Altoona Area High School (AAHS) is the public high school for the

Altoona Area School District The Altoona Area School District is a large, urban, public school district based in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The school district encompasses which includes all of Altoona, Logan Township and a small portion of Tyrone Township. According to 2 ...

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. ...

. The high school serves the communities of Altoona, Logan Township, and a small portion of Tyrone Township. The

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

is the eighteenth largest in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, and the high school is one of the largest and best known in the state. Altoona Area High School (AAHS) teaches grades 9 through 12.

History

The first six official graduates of Altoona Area High School graduated in 1877. A riot occurred at the school in 1907 after boys in the senior class attempted to disrupt a junior class social. A large fight ensued and several students were injured after students threw stones and fired revolvers. Another riot occurred at the school in 1910 after 25 senior students—on their last day of school—marched into the school's chapel service with their faces smeared. A large fight resulted, leading to the arrest of two students and suspension of 25 others. In 1943, Altoona High became the only high school in the United States to have a World War II veteran as its class president. Robert G. Pennington, 18, had enlisted in 1942, and served four months in the Marine Corps before obtaining a medical discharge. He then returned to school. Country music star and gay rights activist

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the number one hit ...

attended the school's 1998 prom, after accepting a request from student Dave Showalter that she be his date. In 2002, school officials permitted an undercover female police officer to pose as a student for three months in order to identify drug transactions at the school. Five students were charged with drug violations.

Facility

The school was first located at the Webster Building, then became established in a separate building until 1895. In 1905, it moved to its present location on sixth avenue. This building cost $250,000. After the First World War, the building was not large enough to house the number of students it had enrolled. In 1927, a $1 million annex was added to accompany the facilities. A $14 million project during the 1970s allowed the school to be completely renovated and a 1200-seat auditorium was built. A new

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

, called the fieldhouse, was also constructed. In 1995, the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

High School All-America game was telecast live from the fieldhouse by

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

Building features

The school itself consists of two buildings (A and B) which contain a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

, full size gym,

television studio A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for t ...

, auxiliary gym, electronic learning laboratory, and regulation size

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

. An $88 million renovation of building A and a new B building was constructed across sixth avenue on the site of a former intramural playing field and running track. The new Building B is connected to Building A by a pedestrian bridge over Sixth Avenue. The new building opened in fall of 2021. The Vocational Technology Center is located adjacent to the high school.

Students and teachers

*Number of students- 1962 **Tenth grade- 688 **Eleventh grade- 671 **Twelfth grade- 439 *Number of teachers- 118

William P. Kimmel Alternative School

The District offers this school for students who are not successful or are disruptive in the traditional public school setting. The school focuses on dropout prevention, improving student's reading and math skills and assisting the student to successfully graduate. The school was named for a former school board president.

Extracurriculars

The district offers a variety of clubs, activities and an extensive sports program. The district owns three fields with artificial turfs enhance physical education, intramural and interscholastic athletic opportunities.

Clubs and organizations

The school offers a wide variety of clubs and organizations that the students can join. These include Concert Chorus,

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

, one basic and one advanced Jazz Bands, An award-winning, nationally ranked

Marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

Pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchin ...

, Wind Ensemble, String Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble, Chorus, Auxiliary, Mountain Lion Television (MLTV), ETC (Et Cetera

Literary Magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

), Horseshoe (

Yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...

), Mt. Echo (

Newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

), Advanced Dance Class Club, Ambassador Club, Astronomy Club, Chess Club, The Circle of Friends (

Support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

), Computer Club, Class Organizations, Diversity Group, Earthkeepers, Foreign Language Club (now known as Fanatics for Language and Culture), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Future Homemakers of America Club (FCCLA), General Interest Club, Girls' League, Homecoming Committee, Interact Club, Junior Academy of Science,

Key Club Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hig ...

, Lioneers (dance/drill team), Mock Trial Team,

National Art Honor Society The National Art Honor Society was established in 1978 in the United States by the National Art Education Association for high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the ...

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

(NHS), REACH (Support group), Peer Mediation Program, Performing Arts Club, Principal's Student Advisory Committee, Speech League,

Student Council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), Scholastic Scrimmage Team, Sports Interest Club, Youth Education Association Club, and Youth and Government Club.

Athletics

There are numerous sports and athletic programs available to the students at Altoona Area High School including an

Intramural sports Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...

program. The Football and Track and Field teams compete at historic Mansion Park, which recently underwent field replacement. The District also operates the Sheetz Athletic Training Center a 3600 square-foot facility opened in August, 2009. AltoonaMansionPark2

Male sports

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, Cross Country,

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, Winter Track, and

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Female sports

Basketball,

Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

, Cross Country, Golf,

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

, Soccer,

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, and Winter Track.

State champions

The following Altoona High School teams won PIAA state championships in their respective sports. *1939 Boys' Cross Country *1941 Boys' Cross Country (tied with Mt. Lebanon) *1951 Boys' Cross Country *1954 Boys' Cross Country *1982 Girls' Cross Country *1983 Girls' Cross Country *1986 Girls' Basketball *1988 Girls' Basketball *1988 Girls' Cross Country *1995 Girls' Basketball *2008 Boys' Outdoor Track & Field *2009 Boys' Indoor Track & Field *2010 Boys' Indoor Track & Field *2010 Boys' Outdoor Track & Field

Notable alumni

Brad Benson Brad William Benson (born November 25, 1955 in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is a former professional American football player. He was an offensive lineman with the New York Giants of the National Football League from 1978 to 1988 and was a pivotal membe ...

, former professional football player,

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Rob Boston Robert Boston (born December 7, 1962) is Senior Adviser for Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Editor of ''Church & State'' magazine. He has worked at Americans United since 1987, and formerly served as Assistant Director of Co ...

, author, advocate of church-state separatio. * Blaine Earon, former professional football player,

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

Danny Fortson Daniel Anthony Fortson (born March 27, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1997 to 2007. Early life Although born in Philad ...

, former professional basketball player *

Richard Geist Richard A. "Rick" Geist (November 21, 1944 – August 29, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 79th District, first elected in 1978. Career Prior to his election ...

, former

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

member *

Kevin Givens Kevin Givens (born March 1, 1997) is an American football defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State. Early life and high school Givens was born in Newark, New ...

, professional football player,

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Mike Iuzzolino Michael Alan Iuzzolino (born January 22, 1968) is an assistant men's basketball coach at Robert Morris University and a retired professional basketball player. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round (35th pick overall) of the ...

, former professional basketball player *

Betty James Betty M. James (February 13, 1918 – November 20, 2008) was an American businessperson who came up with the name for the Slinky her husband Richard T. James invented. She ran James Industries, the firm that manufactured the toy, by herself st ...

, businesswoman, wife of

Slinky The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented by Richard James in the early 1940s. It can perform a number of tricks, including travelling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its ow ...

inventor Richard T. James *

Johnny Moore (basketball) John Brian Moore (born March 31, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. Moore played college basketball for The University of Texas at Austin under head coaches Leon Black and Abe Lemons from 1975 to 1979. He spent his entir ...

, professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs. Retired #00 * Maury Patt, deceased professional football playerMaury Patt NFL Football Statistics , Pro-Football-Reference.com
/ref> * Mike Reid, songwriter, football player, Grammy Award winner *

Doug West Jeffery Douglas West (born May 27, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. A shooting guard/small forward from Villanova University, West was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the 1989 NBA draft. An ...

, former professional basketball player,

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

and

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

musician, Grammy award nominee

References

External links

History of the school

Greatschools.net

Public School Review
{{authority control High schools in Central Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Altoona, Pennsylvania Schools in Blair County, Pennsylvania 1895 establishments in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1895 Public high schools in Pennsylvania Altoona, Pennsylvania