Dover Senior High School, known colloquially as Dover High School (DHS), or Dover High School and Career Technical Center (DHS and CTC), serves the city of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and the towns of Barrington and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It serves roughly 1,300 students with general education and

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

programs as part of the Dover School District. Linked by a road to Dover Middle School, the campus borders the

Bellamy River The Bellamy River, in Strafford County, southeastern New Hampshire, is a tributary of the Piscataqua River about long. It rises in Swains Lake in Barrington, west of Dover. It flows east through the Bellamy Reservoir in Madbury and through ...

. An

alternative school An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientati ...

is located across the road from the school, whose students are typically allowed to attend classes at both schools.

History

The original location of Dover High School in 1851 was on Chestnut Street and served students north of the

Cocheco River The Cochecho River (incorrectly Cocheco River) is a tributary of the Piscataqua River, long, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It rises in northern Strafford County and runs southeastward, through the town of Farmington and the cities of Ro ...

until 1869, when the Dover school system was consolidated. Dover High School's second iteration was designed by Alvah T. Ramsdell in 1905 and constructed adjacent to the Dover Public Library on Locust Street. In 1928, it was expanded to accommodate more students. This addition was largely to support mechanical and manual arts programs. From 1967 to 2000, this building served as Dover Junior High School after the completion of Dover High School's third campus. The building still serves the Dover community as the McConnell Center. The next Dover High School building was built in 1967 along with a Regional Career Technical Center on Durham Road. The CTC continued DHS' tradition of creating

trade school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

options for students. In 2005, DHS became a New Hampshire School of Excellence. In July 2016, construction began on a $87 million project to build a new high school and career technical campus adjacent to the existing complex, which was built over 50 years prior. The building features: * 80 classrooms * 19 Career Technical Center programs * auditorium * 850 seats in the auditorium * ¼-mile length of one lap around one floor of the school In March 2019, teachers at DHS but many others in the Dover School District wore red and refused to be in the school until their contracted time. 90% of Dover teachers work beyond their contracted time. Teachers also raised the issue of student spending. In 2017–2018, Dover's spending per-pupil was $12,234, lower than the state average of $15,865, the second lowest in New Hampshire. The walkout was part of the 2018–19 education workers' strikes in the United States, though the teacher's union was able to agree to a contract before a strike could occur.

Racism controversy

In December 2018, a cell phone video surfaced on social media of two students singing a song to the tune of

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed th ...

with the lyrics changed to refer to the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. Among other changes, the refrain ''"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way"'' was replaced with ''"KKK, KKK, Let's kill all the blacks"'', in a reference to

Lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

. The video went viral, and was covered on national news, including

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

and

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. The students were assigned by their US History teacher to rewrite a

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

to be about

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. The students did not know they were being recorded. In a letter, Superintendent William Harbron described the event as "an incident of extreme racial insensitivity" and announced that the teacher was put on paid leave. Administrators announced a program called DREAM to advocate for diversity and community. The teacher was allowed to return to the classroom the following year after receiving training, which sparked protests from the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, citing the fact that the teacher had never publicly apologized for the incident.

Academics

Of the 308 graduates in the class of 2014, 50% went on to a four-year

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and 24% went on to a two-year college, while 22% proceeded directly to employment and 4% joined the military. The mean

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

scores for this class were 510 in

critical reading Critical reading is a form of language analysis that does not take the given text at face value, but involves a deeper examination of the claims put forth as well as the supporting points and possible counterarguments. The ability to reinterpret a ...

, 513 in

math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, and 492 in

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

. The academic day is split into four class blocks, along with a 40-minute "flex block" which students can tailor to their needs. The calendar alternates between "Green" and "White" days (like the school colors), and students follow different schedules based on which color day it is. DHS offers a few AP classes, which meet every day, including

AP Calculus Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus (also known as AP Calc, Calc AB / Calc BC or simply AB / BC) is a set of two distinct Advanced Placement calculus courses and exams offered by the American nonprofit organization College Board. AP Calculus AB cove ...

AP Computer Science In the United States, Advanced Placement Computer Science (commonly shortened to AP Comp Sci) is a suite of Advanced Placement courses and examinations covering areas of computer science. They are offered by the College Board to high school stud ...

AP English Literature and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and Composition (also known as Senior AP English, AP Lit, APENG, or AP English IV) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United State ...

AP English Language and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition (also known as AP English Language, APENG, or AP Lang) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. When AP exams were first implemen ...

AP Latin Advanced Placement (AP) Latin, formerly Advanced Placement (AP) Latin: Vergil, is an examination in Latin literature offered by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. Prior to the 2012–2013 academic year, the course focused on poetry s ...

, AP Art and Design, and

AP Biology Advanced Placement (AP) Biology (also known as AP Bio) is an Advanced Placement biology course and exam offered by the College Board in the United States. For the 2012–2013 school year, the College Board unveiled a new curriculum with a greate ...

Extra-curricular activities

Athletics

Dover High fields 29 varsity sports teams in boys and girls competition in the

New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) is the governing body for sports competitions among all public and some private high schools in New Hampshire. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associatio ...

Division I, including Cross country,

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

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 ...

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 ...

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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 ...

Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

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 ...

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

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 ...

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

. Additionally, the school has a Unified program in Soccer, Basketball, and Volleyball. The hockey team competes in Division II, holding a record number of state championships. The Unified Volleyball team has recently enjoyed great success, winning the 2018 State Championship. In 2018, the Boys Tennis program made the state tournament for the first time in 14 years.

Music

The music program at Dover High is one of the most well-supported in the state, receiving entirely new facilities with the new building. Students can participate in the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

, pit, and

marching Marching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady walking forward in either rhythmic or route-step time; and, typically, it refers to overland movements on foot of military troops and units under field orders. Marching is often performed t ...

bands. A jazz combo is also available. For vocalists, there is a

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

group called the Soundwaves, along with a regular

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

class. The Soundwaves, Jazz Band, and Jazz Combo perform at the

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

Jazz Festival at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

Clubs

The official student-run newspaper of the Dover High School community is ''The Tide'', founded in 2006. DHS currently has one notable

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

team, called Shockwave. Shockwave has earned the engineering inspiration award at competition, and is noted for its success and community involvement. The Foreign Language program offers

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, and French clubs. The Latin club competes regionally in Certamen and is a member of the

National Junior Classical League The National Junior Classical League (National JCL or NJCL) is a youth organization of secondary school students sponsored by the American Classical League (ACL). Founded in 1936, the NJCL comprises more than 1,000 Latin, Greek and Classica ...

. The Art Club hosts an annual

Film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

. Other offerings include a World Culture (formerly Asian Culture) club,

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playin ...

club, and Earth Action club.

Sister school

The school is linked to

Sandbach School Sandbach School is a free school in Sandbach, Cheshire, north-west England. It was established in 1677 by local philanthropists, including Richard Lea, who donated the land for the school, and Francis Welles, who helped to fund the schoolhouse. I ...

in the UK.

Notable alumni

* Peter K. Hepler, plant biologist *

Joseph C. McConnell Joseph Christopher McConnell Jr. (30 January 1922 – 25 August 1954) was a United States Air Force fighter pilot who was the top American flying ace during the Korean War.Farris, Phillip1990/0690jetwar.aspx "Jet War."''Air Force Magazine,'' Air ...

, top-scoring American jet fighter ace during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

; awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star * Cathy Schiro O'Brien, an Olympian and record holder of the US women's high school marathon time at 2:34:24. She also won the women's Los Angeles Marathon in 1991. *

Jenny Thompson Jennifer Beth Thompson (born February 26, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist. She is one of the most decorated Olympians in history: twelve medals, including eight gold medals, in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 200 ...

, whose twelve Olympic swimming medals makes her one of the most decorated Olympic athletes of all time * Michael Weeden, second youngest member in New Hampshire history to serve in the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

Jillian York Jillian C. York (born May 18, 1982)"Goodreads Author Profile"
Educational institutions established in 1851 Buildings and structures in Dover, New Hampshire Schools in Strafford County, New Hampshire Public high schools in New Hampshire 1851 establishments in New Hampshire