Concord, New Hampshire
Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third larg ...
, in the United States.
History
Concord's first public high school was established in 1846. The original building was the building on the corner of State and School streets. A new school house was built in 1862, which stood until April 1888, when it burned down during a fire started by a
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
experiment. For the next two years, students took their classes in City Hall. A new high school was built on the same lot, completed and dedicated in September 1890. In 1907, yet another Concord High School, designed to accommodate 500 students, was built on Spring Street in the building which became Kimball School. (The building was demolished in 2012 to make way for the new Christa McAuliffe Elementary School.) The current high school was built in 1927 on Warren Street, with new wings added in 1960 and 1996.
Some of the features that Concord High currently has are a new media center (
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
), student center (
cafeteria
A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or sch ...
), performing arts area, and four commons areas, each with its own administrative and student community where student lockers were located. ConcordTV, the local
public, educational, and government access
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
(PEG)
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
station for Concord, is currently located in Concord High. There is a bridge/connector between two wings, east and west, of the building.
Principals
Charles C. Cook was Headmaster for thirty years from 1906 to 1936. Cook began 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 ...
Chapter which still exists at Concord High School. Other long-serving principals include John E. Reed who was principal from 1939 to 1960, J. Preston Barry from 1961 to 1972, Charlie Foley who was principal from 1973 to 1990, Gene Connolly who was principal from 2001 to 2016. Some of the more recent principals of the school include Tom Sica from 2016 to 2020 and Michael Reardon from 2020 to present.
In the recent history of Concord High School, Dr. Christine Rath (principal from 1991 to 1997) oversaw the transformation of the school from a three-year to a four-year school which included ninth-grade students. At the same time Rath assisted in the design of the current high school building which was able to accommodate every high school student in Concord.
Athletics
The current athletic director is Steve Mello (two time AD of the year).
Some athletic teams that Concord High School has are cross country, football, wrestling, golf and soccer.
Notable events
On December 3, 1985, a 16 year old dropout named Louis Cartier entered the building with a shotgun, and was promptly killed by Concord police officers. No other fatalities occurred in the shooting, other than Cartier.
At Concord High's first dance of the 2006–2007 school year, the school drew local media attention when administration ejected about a dozen students for grinding, a style of dancing that the administration deemed overly sexual for a school function. In protest of this, about 150 other students walked out of the dance. The administration met with student body leaders to try to reach an agreement. They were not able to, and for the first time in the school's history, the homecoming dance was postponed, and every other dance that year was canceled. An exception was made for the senior prom, however.
Another notable event which occurred at Concord High School was the resignation of Principal Tom Sica. Sica had been the principal of Rundlett Middle school before moving up to Concord High School in 2016. During his time as principal at Rundlett, allegations of
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
and misconduct were placed upon a teacher, Howie Leung. The student who brought this to Sica's attention was promptly suspended for three days for "spreading 'malicious and slanderous gossip'". Once he had moved to the high school, news of this suspension, and the circumstances surrounding it, were brought to the public, leading to outrage in the Concord community. Leung was arrested in 2019 for sexual assault charges, and pled "not guilty".
Notable alumni and faculty
*
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
, composer
* Matt Bonner, former basketball player for the
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...
*
Edward H. Brooks
Lieutenant General Edward Hale Brooks (April 25, 1893 – October 10, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army, a veteran of both World War I and World War II, who commanded the U.S. Second Army during the Korean War. He received th ...
(1893–1978), officer in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
and veteran
*Elizabeth Eaton Converse, later known as
Connie Converse
Elizabeth Eaton Converse (born August 3, 1924, disappeared August 1974), known professionally as Connie Converse, was an American singer-songwriter and musician, active in New York City in the 1950s. Her work is among the earliest known recordin ...
Miss New Hampshire
The Miss New Hampshire is the scholarship program that selects the representative for the state of New Hampshire in the Miss America competition.
The Miss New Hampshire program was conducted by the ''Union Leader'' newspaper for more than 50 ...
1991
* Sam Knox, American football player
* Joe Lefebvre, Major League Baseball outfielder from 1980 to 1986
*
Guor Marial
Guor Mading Maker (born 15 April 1984), also known as Guor Marial, is a South Sudanese Olympic track and field athlete. He is a Dinka tribesman.
Maker competed in the men's marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Due to civil war that saw South ...
, South Sudanese marathon runner
*
Christa McAuliffe
Sharon Christa McAuliffe ( Corrigan; September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986) was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire, who was killed on the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on mission STS-51-L where she was serving as a ...
STS-51-L
STS-51-L was the 25th mission of the NASA Space Shuttle program and the final flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''.
Planned as the first Teacher in Space Project flight in addition to observing Halley's Comet for six days and performing a ...
Tara Mounsey
Tara Lynn Mounsey (born March 12, 1978
Brian Sabean
Brian R. Sabean (born July 1, 1956), nicknamed "Sabes", is a former baseball executive. He was the executive vice president of baseball operations of the San Francisco Giants. He served as the team's general manager for eighteen seasons, from 1997 ...
, general manager for the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...
*
David Souter
David Hackett Souter ( ; born September 17, 1939) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat ...
,
Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
of the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...