ST. HELENA HIGH SCHOOL

'St. Helena High School' or more commonly, 'St. Helena High', is an American public high school located in St. Helena, CA in the Napa Valley of California. St. Helena High serves grades 9-12 and is the only source of secondary education in the St. Helena Unified School District.

Contents

History

Courses

Campus

Athletics

External link

History

The first "high school" in St. Helena were actually classes held at the local Presbyterian Church for 1 year in 1895. The next year, the high school had its first official building when it moved into the now defunct Turner Hall in Lyman Park in the center of the town. Classes were held there until 1911.
In 1910, Frances Grayson Crane donated land to open a new high school. Construction finished in 1911 and the resulting school, named Vintage Hall, was opened. Vintage Hall boasted two stories, a laboratory, a woodshop and a basketball court. An auditorium was built adjacent to Vintage Hall around the 60's. Vintage Hall was used from 1911 until the 1960s when it was declared unsafe for children. In 1967, a new building, now known as the 100 Wing was built. Two more wings were built soon after and a new office was constructed in 1975. By then, Vintage Hall was no longer used at all.
When all construction was completed, the school now had 3 wings, an office, a gymnasium, a baseball field, a football field and a pool. In the years following the construction of the new high school, a JV baseball field was built, as well as two Ag buildings.
Currently, St. Helena wishes to implement the International Baccalaureate program and phase out the AP system already in place starting in the 2009-10 school year.

Courses

'Advance Placement'
As of the 2006-2007 school year, there are currently 8 AP classes

★ AP Biology ★ AP Calculus ★ AP French

★ AP English Language ★ AP English Literature

★ AP Spanish ★ AP Spanish Literature ★ AP US History

Campus

St. Helena High is located near several wineries and vineyards near downtown St. Helena. The school itself is parallel to California State Route 29 on the southern end of town.

Athletics

The Saints, as St. Helena is colloquially known, compete in the North Central League 1 in the Coastal Mountain Conference. The CMC itself is a member of the North Coast Section of the CIF. The Saints have done well in recent years, capturing a league championship in football for the fist time since 1978. The boy's soccer team made it to the semi-finals of the NCS Championships and the girl's volleyball team made it to the second round of the NCS Tournament.
Traditionally, St. Helena's rival is Justin-Siena High School of nearby Napa. The two school's football teams would meet each year in what was known as the 'Vine Bowl' until 2000 when Justin joined the MCAL making matches against St. Helena and Justin scarce and relegated to just the NCS Playoffs. St. Helena's geographical rival, Calistoga has moved to another league within the Coastal Mountain Conference making their matchups scarce as well. Lately, however, sporting events against Middletown High School of nearby Middletown have become more heated and a small rivalry has started to form.

External link