Sussex Hamilton High School
Hamilton High School serves the southeastern Wisconsin communities of Sussex, Lisbon, Lannon, Butler, and parts of Menomonee Falls and Pewaukee. Hamilton High School is part of the Hamilton School District. Hamilton uses the block schedule, with four periods per day.
History
The school was completed in 1962. It opened for freshman and sophomores assigned to the new high school from surrounding areas such as Pewaukee, Hartland, Merton, Germantown, Menomonee Falls, Brookfield, Wauwatosa, and Waukesha. A class was added each consecutive year until the first senior class graduated in the spring of 1965. It was named in honor of Alexander Hamilton,a signer of the Constitution.
In 1970, new classrooms were added; in 1996, a science wing was added; and in 2004, the 35,000 square foot Hamilton Fine Arts Center was added. In 2006, a federal grant funded a fitness center with over 35 machines. In the summer of 2008, the gym was redone with new, updated bleachers, and the floor was refurbished. In 2012, a video scoreboard was added. In 2014 an indoor training facility was finished, and in 2016, a wing was added to relocate the history classrooms and re-organize the rest of the classrooms.
Fine arts center
The 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) Hamilton Fine Arts Center seats 750 people. The Hamilton Fine Arts Center consists of a full-fly stage, orchestra pit for live musical accompaniment, ticket booth, dressing rooms, new music rooms, costume-prop storage, control booth area and art display area The Menomonee Falls Symphony Orchestra rehearses in the band room at the high school and uses the FAC for most concerts.
Educational programs
Hamilton High School offers specialized classes for students on both sides of the learning spectrum. For advanced learners there are honors classes and AP courses. Many departments also have connections with area businesses providing the opportunity to participate in co-operative learning experiences. For "credit-deficient" students the P.A.S.S. and G.A.P. individualized course programs are offered. The school is accredited by AdvancED.[1]
Graphic arts
Students are able to work with screen printing and offset printing. To facilitate the learning of these skills the graphics lab has two single-color offset presses, one digital two-color press, two darkrooms, a camera, a straight to film printer, and a guillotine paper cutter.
Extracurricular activities
FIRST Robotics
Hamilton's robotics team is known to the robotics community as either "Charger Robotics" or "Team 537." Team 537 is composed of four primary Component Design Teams. The mechanical team builds the mechanical pieces of the robot, such as the chassis and drive train, The electrical team wires the electrical parts together, and the code team programs the internal computer that interprets the signals from the controller. The marketing team raises funds and performs publicity activities. The course team builds the full-size course used at the annual mini-regional, and the animation team designs and creates the team animation, the topic of which is released at the same time as the robot task. Sponsors include Rockwell Automation and GE.
Instrumental music
The Hamilton High School Band is led under the direction of Jon Waite. The Band program consists of a Symphonic Band (Juniors/Seniors), a concert band (Freshmen/Sophomores), two jazz bands, a competitive marching band, and a pep band. The symphonic and concert bands rehearse on a daily basis and perform at various times of the year. The marching band practices during the summer all the way to the end of the marching season. Jazz Band 1 performs publicly on a regular basis at local parties, meetings, and other events. The music program has grown in size and quality since the arrival of director Jon Waite. The marching band his improved significantly since his arrival, and is breaking its own record scores each year. There are also guitar classes and piano classes.
Choral music
The Hamilton High School Choirs are under the direction of Marilyn Mascitti. The Choir program consists of a Concert Choir (Juniors/Seniors), a Cantabile Choir(Freshmen/Sophomores), an A Cappella Choir, and a competitive show choir, Synergy. The Concert and Cantabile Choirs rehearse daily and perform at various times of the year. The A Cappella choir also practices daily, and performs at many locations around Sussex and Milwaukee, especially over the holiday season. Synergy Show Choir holds auditions in May for the following school year, and has a choreography camp at the end of July. Their rehearsals take place after regular school hours twice a week and they compete around Wisconsin. They have brought home multiple first-place finishes in the Class A Category, and are proud to have also brought home the Spirit Award at multiple competitions. Under Mascitti's direction, the choir program has expanded from a single, 30-member all female ensemble, to four mixed choirs, all performing music of varying degrees of difficulty and style.
Athletics
In 2007, the basketball team lost in the sectional round of the state playoffs. In 2008, the football team won three playoff games, eventually losing in the state semifinal round. In 2011 the football team was conference champs and once again made it into the third round of the state playoffs in division one. Both the boys and girls basketball programs were GMC conference champs in the 2012-2013 season. The girls bowling team was also very successful. They were district VII conference champs and Placed 3rd at state. Cheerleaders were WACPC state runners-up. The girls track and field team had many successful years. In 2010 they placed 2nd in the 4x100 relay. In 2011they won state in the 4x200 meter relay and the 4x400 meter relay. In 2012 they placed 4th in the 4x400 meter relay, and 2nd in the 4x200 meter relay at the state meet. They also hold many records in all of these relays.
Clubs
There are many clubs and activities to participate in as extracurricular activities. The academic decathlon is a team competition wherein students match their intellects with students from other schools. Charger Television explores film making, video production, audio production, animation, and broadcast journalism. The Cultural Exchange Club promotes awareness and understanding of other people and cultures in our global society by providing support to our exchange students and opportunities for club members to get to know one another, cooperate on projects and have fun. DECA is a marketing and business organization made up of students. It is a local, state, and national organization. There are many foreign language clubs offered at Hamilton. They include Spanish, French, and German. In these foreign language clubs, students learn about the different cultures and go on field trips to learn more about the cultures and participate in them. Other clubs are also yearbook, art, book group, chess, drama, student council, forensics, graphic arts, photo, show choir, and project caring. Some physically active clubs include intramural basketball, weightlifting, trapp shooting club, and ski and snowboard club.
External links
References
- ↑ Institution Summary, AdvancED, Retrieved 2012-07-08