Frontier Regional School


Frontier Regional School is a regional combined public high school middle school in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States, serving students in grades 7–12, as part of the Union 38 School District. The district serves the four towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whately and Conway.

Academics

Frontier Regional runs on a semester system. Students can take 4–10 courses per semester; either 4 semester courses that meet every day, or 3 semester courses that meet every day and 5 quarter courses that meet every-other day. Quarter courses are usually non-academics, such as gym class or wood shop.

Athletics

Fall sports

Football - The Frontier Red Hawks are a part of the Intercounty League. The team has a rich a storied history, most noticeably with its rivalry with opposing team Mohawk. The rivalry dates back to when the teams faced on Veterans Day, starting back in 1934, when Frontier was known as Deerfield High School, and Mohawk as Arms Academy. Currently, the Red Hawks are ahead in the series 40-28-7. The team is a four-time MIAA Western Massachusetts Champion, with its most recent coming in the 2006 season, the second year under Dredge.
Soccer - The boys' soccer team is part of the Schmid Division and compete in MIAA Division II Soccer. Red Hawks have steadily been on the rise since 2001. Before 2001, they had not had a winning season since their inception in the early 1990s. Since 2001, the boys' soccer team has built a program that has consistently been at the top of the McGrath South table and was a No. 1 seed in the Division III tournament for the three seasons. The #1 seed has not proven lucky for the Redhawks who have yet to advance to a Western Massachusetts final. After the 2009 season, the Red Hawks moved up to MIAA Division II soccer where they have yet to achieve a winning record. This season, the Red Hawks are 10-3-4 and 5-1-1 in league games. With this season they have won league champs and are looking forward to successful D3 western mass tournament. The team is now coached by Dale Totman, a former Frontier star with over 100 points during his high school career. Dale took over for longtime coach Bill Sweidel who created a bench jumping, broom swinging legacy.
Cross Country - The 2013 boys' cross country team went undefeated and won their league title for the first time in school history. In the 2014 regular season the team lost to Mohawk Trail Regional High School in the first meet of the season but went undefeated afterwards and came runners up in the league only to Mohawk who went undefeated. On November 14, 2015, the boys' cross country team qualified for the MIAA All-State for the first time in school history. The Redhawks hope to repeat their success in the 2016 season.
Field Hockey
Volleyball - The girls' volleyball team is recognized as one of the top programs in Massachusetts, having won nine MIAA DIII State Championships, with those titles coming in the 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017 seasons. The program has won 16 Western Mass championships including the last 15 in a row, from 2005-2018+. Frontier has had 18 MGVCA Division III All-State players — Francene Cicia, Rachel Cialek, Cassidy Ciesluk, Samantha Clairemont, Sarah Conlisk, Katy Daniels, Tori Daniels, Ali Durant, Abby Majewski, Kendra Ouimette, Courtney Parent, Remi Quesnelle, Alyssa Stankowski, Cassidy Stankowski, Julia Wan, Marie Wheeler, Emily Woodward and Sarah Woodward. Cassidy Stankowski was also selected as the MA Gatorade Player of the Year in 2011 & 2012 and an AVCA All American.

Winter sports

Basketball - The boys' basketball team captured its first state championship in 1987 and has continued to dominate Division III basketball, especially in Western Massachusetts, since then. The Redhawks won their most recent state title in 2008 defeating Scituate High School. Before the 2008 run, the Frontier boys' basketball team had made numerous trips throughout the early and mid-2000s to the Western Massachusetts Division III Finals often battling its rival, Sabis International.
Cheerleading
Ice hockey - Frontier is on the co-operative team led by Turners Falls High School, and plays in the Wright League. Other schools that participate on the team are Mohawk Trail Regional High School, Franklin County Technical School, and Pioneer Valley Regional High School. Frontier has generally made up the majority of the players on the team. The team shares a rink with rival Greenfield High School, and each year they play in the 'Upton Cup' game. Greenfield is undefeated in the annual game.
Ski team

Spring sports

Baseball - The Redhawks, who are led by coach Aaron Campbell, play in the Hampshire League. In the 2008 season after a start of 7-8, the Redhawks finished as MIAA DIII Western Mass champions, advancing as far as the state finals. They finished with a record of 17-9.
Softball
Track and field - The track and field program at Frontier has a long history behind it. The girls' team, which is led by Bob Smith and Jim Recore, has a no-loss record dating back to 1998. The boys' track team is coached by Walter Flynn and Kevin Seetal and won their first league title on May 9, 2011.
Tennis

Extracurricular activities

Frontier offers a variety of extracurricular activities such as: drama club, textile club, equestrian club, art club, gateway club, community service club, photography club, National Honors Society,

Name change

In 1997, a group of local residents led by Glen Douglas approached Superintendent Jack Welch, and asked that Frontier as well as other area schools to do away with their mascots, which they deemed "offensive" to residents of Native American descent. The local schools of Mohawk, Turners Falls, and Ware all ignored the plea for a name change. However, Frontier did not, and the Frontier School Committee voted to remove the Redskin mascot and delete any reference to the term. There was much opposition, as the term ‘Redskin’ had been in use for 44 years. Thus started an over two-year struggle as to what the name should be. The debate outlasted numerous votes, student polls, and lawsuits, and a name could still not be decided on. In 1997 and 1998 students were polled as to what they wanted their new mascot to be, and in both years the majority of students ignored the choices and wrote in their current mascot. Eventually in 2000, the name was removed, and the school was labeled with the mascot ‘Redhawk’, with the 2001-2002 school year the first year the name was used.

Administration

Four elementary schools send their students to Frontier Regional upon completion of 6th grade. Those schools are: