- North Penn High School is a part of the North Penn School District and is located in Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania, about a mile outside of Lansdale borough, 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia, along Valley Forge Road (PA Route 363). It operates under the Principal Burton T. Hynes and the school colors are Navy and Columbia blue. The school hours are 7:25AM to 2:22PM.
- When North Penn High School was created in 1955 to serve a newly consolidated school district, it incorporated students from three former schools: Hatfield High School, Lansdale High School, and North Wales High School. The original North Penn High School building was the one that had served as Lansdale High School since the 1930s. The former Hatfield and North Wales buildings were eventually converted to elementary schools. The North Wales building is still used for this purpose today. The Hatfield building, later renamed the Laudenslager School, was eventually replaced by a newer building. The old school was then sold by the North Penn School District, and now serves as the home of the Biblical Theological Seminary.
- The current North Penn High School was constructed in 1971 because of severe overcrowding at the original school. The former high school building, located on Penn Street in Lansdale, is now Penndale Middle School. The students of Penndale Middle School, Pennbrook Middle School, and Pennfield Middle School graduate to North Penn High School. The thirteen elementary schools that feed into the three middle schools are A.M. Kulp Elementary, Bridle Path Elementary, General Nash Elementary, Gywn-Nor Elementary, Gwynedd Square Elementary, Hatfield Elementary, Inglewood Elementary, Knapp Elementary, Montgomery Elementary, North Wales Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Walton Farm Elementary, and York Avenue Elementary.
- North Penn High School is among the largest statewide, with student enrollment for the 2005-2006 school year at 3,423.Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are represented at the high school, while freshmen (commonly the first year of high school) are enrolled in one of the three aforementioned middle schools. The middle schools enroll grades 7 - 9 while the elementary schools enroll grades K - 6.
- The graduating class of 2008 was 1036.
- Honors
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The school hosted the 75th Anniversary National Association of Student Councils (NASC) national conference from June 24-28, 2006, where students from 49 states, as well as Australia, Canada, and Puerto Rico attended.
- North Penn High School and Knapp Elementary School both celebrated their 50th anniversaries in the year of 2005.
- North Penn High School's International Thespian troupe was the first high school to start a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) high school chapter in the world. BC/EFA is a charity in which Broadway actors, and now high schools, can raise money which gets sent to this charity to fight AIDS. North Penn has an annual gala to raise money in addition to auctioning off many pieces of Broadway memorabilia.
- In the 2001-2002 school year, the high school participated in the Y100 Food Drive for the first time, and won 1st place. As a prize, Saves the Day played a free, private concert for them. In the 2006-2007 school year, the high school participated in the WMMR Preston and Steve Food Drive and donated over 2 tons of food. They won 1st place, and as a result, were awarded an OK Go concert.
- In 2006, The North Penn Marching Knights won the USSBA Grand National Championship at the Naval Academy, and they also won their 10th consecutive state championship.
- On Friday, April 18, 2008, former President Bill Clinton visited North Penn High School. Due to the school's large community and student body, it was chosen as one of the places that a representative of the Clinton campaign would speak.
- Sports
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In 2005, 2006, and 2007 Sports Illustrated distinguished North Penn as having the best athletic program in Pennsylvania, noting that the school has "won 45 state championships over the last 10 years" and "is a power in football and is also dominant in boys' swimming." The school is also prominent in boys' and girls' water polo, and boys' winter track, spring track, and cross country.
- The football teams latest state title was in 2003.
- Former North Penn football coach Mike Pettine is now on the coaching staff of the New York Jets as defensive coordinator. Alumnus Mark Will-Weber is a successful distance runner and writer. After coaching prominent Division III teams at Moravian College, and authoring The Quotable Runner, he now teaches writing at Moravian.
- North Penn offers a variety of sports and students can participate in football, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' swimming, boys' and girls' water polo, softball, baseball, boys' and girls' golf, boys' and girls' tennis, wrestling, boys' and girls' indoor and outdoor track, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' and girls' lacrosse, boys' and girls' volleyball, field hockey, dance, cheerleading, boys' and girls' bowling, ice hockey, rugby, and ultimate Frisbee.
- Marching Knights
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The North Penn Marching Knights was formed in December 1971. Since then, they have received many awards and honors. A few of the places that they have performed at are the Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500, and the Fiesta Bowl. Their major motion picture credits include both "Blow Out" and "Rocky V". The Marching Knights have held Bands of America Regional Finalist titles for 10 consecutive years and have won 10 consecutive USSBA regional championships. The Marching Knights have won the Cavalcade of Bands Yankee Conference Championship 13 times. In 2006, the North Penn Marching Knights was the first band to receive the title of USSBA Grand National Champion. In addition, the Marching Knights competed in their first BOA Super Regional in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2007, the North Penn Marching Knights placed third place in the USSBA northern state championships and first place at the USSBA Grand National Championship. The current band director is Bryan Clayton. The marching band is led by two drum majors and many student leaders. Each drum major and student leader is selected by the Marching Knights staff.
- An extension of the Marching Knights is North Penn's indoor program. The indoor program consists of the percussion ensemble, visual ensemble, jazz band, and lab band. Each member of each ensemble must audition and be selected by a staff member. The percussion and visual ensemble have each participated in many competitions, most notably Winter Guard International Championships. The jazz and lab bands each compete at jazz festivals and have competed in the Cavalcade Jazz Championships.
- In the media
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In 1999, ESPN featured the football team in a documentary entitled "The Season."
- The school's football team was featured in the 1999 film "The Last Game". The movie includes a storyline about North Penn's former rivalry with neighboring Central Bucks West High School.
- In 2004, the school made national news and was the subject of a show on MTV due to the elaborate senior class prank pulled by Thomas McDonald, Brendan Mulvihill, Marty Sandeen, Andrew Molholt, Jay Habre, and 50+ participants they recruited over the course of the entire 2003-2004 academic year. On the night of June 6, the rear and cafeteria courtyards of the school's grounds were forked with over 40,000 plastic forks. At graduation, Dr. Hassler, the superintendent, threw forks onto the field to congratulate the senior class on their brilliant and harmless senior prank.
- On Friday, April 18, 2008, former President Bill Clinton delivered a speech on the steps of North Penn High School at a rally for Hillary Clinton's presidency. The Pennsylvania primary was Tuesday April 22. Preceding President Clinton were introductions by PA Representative Allyson Schwartz, former Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, and student body president Ryan Scott Lechner.
- On Monday, September 8, 2008, John Oates, half of Hall & Oates and member of the Class of 1966, returned to North Penn for an assembly in his honor, which included a video about his life made by the school's broadcasting class, and a question and answer period. He also played several songs from his new solo album 1000 Miles of Life, and "Rich Girl".
- Contact information
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North Penn High School
1340 Valley Forge Road
Lansdale, PA 19446 - Notable alumni
- John Oates (Class of 1967) Member of the musical duo Hall & Oates
- Michael E. Brown - (Class of 1972) Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
- Jay Caufield (Class of 1978) Former NHL Player. Won Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991/1992 season.
- Liza Weil (Class of 1995) Television and theater actress, Paris Geller on Gilmore Girls
- Kevin Akins (Class of 2004) Standout linebacker for Boston College
- Andrew Bryniarski - Film and television actor. Appeared as Leatherface in the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Notes and references
- External links
- North Penn High School Website
- North Penn School District Website
- North Penn Knights Alumni Athletic Association Website
- North Penn Television Website
- North Penn Marching Knights Website
- 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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