Cheltenham High School


Cheltenham High School is a public high school in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located half a mile from the border of the City of Philadelphia and 6 miles from Center City. Serving grades 9 through 12, Cheltenham is the only high school in the School District of Cheltenham Township. It is fed by Cedarbrook Middle School, the only school in the school district for grades 7 and 8.
Cheltenham High School was established in 1884 and is one of the oldest public high schools in Pennsylvania. The first location was on Ashbourne Road, and at the time of its closing in 1953, it was considered the oldest public school site in continuous use. The next building was at High School Road and Montgomery Avenue in Elkins Park. The current Cheltenham High School located at 500 Rices Mill Road in Wyncote was built in 1959. It sits on a land area of approximately 47 acres, and is bound by Route 309, Route 152, Panther Road, Rices Mill Road, Carlton Avenue, and Old Mill Road.
In 2017–18 the student ethnicity was distributed as follows: 54% Black, 31% White, 8% Asian, and 5% Hispanic..The school has approximately 1400 students in grades 9 through 12, with a student-teacher ratio of about 12:1.
Cheltenham's athletic teams are known as the Cheltenham Panthers and are members of the PIAA District 1 in the American Conference of the Suburban One League. They have a long-standing Thanksgiving Day football game with their bitter cross-town rival, Abington Senior High School. The rivalry celebrated its 100th year in 2015.
Among the school's notable alumni are Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, his older brother Yoni Netanyahu, their class of 1964 classmate baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, talk radio host Mark Levin, 15-time Grammy Award winner Michael Brecker, and rapper Lil Dicky.

Graduation rate

In 2012, Cheltenhem Township School District graduation rate was 89.92%. In 2011, the graduation rate was 93.97%. In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4-year cohort graduation rate. Cheltenham High School's rate was 82.37% for 2010.
;According to traditional graduation rate calculations:
In 2012, Cheltenham High School declined again to Warning AYP status due to low graduation rate and poor mathematics achievement. In 2012, the School achieved AYP status.
11th Grade Reading:
11th Grade Math:
11th Grade Science:
According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 47% of the Cheltenham High School graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges. Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.

Graduation requirements

Four years of English, four of Physical Education, three of Social Studies, three of Mathematics, three of Science, one of Economics, one of Health.
By Pennsylvania School Board regulations, beginning with the class of 2017, public school students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in Algebra I, Biology, and English Literature by passing the Keystone Exams. The exam is given at the end of the course. Keystone Exams replace the PSSAs for 11th grade.
Students have several opportunities to pass the exam. Those who do not pass after several attempts can perform a project in order to graduate. For the class of 2019, a Composition exam will be added. For the class of 2020, passing a civics and government exam will be added to the graduation requirements. In 2011, Pennsylvania high school students field tested the Algebra 1, Biology and English Lit exams. The statewide results were: Algebra 1 38% on grade level, Biology 35% on grade level and English Lit - 49% on grade level. Individual student, school or district reports were not made public, although they were reported to district officials by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Students identified as having special needs and qualifying for an Individual Educational Program may graduate by meeting the requirements of their IEP.

Dual enrollment

Cheltenham High School offers a dual enrollment program. This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits. Students remain enrolled at their high school. The courses count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. The students continue to have full access to activities and programs at their high school. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The state offered a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books. Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions. Under state rules, other students that reside in the district, who attend a private school, a charter school or are homeschooled are eligible to participate in this program. In 2010, Governor Edward Rendell eliminated the grants to students, from the Commonwealth, due to a state budget crisis.
For the 2009-10 funding year, the Cheltenham Township School District received a state grant of $11,657 for the program.

SAT scores

In 2011, 301 Cheltenham High School students took the SAT exams. The District's Verbal Average Score was 513. The Math average score was 520. The Writing average score was 505. Pennsylvania ranked 40th among states with SAT scores: Verbal - 493, Math - 501, Writing - 479. In the United States average scores were: 497 verbal, 514 math and 489 in writing.

Advanced Placement courses

Cheltenham offers 29 AP courses, ranging from math to art. They are:
AP Biology, AP Calculus AB & BC, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science, AP English, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP European History, AP French, AP German, AP Human Geography, AP US Government and Politics, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Latin Literature, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Music Theory, AP Physics B,,, AP Psychology, AP Spanish Language, AP Statistics, AP Studio Art, AP United States History, AP World History.

Classes

English

English is taught through all four years of high school. Students learn new vocabulary, study poetry and Shakespeare plays, discuss grade appropriate reading material, and are taught the correct way to write analytical essays, in preparation for college.

Social Studies

Social Studies has an assigned curriculum every year, broken down as follows:
9th grade: World Cultures,
10th grade: World History,
11th grade: American History,
12th grade: Economics.
There are AP courses that can be taken in place of or in addition to these requirements.

Mathematics

Math varies for each student depending upon which level they have tested. Typically students take Algebra I in 9th grade, Geometry in 10th grade, Algebra II in 11th grade, and Pre-Calculus in 12th grade. Some students start 9th grade at Geometry, and then finish with Calculus. Advanced students start 9th grade with Algebra II, and take Calculus II as a senior.

Science

For Science, all 9th graders are assigned Biology, 10th graders, Chemistry. 11th graders and 12th graders have choices such as Marine Biology, Physics, Microbiology, Anatomy, and other AP level courses.

World Languages

CHS offers four languages: Spanish, French, Latin, and German. Languages are initially introduced at Cedarbrook Middle School in 7th grade. Each language has 5 levels of curriculum, and while not mandatory, some students opt to advance to the highest level, focusing on one language.

Unified Arts

Unified Arts is a collection of courses revolving around fine arts and other types of vocations. These courses include Art, Choirs, Technical Drawing, Photography, Architectural Drawing, Building Structures, Woodworking Technology, Jewelry, Culinary Arts, TV Production, Graphic Arts, Pottery, et al.. These courses can be taken as majors or minors.

Physical Education

Freshmen are assigned gym classes all four marking periods, but 10th, 11th, and 12th graders can select which gym activity they want to participate in. During the 4th marking period, students have a series of Physical Fitness Tests, to see if they qualify for the National Physical Fitness Award or the Presidential Physical Fitness Award.

Classrooms for the future grant

The Classroom for the Future state program provided districts with hundreds of thousands of extra state funding to buy laptop computers for each core curriculum high school class and paid for teacher training to optimize the computers use. The program was funded from 2006 to 2009. The Cheltenham Township School District did not apply to participate in 2006-07. In 2007-08, the high school received $100,000. The High School received $187,351 in 2008-09, yielding a total funding of $287,351. The grant program was discontinued by Governor Edward Rendell as part of the 2009-10 state budget.

Extracurriculars

Cheltenham Township School District offers a wide variety of clubs, activities and an extensive, costly sports program. Eligibility for participation is determined by school board policy.
By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students residing in the district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in the extracurricular programs including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.

Athletics

CHS is a member of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, and in the Suburban One American Conference. It was one of the founding members of the SOL in 1922, and is one of 4 of the remaining original schools. Cheltenham Athletics promote sportsmanship above self, and therefore, consistently receive the SOL Sportsmanship Award. Cheltenham has teams in the following sports: Asterisk designates available to both boys and girls.

Fall sports

The Cheltenham Girls basketball team won the PIAA AAAA state championship in 2000, and again in 2007. They have won PIAA District 1 titles, and the Suburban One American Conference 23 times. Coach Bob Schaefer won his 700th game on February 5, 2010, and has coached the Panthers for 30 years. He has coached the WBCA All-American Forward, Laura Harper, who plays in the WNBA. Harper scored 2007 points during her Cheltenham Career. In 2007, the Panthers were honored by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame with the "Pride of Philadelphia Award." The award is given to individuals or teams who have "represented the Philadelphia area with dignity, determination, and class through athletic achievement. " On Tuesday March 27, 2012, Schafer resigned from his 31-year post as the Lady Panthers head coach. He finished with a 757-163 record, 2 PIAA AAAA state titles, 2 state runner-up, 4 District I Championships, and the Suburban One League champions 24 out of the last 26 years. Schaefer, a West Hazleton native, was inducted into the Hazleton Area Sports Hall of Fame in September, 2012.

Girls Track and Field

The Cheltenham Girls Track and Field Team has won six state championships. They have won four indoor PTFCA indoor state championships and two outdoor PIAA State Championships. They have also won seven PIAA District 1 championships

Cheltenham–Abington rivalry

The Cheltenham–Abington rivalry, also known as "The Turkey Bowl", is a football game played between the Cheltenham Panthers and the Abington Galloping Ghosts. It has been played annually on Thanksgiving Day since 1915, unless one of the teams has conflicts with PIAA playoffs. The rivalry is the fifth-oldest public high school rivalry in Pennsylvania, and the seventh-oldest including private schools. The schools are less than 2 miles apart. Despite not being in the same conference, the rivalry is prevalent in other sports, mainly basketball. In some sports, the teams do not play each other at all. Abington leads the overall series 55–34-6. Below is a chart of the all-time games of the rivalry.

Media

Cheltenham High School publishes a school newspaper "The Cheltonian," the school yearbook "El Delator," and various interviews, polls, and student work aired on Comcast channel 42, which is the township channel.

Music and Arts

Theatre

Cheltenham hosts an annual Music Theatre production, which occurs annually on the week preceding Spring Break.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty