of high school, only occasionally attend certain classes, and are regularly enrolled in one of these three middle schools: Penndale Middle School, Pennbrook Middle School, and Pennfield Middle School. The middle schools enroll grades 7 - 9, while the elementary schools enroll grades K - 6.

Honors

The school hosted the 75th Anniversary National Association of Student Councils (NASC) national conference from June 24–28, 2006, where students from 49 states, as well as Australia, Canada, and Puerto Rico attended.[3]

North Penn High School and Knapp Elementary School both celebrated their 50th anniversaries in the year of 2005.[4]

North Penn High School's International Thespian troupe was the first high school to start a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) high school chapter in the world. BC/EFA is a charity in which Broadway actors, and now high schools, can raise money which gets sent to this charity to fight AIDS. North Penn has an annual gala to raise money in addition to auctioning off many pieces of Broadway memorabilia.

In the 2001-2002 school year, the high school participated in the Y100 Foods Drive for the first time, and won 1st place. As a prize, Saves the Day played a free, private concert for them. In the 2006-2007 school year, the high school participated in the WMMR Preston and Steve Food Drive and donated over 2 tons of food. They won 1st place, and as a result, were awarded another OK Go concert.

In 2006, The North Penn Marching Knights won the USSBA Grand National Championship at the Naval Academy, and they also won their 10th consecutive state championship.

In 2007, North Penn won the Q102 Bras the Boulevard contest. The contest aimed to collect donations and bras for the Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation. The prize was a free dance hosted by the morning show Booker in the Morning.

On Friday, April 18, 2008, former President Bill Clinton visited North Penn High School. Due to the school's large community and student body, it was chosen as one of the places that a representative of the Clinton campaign would speak.

In April 2013, North Penn High School's Academic Decathlon Team went to Nationals in Minneapolis placing 11th in the nation.

In April 2013, North Penn High School Team #1851 took 3rd place in the National Moody's Mega Math Challenge.

In April 2013, the North Penn High School Chamber Singers had the honor of performing at the premier of Christopher Tin's Grammy Award winning album, Calling All Dawns, in Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center in New York City. Tin invited them personally to be a part of the momentous occasion.

Sports

In 2005, 2006, and 2007 Sports Illustrated distinguished North Penn as having the best athletic program in Pennsylvania, noting that the school has "won 45 state championships over the last 10 years" and "is a power in football and is also dominant in boys' swimming." The school is also prominent in boys' and girls' water polo, and boys' winter track, spring track, cross country, and more recently baseball.[5]

The boys' water polo team won state titles in 2004, 2006, and 2007.

The football team's latest state title was in 2003.

Also, the cross country team won state titles was in 2007, 2008 and 2011.

Continuing with the school's sports dominance, the boys' Baseball team won the PIAA Class AAAA State Championship in 2009, by defeating Parkland 3-1. It was the first baseball state championship in North Penn's History. The team won its second PIAA Class AAAA State Championship in 2013 versus Lower Dauphin High School.The team won another Class AAAA title two years later in 2015 by defeating Wyoming Valley West in extra innings.

Former North Penn football coach Mike Pettine was the former head coach of the Cleveland Browns, from 2014-2015.

North Penn offers a variety of sports that students can participate in, including but not limited to: football, basketball, soccer, swimming, water polo, softball, baseball, golf, tennis, wrestling, indoor track, outdoor track, cross country, lacrosse, volleyball, field hockey, dance, cheer leading, bowling, ice hockey, rugby, and ultimate frisbee.

Marching Knights

The North Penn Marching Knights was formed in December 1971. Since then, they have received many awards and honors. A few of the places that they have performed at are the Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500, and the Fiesta Bowl.[6] Their major motion picture credits include both "Blow Out" and "Rocky V". The Marching Knights have held Bands of America Regional Finalist titles for 10 consecutive years and have won 10 consecutive USSBA regional championships. The Marching Knights have won the Cavalcade of Bands Yankee Conference Championship 13 times. In 2006, the North Penn Marching Knights was the first band to receive the title of USSBA Grand National Champion. In addition, the 2006 Marching Knights competed in their first BOA Super Regional in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2007, the North Penn Marching Knights placed third place in the USSBA northern state championships and first place at the USSBA Grand National Championship, and in 2011 they won the Grand National Championship in Class IV Open. In 2014, they won first place in Group V Open at the USBands National Championships with a score of 97.950. The marching band is led by two drum majors and many student leaders. Each drum major and student leader is selected by the Marching Knights staff.

An extension of the Marching Knights is North Penn's indoor program. The indoor program consists of the percussion ensemble, visual ensemble, Navy Jazz Band, and Columbia Jazz Band. Each member of each ensemble must audition and be selected by a staff member. The percussion and visual ensemble have each participated in many competitions, most notably Winter Guard International Championships. The Navy and Columbia jazz bands each compete at jazz festivals and have competed in the Cavalcade Jazz Championships. In 2016, the Navy Jazz Band performed at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in New Orleans, Louisiana.

In the media

In 1999, ESPN featured the football team in a documentary entitled "The Season."[7]

The school's football team was featured in the 1999 film "The Last Game". The movie includes a storyline about North Penn's former rivalry with neighboring Central Bucks West High School.

On Friday, April 18, 2008, former President Bill Clinton delivered a speech on the steps of North Penn High School at a rally for Hillary Clinton's presidency. The Pennsylvania primary was Tuesday April 22. Preceding President Clinton were introductions by PA Representative Allyson Schwartz, former Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel.

On Monday, September 8, 2008, John Oates, half of Hall & Oates and member of the Class of 1966, returned to North Penn for an assembly in his honor, which included a video about his life made by the school's broadcasting class, and a question and answer period. He also played several songs from his new solo album 1000 Miles of Life, and "Rich Girl".

Notable alumni

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Knight Crier : Principal Burton T. Hynes to retire from NP in September". www.knightcrier.org. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  2. ↑ NPHS. "North Penn High School". Schoolwires, Inc. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  3. ↑ Bryan King (2006-01-26). "North Penn High School Presents...". Genesis X Designs.
  4. ↑ Robert Hassler (2005-09-06). "Letter from the Superintendent". NPHS.
  5. ↑ Doug Huff (2005-05-16). "Best Sports High Schools". Sports Illustrated.
  6. ↑ "North Penn Marching Knights History".
  7. ↑ Mike Scandura. "Coaches Spotlight: Mike Pettine". NFLHS.com. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  8. ↑ http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1725103/brandon-mcmanus
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