Staples High School (Connecticut)
| Staples High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Main building, December 2011 | |
| Location | |
70 North Avenue Wesport , Connecticut 06880 United States | |
| Coordinates | 41°09′14″N 73°19′41″W / 41.154°N 73.328°W / 41.154; -73.328Coordinates: 41°09′14″N 73°19′41″W / 41.154°N 73.328°W / 41.154; -73.328 |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | April 26, 1884 |
| School district | Westport Public Schools |
| Principal | James J. D'Amico[1] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,853 (2016-17)[2] |
| Color(s) | Navy Blue White |
| Mascot | Construction worker named "the Wrecker" |
| Newspaper | Inklings |
| Yearbook | Stapleite |
| Website | shs.westportps.org |
Staples High School is a public high school located in the town of Westport, Connecticut, USA.
Staples High School is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884.[3][4]
Westport is one of eight school districts in District Reference Group A (along with Darien, Easton, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, and Wilton).[5]
Contents
1 Campus
2 History
3 Activities
3.1 Inklings
3.2 Staples Players
3.3 AP Assassination
4 Notable alumni
5 Awards and press coverage
6 List of principals
7 References
8 External links
Campus
The school was first located at Riverside Avenue in a three-level red brick building.[6]
In 1958 Staples High School moved to its current location at 70 North Avenue.[7]
History
Seeing the "town’s lack of progress in education," Horace Staples, a wealthy businessman with interests in shipping, hardware sales, and banking, founded Staples High School.[6] Initially Staples intended to fund the school via an interest left in his will; however, that interest became known while he was still alive, and led to the school's foundation being laid in 1884.[8] On April 24, 1884, businesses closed early in Westport to celebrate the dedication of Staples High School.[6] Connecticut Governor Thomas M. Waller attended the opening.[6]
Front of Staples High School
In the first year of operation, commencing in the fall of 1884, Staples High School had 60 of the 807 students attending schools in Westport.[8]
On June 24, 1887, Staples High School conferred its first high school diplomas to six female students who comprised its first graduating class.[6]
In 1909 the Town of Westport accepted control of Staples High School from the Horace Staples estate.[6]
Activities
Inklings
The school newspaper, Inklings, has won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association gold medal every year since 2000 (in addition to a silver medal in 1999).[9] The paper has also received the rank of First Place with "Special Honors" from the American Scholastic Press Association since 2001 and has been dubbed "the best school paper in the state" by the Hartford Courant.[citation needed] Staples teaches both introductory and advanced journalism courses during which students work at Inklings.[10]
Inklings has been regularly publishing issues since 1931. Paper issues come out monthly and their website is updated daily. The current staff is composed of over 90 members.[11]
Staples Players
The nationally recognized Staples Players perform a wide assortment of theatrical productions, including two "mainstage" musicals in the 982-seat auditorium, one in the fall (mid-November) and one in the winter (mid-March). In addition, there is a Black Box production, often a play, in the spring (mid to late May), as well as the One Act Play Festival, a collection of student-directed one-act plays, which occurs in the Black Box in mid-April. Two "Studio Productions", student-directed plays, perform at Toquet Hall, a local student coffeehouse, in early March and late May.
Staples Players, in recent years, have partnered with Disney Theatricals to pilot new productions for high schools, including producing Broadway's "Newsies" in November 2017, and "The Marvel Project", in January 2019.
Recent productions have included "Curtains", "Legally Blonde", "12 Angry Men", "Merrily We Roll Along", "Newsies", "Working", and "Urinetown".
Staples Players can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and on staplesplayers.com
AP Assassination
Traditionally, after taking their final exams, AP seniors play a game called "AP Assassin." This was inspired by the 1982 film Tag: The Assassination Game, and involves students stalking and using Nerf guns to "assassinate" each other. The original entry fee was $7, but has since risen to $20; the collected money is split among the organizer of the event, the most creative assassin, the 1st-place winner, and the runner-up. Since the school administration doesn't approve of this game, an assassination can't take place on school property or school sponsored events. Guns must be pre-approved before usage.[12][13][14]
Several incidents have happened during the game:[13]
- Four students kidnapped a target by putting him in a van and driving away from campus.
- A student called 9-1-1 when her assassin approached her as she sat in her car in her driveway.
- Police received a report that a student brought a gun to school, which turned out to be a silver Nerf gun in his car.
In 1999, the game was cancelled due to the recent Columbine High School massacre. A barbecue and a game of Capture the Flag took place instead.[12] In 2013, soon after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Fairfield County happened, principal John Dodig said "I think this year, in particular, it’s poor judgment to be pretending to shoot high school students."[15]
Notable alumni
Lynsey Addario, photojournalist
Marilyn Briggs, professionally known as Marilyn Chambers, model and adult film actress.[16]
Cynthia Gibb, actress
Luke Greenfield, director
Will Haskell, Connecticut State Senator [17]
Win Headley, American football player
Paul Lieberstein, screenwriter, actor and producer
Mariangela Lisanti, theoretical physicist.[18]
Christopher Lloyd, Emmy Award winning actor, class of 1957.[19]
Mike Noonan, soccer coach.[20]
Justin Paul of the team, Pasek and Paul, is a Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning composer and lyricist.
Harry Rodrigues, actor [21]
Jane Yolen, children's book author.[22]- Adam Kaplan, actor
Awards and press coverage
- In the November 2008 issue of Connecticut Magazine, Staples High School was named "#1 High School in the State."[23]
- In 2004 the Wall Street Journal listed Staples among the best public and private schools in the United States.[citation needed]
List of principals
| No. | Principal | Years | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | James Tuft | 1884-1885 | 1 |
| 2. | Wilbur Lucius Cross[24] | 1885-1886 | 1 |
| 3. | Thomas Stearns | 1886-1890 | 4 |
| 4. | Howard Pratt | 1890-1891 | 1 |
| 5. | Bessie Taylor | 1891-1892 | 1 |
| 6. | Howard Pratt | 1893-1903 | 10 |
Unknown | 1903-1908 | 5 | |
| 7. | Bessie Taylor | 1908-1913 | 5 |
| 8. | Jay Bates | 1913-1914 | 1 |
| 9. | Grover Bowman | 1914-1920 | 6 |
| 10. | John Young | 1920-1921 | 1 |
| 11. | Elizabeth Chatfield | 1921-1922 | 1 |
| 12. | Alan Henderson | 1922-1923 | 1 |
| 13. | Horace Beach | 1923-1931 | 8 |
| 14. | Douglas Young | 1931-1953 | 22 |
| - | Gerhardt Rast | 1953-1954 | 1 |
| 15. | Stanley Lorenzen | 1954-1966 | 12 |
| - | Raymond Walch | 1966 | 1 |
| 16. | James Calkins | 1967-1974 | 7 |
| - | Robert Genualdi | 1974-1975 | 1 |
| 17. | George Cohan | 1975-1981 | 6 |
| 18. | Marvyn Jaffe | 1981-1992 | 11 |
| 19. | Gloria Rakovic | 1992-2002 | 10 |
| 20. | John Brady | 2002-2004 | 2 |
| 21. | John Dodig[25] | 2004-2015 | 10 |
| 22. | Mark Karagus | 2015-2016 | 1 |
| 23. | James D'Amico | 2016–present | |
References
^ "Main Office - Staples High School". shs.westportps.org. Retrieved 4 March 2019..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ "Staples High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
^ Woody Klein; Westport Historical Society (Conn.) (May 2000). Westport, Connecticut: the story of a New England town's rise to prominence. Greenwood Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-313-31126-0. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
^ Charles Melbourne Selleck (1896). Norwalk: v. 1 and supplement. The author. p. 74. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2007-03-06.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Web page titled "Find a Community: By Educational Reference Group (DRG)" at the "Discovery 2007 / An initiative of the William Caspar Graustein Fund" Web site. Retrieved March 25, 2007.
^ abcdef Woody Klein; Westport Historical Society (Conn.) (May 2000). Westport, Connecticut: the story of a New England town's rise to prominence. Greenwood Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-313-31126-0. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
^ Woody Klein; Westport Historical Society (Conn.) (May 2000). Westport, Connecticut: the story of a New England town's rise to prominence. Greenwood Press. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-313-31126-0. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
^ ab Woody Klein; Westport Historical Society (Conn.) (May 2000). Westport, Connecticut: the story of a New England town's rise to prominence. Greenwood Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-313-31126-0. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
^ Inzitari, Vanessa (21 March 2011). "Staples Student Newspaper Wins Big". The Daily Westport. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
^ "Staples High School Course Catalog 2018-2019" (PDF). Westport Public Schools. January 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
^ "Inklings News". Inklings News. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
^ ab Mike Allen (May 15, 1999). "A 'Killing' Game at Schools Turns Worrisome". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ ab Alexandra O'Kane (April 15, 2011). "Catch me if you can: The controversial story behind AP Assasination [sic]". Inklings. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ Jesse Heussner (June 4, 2009). "AP Assassination Gets a Shot of Popularity". Inklings. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ Ben Reiser (June 3, 2013). "Two Views on AP Assassination: Gun Violence is a Reality, Not a Game". Inklings. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
^ Connor, Tim. "The Story of M". Connecticut Magazine. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
^ https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-news-wilton-will-haskell-20181018-story.html
^ Bailer, Darice (December 24, 2000). "The View From / Westport; It's a Quantum Leap For High School Senior". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
^ Marley Brant (1 October 2006). Happier days: Paramount Television's classic sitcoms, 1974-1984. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-8230-8933-8. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
^ "Clemson's Mike Noonan To Be Inducted into Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame".
^ Dan Woog (15 February 2013). Harlem Shake and Westport Too!. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
^ Yolen, Jane. "A Short Biography". janeyolen.com. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
^ Steele, Charles (November 2008). "Top High Schools". Connecticut Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
^ Joan Shelley Rubin (2007). Songs of ourselves: the uses of poetry in America. Harvard University Press. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-0-674-02436-6. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
^ Dydzuhn, Karen Kovacs (20 January 2010). "Staples Principal John Dodig discusses high school in the 21st century". Westport News. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
External links
- Staples High School official website
- Staples Alumni registry website
- Staples High School "Strategic School Profile 2005-2006", Connecticut Department of Education
- Staples High School Web page at Great Schools Web site
