| Number of Schools Managed |
142 |
12 |
| Number of Students Managed |
126,901 students |
6,210 students |
| District Total Revenue |
$922,481,000 |
$47,973,000 |
| District Expenditure |
$1,056,103,000 |
$45,994,000 |
| District Revenue / Student |
$7,269 |
$7,725 |
| District Expenditure / Student |
$8,322 |
$7,406 |
| District Graduation Rates |
76% |
74% |
|
- North Mecklenburg High School (or simply North Meck, or North) is a high school in Huntersville, North Carolina. The school was founded in 1951 as an all-white school. It integrated in the 1960s. With over 3000 students, it was the largest school population-wise in North Carolina during the 2005-2006 school year. The current principal is Joseph Burch. Mr. Burch replaced retired principal Jimmy K. Poole in 2005.
- There are many nicknames for the school, the most common being North Meck and North. An older nickname was Redneck Tech. More recent nicknames have been given such as Crunk Meck, and then North Wreck, the nickname given by their rival, Hopewell High School.
- The school mascot is the Viking, and school colors are royal blue and white. The original mascot was a Rebel who was often seen flying a confederate flag during the period in which the school was segregated. Along with the Rebel, the original school colors of red and black were also changed when the school was integrated.
- The official school song is to the tune of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Hark The Sound, the fight song is to the tune of Ohio State's Across the Field, and the dance is named "The Boogaloo". These are performed at pep rallies and sporting events.
- History
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North Mecklenburg High School first opened its doors to students on September 4, 1951. Students came from five local schools in Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Long Creek, and Derita, forming a student body of just over 400, with a senior class of 126, and a faculty of only 27. Marion Bird became the first principal, the Rebel was adopted as the mascot, and red and black were chosen as the school colors. By 1952, the students began class councils and student body councils. Organizations like Key Club have been around since the first decade of North Meck. In 1957, North Meck won its first State Championship in baseball. The Alma Mater is sung to the tune of the song "time of our life" from the movie Dirty Dancing. In 1958 North Mecklenburg High School hosted its first foreign exchange student: Tapu Putanen from Finland. In 1960 North Mecklenburg High School hosted its second foreign exchange student: Hans Achterhuis from Holland.
- Buildings
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The school is an outdoor campus, with walkways connecting different halls together. Most halls have a specific academic purpose, from C-hall (English), to H-hall (History), to S-hall (Science), and so forth. North Meck's halls are lettered A, B, C, D, E, F, H, J, K, L, N, and S. The campus also encompasses several mobile classrooms and "blocks" of trailers. The new two-story science building, J Hall has recently been completed.
- Curriculum
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North Mecklenburg High School offers a comprehensive program including International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Academically Gifted, and advanced classes, fine arts programs, Air Force JROTC, and a variety of workforce development courses. The school has one of two auto tech courses in North Carolina. Eighty-six percent of graduates attend four-year colleges, universities, or junior colleges.
- School day
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Most of North operates on a semester schedule, which began during the 2006-2007 school year. Previously, the entire school operated on a block schedule, with classes alternating between "A Day" and "B Day" schedules. Now, only Juniors and Seniors in the IB or AP program use "A Day/B Day." Due to the large number of students, there are four lunch periods (A/B/C/D) each day. Lunch periods are determined by which building a student is in during third block.
- Awards
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In 2006, it was placed 93rd on Newsweek Magazine's Top 1200 Schools list.
- Extracurricular activities
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Beginning in 2009, North Mecklenburg competes in the I-Meck (Iredell-Mecklenburg County) conference with the following local high schools:
- Lake Norman High School "Wildcats"
- Mooresville High School "Blue Devils"
- North Mecklenburg High School "Vikings"
- Hopewell High School "Titans"
- Zebulon B. Vance High School "Cougars"
- West Charlotte High School "Lions"
- Mallard Creek High School "Mavericks"
- North Meck is known for its fan support at sporting events, especially basketball. North Meck's cross-town rival is Hopewell High School. Older North Mecklenburg alumni consider Zebulon B. Vance High School and West Charlotte High School to be their rivals. Mallard Creek High School, only a few miles from North Meck, took 1,000 students from North Meck's student population just as Hopewell and Vance did, possibly making Mallard Creek the 3rd and newest rival to North Meck since 1997. Because of the new conference re-alignment in 2009, North Meck will play Lake Norman High School for the first time in school history in all sporting events. Lake Norman's Head Football Coach, Scott Sherrill, is a former player and Head Coach at North Meck who left the school to become Lake Norman's first football coach in 2002. Their first meeting in football this season, and Coach Sherrill's first return to North Meck as an opponent has created a new rivalry game called "The Backyard Brawl" similar to Pittsburgh and West Virginia's annual football rivalry. The men's basketball teams are also expected to develop a rivalry as former North Meck players are currently playing for Lake Norman's Mens Basketball team.
- Alumni
- Andrea Stinson - Detroit Shock WNBA Player
- Bishop Eddie L. Long - Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, GA
- DeMarco Johnson - Former star of the Charlotte 49ers basketball team, Drafted 2nd round by NBA's New York Knicks in 1998
- Tony Wike - Actor, radio personality and journalist. Appeared in movies Citizen Ruth with Laura Dern and A Thousand Heroes with Charlton Heston, James Coburn and Richard Thomas; animation voices for series including "Street Sharks", "Archie's Weird Mysteries" and "Liberty's Kids"; inducted into Nebraska Radio Personalities Hall of Fame 2003.
- Michael Cavasinni - Plays baseball for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Holds the North Carolina state high school career stolen base record with 109.
- External links
- Official School Website
- Official Website of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
- Official Alumni Association Website
- Official Website of the Class of 1976
- Official Website of the Class of 1984
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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