Douglas S. Freeman High School

Douglas S. Freeman High School

Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County, Virginia
Address
8701 Three Chopt Road,
Henrico, Virginia, 23229
Coordinates 37°36′5.7″N 77°33′29.7″W / 37.601583°N 77.558250°W / 37.601583; -77.558250Coordinates: 37°36′5.7″N 77°33′29.7″W / 37.601583°N 77.558250°W / 37.601583; -77.558250
Information
School type Public high school
Founded 1954
School district Henrico County Public Schools
Principal Mrs. Anne L. Poates
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1,660
Language English
Campus Suburban
Color(s)           Blue and Gray
Mascot Rebels
Newspaper The Commentator
Yearbook The Historian
Literary Magazine The Educator
Rival Schools Mills E. Godwin High School
Deep Run High School
Atlhetic Conference Virginia High School League
5A South Region
Conference 11
Website Official Site

Douglas S. Freeman High School is an American educational institution located in the western part of Virginia's Henrico County.[1]

History

Part of Henrico County Public Schools system,[2] the institution is named for Pulitzer Prize-winning Virginia author, newspaper editor, historian and pioneering radio broadcaster Douglas Southall Freeman (1886–1953).[3] It opened in 1954,[3] slightly more than one year after Freeman's death.

Academics

The principal of the school is Anne L. Poates.[4] Henrico County runs a system in which each high school contains a specialty center, a separate but integrated entity within the school that functions as a magnet program. The centers offer advanced courses to students who have clear interests and specific educational and/or career goals.[5] Douglas Freeman High School's center is the Center for Leadership, Government and Global Economics, led by Robert Peck.[6]

Athletics

Freeman is a member of the Virginia High School League. It competes in the AAA Central Region and AAA Colonial District. The school colors are blue and gray and the teams are nicknamed the "Rebels".[7] The colors and mascot were devised as a tribute to Douglas Freeman's extensive study of the Civil War.

Virginia High School League AAA State Championship Teams

The boys' volleyball team has been VHSL AAA State Semi-Finalists in 2011 and 2012. The girls' soccer team also was in the state tournament in 2013. The baseball team won the last ever Central Region championship in 2013 and as a result advanced to the state tournament.

Notable alumni

Bill Leverty—Guitarist for the American rock band Firehouse

Media

The school publishes a newspaper (The Commentator), a literary magazine (The Educator), and a yearbook (The Historian). Douglas Freeman High School was mentioned in a Washington Post article referring to the school's revival of the historic "Rebel Man" mascot.[13]

In popular culture

James E. Ryan's book Five Miles Away, A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of Educational Opportunity in Modern America explores the issue of economic school segregation by comparing Freeman to nearby Thomas Jefferson High School, located in the city of Richmond. Arguing for more freedom in school choice, Ryan cites findings that "high-poverty" schools (like Thomas Jefferson) consistently under-perform "low-poverty" schools (like Freeman) academically, regardless of the financial resources allocated to them. He concludes: "The truth is that separating the poor and politically powerless in their own schools and districts is antithetical to the idea of equal educational opportunity."[14]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.