Fairmont Senior High School, is a

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...

. The current school building, built in 1928, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Serving grades nine through twelve, it is one of three high schools in Marion County, along with

East Fairmont High School East Fairmont High School is a public high school in Pleasant Valley, United States, just east of Fairmont. The school has been known also as East Side High. The school is classified as "AA". Its school colors are blue and gold, and the athleti ...

and North Marion High School. Fairmont High School (the school's original name) was established at the Second Ward Building in the late 1800s.https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/ff07ca1c-dd2a-463c-9b0b-640700517ef1/ pg 26 of pdf The school relocated to 5th Street in 1905 and to Loop Park in 1929. The high school was an all-white school until the 1950s. The school offers a number of different extracurricular activities, such as marching band, a choir program, a theatre program, and a wide range of athletic opportunities. Notable alumni include Olympic gold medalist

Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performanc ...

, U.S. Air Force officer

Frank Kendall Everest Jr Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

., entrepreneur

Jim Delligatti Michael James Delligatti (August 2, 1918 – November 28, 2016) was an American entrepreneur. He was an early franchisee of the fast food restaurant chain McDonald's, opening the first of his eventual 48 branches in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, ...

, business executive

Heather Bresch Heather Manchin Bresch (' Manchin; born June 27, 1969) is an American business executive. In 2012, she was named as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company Mylan, becoming the first woman to run a Fortune 50 ...

, and several others.

History

Marion County did not have a public education system until the creation of the

State of West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

in 1863 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Due to a growing student population in Marion County, there was a need for more schools. Fairmont High School would become the first of these high schools to be established in Marion County. In 1876 or 1897, Fairmont High School was established in the Second Ward Building.

5th Street building

In 1905, Fairmont High School relocated to its second location at the 5th Street building, which is now a gym.

Loop Park building

In 1929, the high school opened at the Loop Park location, which is where Fairmont Senior High School currently resides. The school was built in 1928. Architect

William B. Ittner William Butts Ittner (September 4, 1864 – 1936) was an architect in St. Louis, Missouri. He designed over 430 school buildings in Missouri and other areas, was president of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects from 1893 ...

designed the Loop Park building. Until the 1950s, Fairmont Senior High School was an all-white school. In 1954, 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 court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled that segregated schools had to integrate in the '' Brown v. the Board of Education'' decision. As a result, the all-black Dunbar School was closed and integrated with Fairmont Senior. On September 30, 1954, Fairmont Senior played a football game with Dunbar School, the only football game the two schools played together before Dunbar School closed. In 1979, a fire damaged a large section of the school's roof. Much of the Loop Park building was constructed with concrete, which helped to mitigate the fire's damage. On March 22, 2002, the United States government listed Fairmont Senior on the

Campus

The campus currently consists of several different components, such as a main building, the Freshman Building, and physical education facilities. The Loop Park building's architectural classification is

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

Senior Court

Senior Court was a feature of the Loop Park building. The Senior Court did not have a ceiling, and there is a statue of U.S. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

standing in front of it. In 2010, a school

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

was passed by the Marion County Board of Education to renovate Fairmont Senior's campus. This $4.2 million project included replacing the Senior Court with a school media center. The project took a few years to complete. Unlike the Senior Court, the media center has a ceiling and is a two-story room with a balcony.

Physical education facilities

Originally, Fairmont Senior only had one gymnasium, which was located on the second floor of the main building. In November 1989, a proposal was made for a new physical education facility beside Fairmont Senior's Freshman Building. Work for the facility began in 1992. Despite objections and a lawsuit from area residents, the facility was completed a few years later.

Freshman Building

Fairmont Senior has a one-story building located at the east end of its campus, which is known as the Freshman Building. In the early 1990s, a

chemistry lab A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...

was built adjacent to the Freshman Building.

Academics

Fairmont Senior High School offers different academic opportunities for its students. The schools offers math, English, science, social studies, foreign language, special education, and elective classes. The school offers a number of different

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

classes. The AP classes offered in Fairmont Senior's 2020–21 school year include

AP Art History Advanced Placement (AP) Art History (also known as AP Art, or APAH) is an Advanced Placement art history course and exam offered by the College Board. AP Art History is designed to allow students to examine major forms of artistic expression re ...

AP Calculus AB 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 cov ...

AP Chemistry Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry (also known as AP Chem) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their ...

AP Comparative Government and Politics Advanced Placement (AP) Comparative Government and Politics (also known as AP CoGo or AP CompGov) is an Advanced Placement comparative politics course and exam offered by the College Board. It was first administered in 1987. Course To better matc ...

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 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 European History Advanced Placement (AP) European History (also known as AP Euro, or APEH), is a course and examination offered by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program. This course is for high school students who are interested in a first year ...

AP Music Theory Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory (also known as AP Music or AP Theory) is a course and examination offered in the United States by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program to high school students who wish to earn credit for ...

AP Psychology Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology (also known as AP Psych) and its corresponding exam are part of College Board, College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course is tailored for students interested in the field of psychology and as an op ...

AP Statistics Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics (also known as AP Stats) is a college-level high school statistics course offered in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement program. This course is equivalent to a one semester, non-ca ...

, AP U.S. Government and Politics, and

AP United States History Advanced Placement (AP) United States History (also known as AP U.S. History or APUSH () is a college-level course and examination offered by College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. Course The AP U.S. History course is designe ...

Fine arts

Fairmont Senior High School offers different fine arts programs for its students.

Marching band

Fairmont Senior has a

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 ...

, which is known as the Fairmont Senior High School Polar Bear Band. The school's marching band was first directed full time by Earl McConnell Sr. The marching band has performed in the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

, and Universal Studios. The school holds a Band Spectacular annually at East-West Stadium where college and high school bands play their respective field shows. Other than the school's marching band, the school's instrumental music curriculum has previously included

symphonic band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

jazz ensemble A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

, and

steel band The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descripti ...

Choir program

Fairmont Senior has three choral groups: the

Madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

s, women's ensemble, and men's ensemble. The full name of the school's Madrigals group is the Fairmont Senior Madrigal Chamber Choir, which is considered to be a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

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 ...

. The group was started by Doug Bunner in 1985; he taught at the school until his retirement in 2006. The group hosts an annual elimination dinner at the Fairmont Knights of Columbus, and the school presents the Madrigals's Yuletide Feast biennially (a tradition that started in 1985). The group has performed at other places, such as the current Fairmont Senior building, Meadowbrook Mall,

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

Mountainlair, and the WorldStrides OnStage competition in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Thespian program

Fairmont Senior offers a thespian program. Fairmont Senior's thespians group is known as the Fairmont Senior High School Thespians Troupe. Fairmont Senior's group has performed in different events, such as the West Virginia State Thesbian Festival.

Athletics

Fairmont Senior offers a number athletic opportunities to its students, such as

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 ...

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 ...

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,

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 ...

cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle English ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

State championship history

Mascot

The

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of Fairmont Senior is the

Polar Bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

. The name is a reference to Fairmont Senior's athletic teams who were known as "Ice's men" due to Fairmont Senior coach Frank Ice. Similarly, the mascot of West Fairmont Middle School, a Fairmont Senior feeder school, is the Polar Cubs or Polar Bears Cubs.

Rivalry

East Fairmont High School and Fairmont Senior have a football rivalry. Their football teams have met annually beginning on October 25, 1921, making the series the oldest continuously played football rivalry in West Virginia. Fairmont Senior leads the series with a record of (67-28-7) over East Fairmont. Fairmont Senior has won the last 15 matchups against East Fairmont. One main place they meet is East-West Stadium in Fairmont.

Awards and recognition

Fairmont Senior is considered an "above average" school by

Niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

. In 2020, the '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Fairmont Senior as 3380th in its national ranking, 10th in West Virginia, and 1st in Marion County. Fairmont Senior received the 2010 Blue Ribbon honor, and in 2019, the school was recognized with the Champion of College Access and Success award for "efforts to make students aware of higher education opportunities after they graduate". Math teacher Sarah Snyder was honored by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

with the

Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) is the highest recognition that a kindergarten through 12th-grade mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States. Author ...

in 2016. The following year, Fairmont Senior English teacher Toni Poling was recognized as the 2017 West Virginia Teacher of the Year.

Notable alumni

President Ronald Reagan with Mary Lou Retton and the 1984 United States Olympic team

, CEO of

Mylan Mylan N.V. was a global generic and specialty pharmaceuticals company. In November 2020, Mylan merged with Upjohn, Pfizer's off-patent medicine division, to form Viatris. Previously, the company was domiciled in the Netherlands, with principal e ...

, entrepreneur who created the

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Big Mac The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was introduced in the Greater Pittsburgh Region, Greater Pittsburgh area in 1967 and across the United States in 1968. It is one of the company's fl ...

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...

* Frank Kendall Everest Jr., fighter and test pilot who was once known as "the fastest man alive" * Michael Garrison, former president of

Rashod Kent Rashod D. Kent (born June 7, 1980) is a former American football tight end who played one season with the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He played college basketball at Rutgers University and attended Fairmont Senior High School ...

, NFL player *

Russ Meredith Russell Delmar Meredith (June 27, 1897 – March 22, 1989) was an American football guard in the National Football League (NFL) and politician. He played a single season with the Louisville Brecks and the Cleveland Bulldogs. He played college foot ...

, NFL player and member of the West Virginia House of Delegates *

, gymnast,

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

gold medalist in all-around competition *

Darius Stills Darius Stills (born May 1, 1998) is an American football defensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at West Virginia. Early years Stills attended Fairmont Senior High School in Fairmont, West Virginia. During his career, ...

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Moun ...

Dante Stills Dante Stills (born December 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at West Virginia. College career 2018 In 2018 Stills had his debut as a true ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for the

Jalen Bridges Jalen Bridges (born May 14, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Conference. He previously played for West Virginia. Jalen Bridges credits his mentor and long time coach Matthew Allen Offutt for all of ...

, college basketball player previously for

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

References

External links

School's website
{{authority control School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Fairmont, West Virginia Public high schools in West Virginia School buildings completed in 1929 Educational institutions established in 1876 Colonial Revival architecture in West Virginia William B. Ittner buildings Schools in Marion County, West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Marion County, West Virginia 1876 establishments in West Virginia

History

5th Street building

Loop Park building

Campus

Senior Court

Physical education facilities

Freshman Building

Academics

Fine arts

Marching band

Choir program

Thespian program

Athletics

State championship history

Mascot

Rivalry

Awards and recognition

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links