Abington Senior High School

Public high school in Pennsylvania, United States

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Abington Senior High School

Abington Senior High School in September 2021

Address

900 Highland Ave

Abington

Montgomery County

Pennsylvania

19001

United States

Information
School type| Public high school
School district| Abington School District
Superintendent| Jeffrey S. Fecher
Principal| Alice Swift
Staff| 158.00 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades| 9th through 12th
Gender| Co-Educational
Enrollment| 2,793 (2023-2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio| 17.68[1]
Schedule type| Semester
Schedule| Block schedule, A and B days
Color(s)| Maroon and white

Mascot| Galloping Ghost
Rival| Cheltenham High School
Website| Abington Senior High School

Abington Senior High School is a four-year co-educational high school in Abington, Pennsylvania, United States. A part of the Abington School District, the school was a two-year high school known as Abington South Campus from September 1964 until June 1983. In September 1983, Abington South Campus again became a three-year high school (grades 10 through 12) and eventually changed its name back to Abington Senior High. The 2017-2018 enrollment was 1,808. The interim principal is Ms. Susan McCarthy.[2] Abington students are leaders in PSSA scores in the state of Pennsylvania and have won technology-oriented awards from Dell and Microsoft.[3][4] The school is noted for being involved in the landmark supreme court case decision: Abington School District v. Schempp.

## Demographics

[edit]

The 2022–2023 enrollment is 2,749 pupils with 666 in the senior class.[5] The school has 161.60 teachers and a student-teacher ratio of 17.01.[5] The makeup of the student body is: 45.0% White; 31.1% Black; 11.4% Hispanic or Latino, 6.6% Asian, and less than 0.01% Native American or Native Alaskan.[5] 801 students are Free lunch eligible and 34 are eligible for a reduced-price lunch.[5]

## Athletics

[edit]

Abington competing against its rival, Cheltenham High School, in 2018

Abington is a member of the Suburban One League (SOL), National Conference. They are one of the founding members of the SOL, and one of four remaining founding schools.

Abington Senior High School's mascot is a Ghost. The name comes from the late Harold "Red" Grange, a standout professional football player and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who visited the school in 1931, three years after he was petitioned to run for congress as a Republican and refused. He was nicknamed the Galloping Ghost by sports journalist Warren Brown. Grantland Rice wrote a short poem about Grange after watching him play.[6]

> A streak of fire, a breath of flame

> Eluding all who reach and clutch;

> A gray ghost thrown into the game

> That rival hands may never touch;

> A rubber bounding, blasting soul

> Whose destination is the goal — Red Grange of Illinois!

> -Grantland Rice[7]

Grantland Rice was a known racist[8] whose father was a cotton dealer and grandfather a Confederate Veteran.[9][10] Prior to Grange's nickname becoming the school's mascot in the 1930s, Abington was represented by "The Maroons". Maroon and white have continued to be the school's colors over the past century.

## School district

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The Abington School District includes eight other schools: the middle school, which serves grades 6 through 8, and seven elementary schools, which are (in order by distance from the senior high): Copper Beech, Highland, Roslyn, Overlook, Willow Hill, Rydal, and McKinley.

The Abington School District was involved in a legal case relating to mandatory prayer in school, Abington School District v. Schempp, which was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States on February 27–28, 1963. The ruling handed down on June 17, 1963, decided 8–1 in favor of the respondent, Ellery Schempp, and declared school-sponsored Bible reading in public schools to be an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. The Chief Justice presiding over the case was Earl Warren.

## Honors and distinctions

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The school was recognized as a Blue Ribbon High School in 1998–99 school year. Abington was a National Service Learning Leader School in 1998 and 2001.

In 2008–2009, Abington won the "Triple Crown" of awards for public school districts in the United States. In 2008, America's Promise Alliance named Abington one of the "100 Best Communities for Young People" for the third year. Shortly thereafter, Money magazine and CNN named Abington as one of the "Top 100 Best Places to Live" in the nation. In its 2009 list of "America's Best High Schools", U.S. News & World Report awarded Abington Senior High School a bronze medal.

Future President and then-Senator Barack Obama spoke at Abington Senior High School on October 3, 2008.

## Facilities

[edit]

Cheltenham and Abington logos next to each other in the Abington gymnasium

The school completed construction of a football stadium in 2006.

A 1965 graduate of Abington Senior High School, Stephen A. Schwarzman, announced a $25 million donation to the high school on February 15, 2018[11] which is the highest donation to a public school in history.[12]

The few conditions under which Stephen A. Schwarzman consented to donate the money for the renovation project were: renaming the school to Abington Schwarzman High School, proudly displaying his portrait in the building, naming parts of the school after his brothers, and holding the right to review construction plans for the school as well as choosing a new school logo.[11] However, there was an immediate uproar from the residents of the district regarding the renaming of the school in Stephen A. Schwarzman's honor and the idea got shut down at the School Board Meeting on April 10, 2018, under the premise that they refuse to allow big money to influence their community. Instead, the original agreement was revised to simply naming the new science and technology center after Stephen A. Schwarzman.[11] This project broke ground on November 2, 2018.[13] The grand re-opening of the additions and renovations to Abington Senior High School and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Center for Science and Technology was commemorated on Friday, August 26, 2022.[14]

## Notable alumni

[edit]

* Wayne Ambler, baseball player[15]
* Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres, co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers[16]
* Molly Bair, supermodel[17]
* Amar Bose, chairman and founder of Bose Corporation.[18]
* Ashton Carter, United States Secretary of Defense.[19]
* David Christiana, illustrator and author
* Ellie Daniel, Olympic swimming medalist[20]
* Eric Dixon, basketball player[21]
* Maddy Evans, soccer player[22]
* Susan Francia, Olympic rower[20]
* Randy Garber, former professional soccer player
* Eddie George, 1995 Heisman Trophy Winner[23]
* Don Hasenmayer, former Major League Baseball player for Philadelphia Phillies
* Amir Hinton, basketball player[24]
* Florence LaRue, lead singer of The 5th Dimension[20]
* I Michael Leitman, American Surgeon and Dean of Graduate Medical Education for Icahn School of Medicine
* Harry (Matt) Meyers, President of Pennsylvania Institute of Technology[25]
* John Paul Nolan, East Stroudsburg University baseball's all-time earned-run average leader (minimum 85.2 innings pitched) and Coordinator of Athletic Events & Facility Operations at ESU
* Larry Probst, chairman of Electronic Arts and chairman of the United States Olympic Committee[20]
* Scott Rapp at IMDb, actor
* Craig Reynolds, football player[26]
* Bob Saget, comedian and television celebrity[20]
* Ellery Schempp, Abington School District v. Schempp, court case that led to the banning of organized prayer in all public schools[27]
* Stephen A. Schwarzman, founder of the Blackstone Group[20]
* Susan Seidelman, film director[28]
* Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, professor, Yale School of Management[16]
* David Starr, professional wrestler[29]
* Lee Ving, musician, frontman for Fear_(band)[30]
* Danny Woodburn, actor[31]
* Shawn Wooden, football player[32]

## See also

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* Abington Township High School, about the previous school campus
* List of high schools in Pennsylvania

## References

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1. ^ a b c "Abington SHS". National Center for Education Statistics. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
2. ^ "Abington Senior High School". Abington Senior High School. October 19, 2021. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
3. ^ "Welcome to Abington School District". abington.k12.pa.us. June 30, 2014. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
4. ^ "Dell :: Dell Commitment News - Values in Action". Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-05. FutureReady Awards Honor Education Visionaries
5. ^ a b c d "Abington SHS". National Center for Education Statistics. National Center for Education Statistics. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
6. ^ Galloping Ghost Lobbycard Red Grange Archived June 15, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Getty Images
7. ^ Grossman, Ron (October 10, 2014). "90 years ago: Red Grange's amazing game". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
8. ^ "Why Grantland Rice Sucked". Deadspin. June 8, 2011. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
9. ^ "Major H.W. Grantland dies", The New York Times, February 18, 1926. Accessed on June 29, 2009.
10. ^ "Harold "Red" Grange". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
11. ^ a b c Kelly, Kate (April 13, 2018). "A Public Outcry Against a Wall Street Titan's Name on a High School". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
12. ^ Adams, Susan. "Steve Schwarzman Makes The Biggest-Ever Donation To A Public High School". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
13. ^ Press Release (November 12, 2018). "Abington School District breaks ground on $104M renovations at high school". Montgomery News. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
14. ^ Press Release (August 30, 2022). "New Science Center, Renovated High School Celebrated In Abington". Patch. Archived from the original on October 28, 2023.
15. ^ Sargent, Jim (2007). "Wayne Ambler". The Baseball Biography Project. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007.
16. ^ a b Cook, Bonnie L. (April 11, 2018). "Norman W. Schmid, 87, Abington Senior High School principal for 27 years". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
17. ^ Farmer, Sabrina (June 9, 2016). "Meet the Philly Model Who's Worked with Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and Kendall Jenner". Philadelphia Magazine. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
18. ^ Arnosky, Mischa (July 15, 2013). "Amar Bose, Abington Alum Who Pioneered Speaker Technology, Dies At 83". Abington, PA Patch. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
19. ^ "Carter speaks at Abington High School". dod.defense.gov. Department of Defense. March 30, 2015. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
20. ^ a b c d e f "Abington High School graduates of note". abingtonalumni.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
21. ^ "Eric Dixon - Men's Basketball". Villanova University.
22. ^ Tannenwald, Jonathan (August 16, 2017). "Glenside native Maddy Evans' retirement from playing soccer an example of ugly truth about NWSL salaries". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
23. ^ Doughty, Andrew (November 23, 2019). "Weekend Hot Clicks: Penn State Botched a Major Recruitment". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
24. ^ Foley, Matthew. "Lights, Camera, Amir Hinton". Bleacher Report.
25. ^ "It's Not Just Amy Gutmann. Philly-Area College Presidents Are Leaving in Droves". Philadelphia Magazine. July 1, 2021. Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
26. ^ Moore, Tom (September 5, 2019). "Moore: Abington grad Craig Reynolds makes big jump to the NFL". Burlington County Times. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
27. ^ "John McNamara « Diplopundit". diplopundit.net. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
28. ^ "Past Award Recipients". abington.k12.pa.us. January 10, 2017. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
29. ^ David Starr [@TheProductDS] (June 10, 2015). "@Generation_Ace Abington Sr High, Elizabethtown College/West Chester University" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
30. ^ McCloskey, Tim (October 30, 2015). "The Life and Times of Philly Hardcore Pioneer Lee Ving". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2020.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
31. ^ Rys, Richard (February 24, 2009). "Exit Inverview: Danny Woodburn". Philadelphia Magazine. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
32. ^ KMac (April 17, 2014). "Throwback Thursday: The 1989 Abington Galloping Ghosts". Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abington Senior High School.

* Official website
* Abington Township

* v
* t
* e

Abington Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Communities|

* Abington
* Ardsley
* Crestmont
* Elkins Park
* Glenside
* Hollywood
* Huntingdon Valley
* McKinley (most)
* Meadowbrook
* Noble
* North Hills
* Roslyn
* Roychester
* Rydal
* Willow Grove

Railroad stations|

* Ardsley
* Crestmont
* Meadowbrook
* Noble
* North Hills
* Roslyn
* Rydal
* Walnut Hill

Education|

* Abington School District
* Abington HS
* Abington Friends School
* Penn State Abington
* Manor College

Attractions|

* Abington Art Center
* Briar Bush Nature Center
* Keswick Theatre
* Willow Grove Park Mall

Hospitals|

* Holy Redeemer Hospital
* Jefferson Abington Hospital

History|

* Abington School District v. Schempp
* Willow Grove Park

Parks|

* Lorimer Park

* v
* t
* e

PIAA Suburban One League

American Conference|

* Cheltenham High School
* Norristown Area High School
* Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School
* Springfield Township High School
* Upper Dublin High School
* Upper Merion Area High School
* Upper Moreland High School
* Wissahickon High School

Continental Conference|

* Central Bucks High School East
* Central Bucks High School West
* Central Bucks High School South
* Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School
* North Penn High School
* Pennridge High School
* Quakertown High School
* Souderton Area High School

National Conference|

* Abington Senior High School
* Bensalem High School
* Council Rock High School North
* Council Rock High School South
* Neshaminy High School
* Pennsbury High School
* William Tennent High School
* Harry S. Truman High School

* v
* t
* e

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, schools

Main school districts

Abington|

* Abington Senior High School

Bryn Athyn|

* Does not operate any schools

Cheltenham|

* Cheltenham High School
* Cedarbrook Middle School

Colonial|

* Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
* Colonial Middle School

Hatboro-Horsham|

* Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School
* Keith Valley Middle School

Jenkintown|

* Jenkintown Middle/High School

Lower Merion|

* Lower Merion High School
* Harriton High School
* Bala Cynwyd Middle School
* Welsh Valley Middle School

Lower Moreland Township|

* Lower Moreland High School

Methacton|

* Methacton High School

Norristown Area|

* Norristown Area High School

North Penn|

* North Penn High School

Perkiomen Valley|

* Perkiomen Valley High School

Pottsgrove|

* Pottsgrove High School

Pottstown|

* Pottstown Senior High School

Springfield Township|

* Springfield Township High School

Upper Dublin|

* Upper Dublin High School

Upper Merion Area|

* Upper Merion Area High School

Upper Moreland|

* Upper Moreland High School

Wissahickon|

* Wissahickon High School
* Wissahickon Middle School

Other schools

Boyertown Area|

* Boyertown Area Senior High School
* Other schools are in Berks County

Private schools|

* Abington Friends School
* Academy Of The New Church Boys School
* Academy Of The New Church Girls School
* AIM Academy
* Armenian Sisters Academy
* Calvary Baptist School
* Coventry Christian Schools
* Dock Mennonite Academy
* Episcopal Academy
* French International School of Philadelphia
* Friends' Central School
* Germantown Academy
* Huntingdon Valley Christian Academy
* Indian Creek Mennonite School
* Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
* La Salle College High School
* Lakeside School
* Lincoln Academy
* Main Line Academy
* Martin Luther School
* Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Catholic School
* Meadowbrook School
* Merion Mercy Academy
* Mount Saint Joseph Academy
* New Life Youth & Family Svcs
* Reformation Christian School
* Saint Aloysius School
* Saint Basil Academy
* Saint Katherine Day School
* Shipley School
* Stowe Lighthouse Christ Academy
* The Baldwin School
* The Haverford School
* The Hill School
* The Pathway School
* The Perkiomen School
* Torah Academy of Greater Philadelphia
* Trinity Christian Academy
* Valley Forge Baptist Academy
* Wyncote Academy

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia|

* Bishop McDevitt High School
* Country Day School of the Sacred Heart
* Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School
* Lansdale Catholic High School
* Pope John Paul II High School

Souderton Area|

* Souderton Area High School
* Other schools are in Bucks County

Spring-Ford Area|

* Spring-Ford Senior High School
* Other schools are in Chester County

Upper Perkiomen|

* Upper Perkiomen High School
* Other schools are in Berks County

Sections of the Boyertown Area, Souderton Area, Spring-Ford Area, and Upper Perkiomen school districts extend into other counties; only schools in Montgomery County should be listed in this template

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* United States

Geographic|

* NCES

40°06′44″N 75°07′54″W﻿ / ﻿40.1122°N 75.1317°W﻿ / 40.1122; -75.1317
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