Lebanon High School (Pennsylvania)


Lebanon Senior High School houses grades nine through twelve for the Lebanon School District, and is located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The current building, which also serves as district headquarters, opened to students for the 1969-70 school year. The school, with a unique architecture featuring three circular buildings, underwent extensive renovations completed in early 2013.
The school's mascot is the cedar tree. In 2013, the cedar tree mascot, Rooty, was featured in a mini-series on HULU entitled Behind the Mask.

Internal description

Each of the school's three buildings includes a principal occupant which is used to identify the specific building. The "Library" building contains most of the school's classrooms and the library itself features a glass dome ceiling. In addition to the gym, the "Gymnasium" building includes the school's cafeteria. Since the renovations, the offices of the high school are located in the West in-fill and the district offices are found in the North in-fill. The renovations also resulted in the enclosure of the school's courtyard into a large atrium.

Graduation rate

2010 - 83%

2009 - 79%

2008 - 80%

2007 - 80%

2006 - 77%, State 88%

Academic achievement

The high school is in Making Progress: in Corrective Action II AYP status in 2010 due to chronic low academic achievement in reading and mathematics. In 2009, the school was in Did not make AYP - Corrective Action II 2nd Year AYP status.
PSSA Results

11th Grade Reading

2010 - 49% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 67% of 11th graders on grade level.

2009 - 44%, State - 65%

2008 - 33%, State - 65%

2007 - 45%, State - 65%

2006 - 43%, State - 65%

2005 - 39%, State - 65%
11th Grade Math:

2010 - 51% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 59% of 11th graders are on grade level.

2009 - 44%, State - 56%

2008 - 33%, State - 56%

2007 - 40%, State - 53%

2006 - 36%, State - 52%

2005 - 42%, State - 51%
11th Grade Science:

2010 - 24% on grade level. State - 40% of 11th graders on grade level.

2009 - 17%, State - 40%

2008 - 11%, State - 40%

College remediation

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 42% of Lebanon School District 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. Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years. 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.

Dual enrollment

The 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. At LHS the courses are offered at Harrisburg Area Community College, Lebanon Valley College, and Harrisburg University of Science and TEchnology. 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, including the graduation ceremony. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The state offers a small grant to assist enrollees 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.
For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $15,812 for the program.

Graduation requirements

By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students must complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.
Beginning with the class of 2015, students must take the Keystone Exams in Literature and Algebra 1. As originally drafted, beginning in 2017 the law would have required students to have passed the Keystone exams in order to graduate. However, the requirement that students pass either the Keystone exams in Literature, Biology and Algebra or an equivalent project-based assessment has now been delayed until the 2018-2019 school year. The delay was implemented to order to allow officials "time to resolve some of the unintended consequences of Keystone implementation."

Programs

Lebanon High School is well-known for its music programs. It has many performing groups including:
Concert Choir,
Chamber Singers,
Show Choir,
Jazz Choir, Orchestra,
Chamber Orchestra,
Symphonic Band,
Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble,
and Marching Band.
Students participate in PMEA District 7, LLMEA music festivals, and other festivals/events.
The music department also produces a Broadway-quality musical every spring. Musicals from the last few years include Cinderella, West Side Story, and Newsies.

Notable alumni