Fairport High School (FHS) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
high school serving the tenth through twelfth grades in the Village of
Fairport and most of the Town of
Perinton, New York
Perinton (originally Perrinton (in federal censuses) and sometimes Perrington when still part of Ontario County) is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 46,462 at the 2010 census.
The village of Fairport is with ...
. It is part of the
Fairport Central School District
The Fairport Central School District is a public school district in New York State that serves approximately 5,800 students in most of the town of Perinton and the village of Fairport in Monroe County, with about 1,200 employees and an opera ...
. The Principal, as of the end of the 2014-2015 school year, is Robert Clark following his time as an Assistant Principal.
Current enrollment estimates place the student population around 1,700. The Class of 2009 was the largest class to pass through FHS in approximately 15 years, totaling just over 600 students. FHS takes part in numerous international exchange programs, including trips to Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
In 2009, Fairport became the first high school in New York State to offer a course in
Game Design and Development. On a similar note, after district residents approved a technology funding measure, the
Fairport Central School District
The Fairport Central School District is a public school district in New York State that serves approximately 5,800 students in most of the town of Perinton and the village of Fairport in Monroe County, with about 1,200 employees and an opera ...
made plans for a complete technological overhaul of FHS which began during the summer of 2010.
History
Prior to the introduction of high school classes to Fairport, families with the means could send their teenage children to academies or seminaries in nearby towns.
[For example, ]
The History of Macedon Academy
' lists dozens of alumni from Fairport and Perinton.
In 1874, the
State Board of Regents accredited the former Fairport Classical and Union Free School on West Church Street in the Village of Fairport as a high school.
[As a union school, it continued to educate students in grades 1–8 after the high school course was introduced.] Originally it offered a three-year high school course, but this was expanded to four in 1895.
In September 1924, after the village population increased half again in size over the preceding decade and a state law was passed raising the age of compulsory education to 18, the first dedicated high school opened on West Avenue in the village.
In September 1959, the Minerva DeLand School on Hulburt Road became the district's high school. July 10, 1968 marked the groundbreaking of the current Fairport High School on Ayrault Road, which opened to students on December 7, 1970.
FHS FACT 12
In 1996 FHS was given permission to broadcast educational programs on FACT 12, programs included the FHS Morning Show, Homecoming events, Concerts, Award Ceremonies, and Sporting Events.
Campus/school site
Pre-1970 campus
![Fhsmodifiedold](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Fhsmodifiedold.jpg)
From 1924 to 1959, the Fairport High School campus was located at 71 West Avenue, only two blocks from Main Street in the village. The building was originally 166 feet front by 135 feet deep and included an auditorium with a 32 by 20 foot stage, a 40 by 70 foot gymnasium, a laboratory for chemistry and physics, and a laboratory for biology. Classes for the seventh and eighth grades were conducted on the first floor alongside offices for the superintendent and principal. Classes for the higher grades were held on the second floor. The basement contained the school cafeteria and kitchens as well as rooms for manual training, home economics, and business classes.
From 1965 until the early 1980s, the old campus served as the West Avenue School, with grades 4–6. As the school district's needs changed, the old campus was sold in 1984 and developed into condominiums. Likewise, after the high school moved out of the Classical and Union Free School building in 1924, that building served as the South Side Elementary School until its demolition in 1955. As of 2016, the Minerva DeLand School continues to serve ninth grade high school students.
Post-1970 campus
![Librarymodified](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Librarymodified.jpg)
As the population of the town increased the town saw the need to build a much larger high school. The campus was relocated to 1358 Ayrault Road to accommodates a much larger campus. In 1968 land was broken for the new Fairport High School Campus.
Fields
The new campus was much larger than its predecessor which included a much larger surface area for athletic events to be held on. The athletic fields include:
*Track and field ''Approved in 2000''
*
Football Turf Field with 1,000 Seat Bleacher named after former coach Joe Cummings
*5 Tennis courts
*Discus/hammer Throw field
*2
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 ...
fields
*2 Baseball fields
*4 General purpose fields
In addition, there is a concession stand as well as an admissions booth used for FHS Sporting Events. In 2019, the residents within Fairport approved an expansion onto these fields. Construction is set to begin in 2020.
Indoor facilities
*Athletics
**Competition swimming/diving pool
**1 Gym divided Into 4 sections
*General
**3 cafeterias
**1 Small auditorium
**1 Large auditorium
**Autoshop
**Woodshop
**3 art/crafts rooms
**3 music rooms
**4 Computer labs
**Library
**Staff offices
Construction projects/other
In the 1990s an East and West Wing was added to the school which held additional class space.
In 2006 there were plans for a field house and the installation of lights on the football field.
The fall 2011 sports season is the first time the new field lights are in use. In 2007 a multi-use turf field was approved.
Academics
The high school is divided into three houses (Red, White, Blue) each with its own assistant principal. Several course areas are offered to students:
*Art, business, English, Family and consumer science, foreign Languages, health, mathematics, music, physical education, science, social studies, technology
There are services to students with disabilities, and a curriculum leading to the
International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
– Fairport HS was the first High School in Monroe County to offer this program.
However, the IB programs were cut at FHS after the 2011-12 school year due to budget constraints.
Music
Day
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 m ...
, Afternoon Jazz, Sophomore Band, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Full Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Polyphonic Women's Choir, Polyphonic Mixed Choir, and Sophomore Choir are all credit-bearing ensembles. The groups usually obtain gold or gold with distinction ratings at
NYSSMA festivals. Students from the three bands are also members of the Pep Band, which plays at home games, at pep rallies, and in parades. A Pit Orchestra is also selected from the top students every year to perform during the spring musical.
The Prisms Concert, which takes place every spring, is a concert featuring many of these groups, as well as students performing solos or small group pieces. This concert is unique because the groups play in different areas of the auditorium. A spotlight focuses on the group or student performing as they play one three-minute piece. When they finish, the spotlight moves to another performer.
Higher level courses
*
Advanced Placement courses are offered at Fairport High School to allow students planning to attend college to get a head start on courses. Advanced Placement courses that are offered include Language & Composition, English Humanities, Spanish, Statistics, AB Calculus, BC Calculus, Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C, Music Theory, U.S. History, American History: Humanities, European History and World History.
*The
Project Advance program offers courses that allow students to earn transferable college credit early through a special program at
Syracuse University. Courses include Information Technology, Economics, Policy Analysis, Psychology, Forensic Science, and Sociology.
*
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
Networking courses at Fairport High School reward passing students with entry-level
Cisco Career Certifications for networking.
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
![FHSHomecoming07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/FHSHomecoming07.jpg)
The Fairport High School athletic nickname is the Red Raiders. The school's colors are red, white and blue. FHS has a strong athletic tradition in many of its varsity sports such as baseball, 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 ...
,
football,
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 ...
,
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 h ...
,
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 extensiv ...
, tennis, volleyball, 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, gymnastics, and
cross country. Fairport offers 35 varsity sports as well as offerings at the junior varsity and modified levels.
In 2006 and 2007, Fairport won the Class AAA basketball championship in Section 5. In both years the team played against its archrival
Rush Henrietta. In 2017, the Red Raiders won the Class AA championship and advanced to the NYSPHSAA Championship, losing to Mount Vernon. The cheerleading squad has won three national titles as well as numerous other sectional and regional titles. The baseball team won three consecutive Section 5 Class AAA titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
As well as being ranked No. 1 in the state 16 times since 1982, the men's swimming program at Fairport High School has won 20 Section V Class A titles, including 17 in a row from 1981–97.
Along with winning the Class A Section 5 championship 10 times, the cross country team also had a state champion, Pat Dupont, in 2007.
Student organizations/clubs
FHS FIRST Robotics team
![Robotics04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Robotics04.jpg)
Fairport High School's FIRST Robotics team has been a participant in the
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 ...
program for 18 years. When the team was founded in 1997 they were sponsored by
Eastman Kodak and was known as Team 36 Kod-Red and, was the first suburban FIRST team in the Rochester, NY region. In 1999 Kodak discontinued its sponsorship and the Gleason Works became the sponsor for the team known as Team 578 Blue Lightning. The team is no longer sponsored by the Gleason Works, but
Xerox Corporation
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Sta ...
has agreed to become the team's new major sponsor. They are supported mainly by the Fairport High School. During the 2010–2011 school year, the team changed its name to Red Raider Robotics (R^3) so it would be more closely linked with the school. In 2000 they became the FIRST Philadelphia Regional Winners and the year after they became the FIRST Nasa VCU Regional Winners. In 2004 the team became the FRC Pittsburgh Finalist.
Notable alumni/faculty
![Philip-Seymour-Hoffman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Philip-Seymour-Hoffman.jpg)
*
Rick Beato
Richard John Beato (born April 24, 1962) is an American YouTube personality, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer and educator. Since the early 1980s, he has worked variously as a musician, songwriter, audio engineer, and record producer, a ...
,
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
personality, music educator
*
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...
,
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning actor,
Capote
*
Gordy Hoffman, Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Winner (Sundance Film Festival), Founder of The BlueCat Screenplay Competition
*
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer (born October 26, 1971) is an American composer, pianist, bandleader, producer and writer based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' has called him a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, histori ...
,
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
-nominated jazz musician
*
Cory Johnson, founding editor
Slam (magazine)
''Slam'' is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994.
History
''Slam'' was launched in 1994 as a basketball magazine that combined the sport with hip hop culture at a time when the genre was becoming increasingly popular. It was ...
,
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
silicon valley correspondent,
Bloomberg West anchor
*
Julia Nunes,
YouTube.com
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...
music artist
*
Kim Pegula
Kim S. Pegula (née Kerr; born June 7, 1969) is an American businesswoman and with her husband Terry Pegula, one of the principal owners of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. She is also the president of Pegula Sports and Entertai ...
, Businesswoman and co-owner of
Pegula Sports and Entertainment
Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) is an American sports and entertainment company based in Buffalo, New York. The company was established after multi-billionaire Terry Pegula and his family combined their sports, property and entertainment ass ...
,
Buffalo Bills and
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
*
Sian Proctor
Sian Hayley "Leo" Proctor (born March 28, 1970) is an American commercial astronaut, geology professor, and science communicator. On September 15, 2021, she was launched into Earth's orbit as the pilot of the Crew Dragon space capsule. This miss ...
, geology professor,
science communicator
Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...
, and
commercial astronaut
A commercial astronaut is a person who has commanded, piloted, or served as an active crew member of a privately funded spacecraft. This is distinct from an otherwise non-government astronaut, for example Charlie Walker, who flies while represe ...
*
Nicholas Ranjan, District Judge for the
*
Joel C. Rosenberg
Joel C. Rosenberg (born April 17, 1967) is an American-Israeli communications strategist, author, and non-profit executive. He has written sixteen novels about terrorism and Bible prophecy, including the Gold Medallion Book Award-winner ''The E ...
,
Novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
,
Political strategist
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...
,
Philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
*
Tim Soudan
Tim Soudan is the current Head Coach for Chrome Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League. He joined the team after the conclusion of their 2019 season, replacing legendary coach Dom Starsia. Soudan is a former National Lacrosse League (NLL) ...
, professional lacrosse player and coach (
Rochester Knighthawks
The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are a professional box lacrosse team in the North Division of the National Lacrosse League. They play in Rochester, New York at the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
The Knighthawks are ow ...
,
Rochester Rattlers
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
* Rochester, Kent
**City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
**History of Rochester, Kent
**HM Prison R ...
,
Chrome Lacrosse Club
The Chrome Lacrosse Club is a professional men's field lacrosse team in Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The Chrome are one of the six founding members of the PLL for the 2019 Premier Lacrosse League season, 2019 season.
Roster
*Indicates unavail ...
)
*
Robert E. Wright
Robert Eric Wright (born January 1, 1969 in Rochester, N.Y.) is a business, economic, financial, and monetary historian and the inaugural Rudy and Marilyn Nef Family Chair of Political Economy at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dak ...
, Nef Family Chair of Political Economy, Augustana College SD
Principals
Major school events
Brotherhood/sisterhood week
Every spring, Fairport students celebrate Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week. The week is focused around ''Civility, Awareness, Respect, and Embrace (CARE)''. The event is most prominent at FHS, where a different activity takes place each day of the week. Monday is Family Talk Day, during which a student and an adult are selected to speak to the students. Tuesday consists of a presentation during which student voices writings are read. The writings anonymously tell students' feelings about CARE. On Wednesday, a community member is asked to speak. On Wednesday of the 2007 celebration, Rachel's Challenge visited the school. The program encouraged students to improve the atmosphere of their school. The program impacted the students in a large way, partly because they had lost a beloved member of the student body the night before. Wednesday is also the annual Junior-4th Grade walk. The district's 4th and 11th graders walk the village streets together to build relationships with each other. Thursday's program is known as Unplugged, and is a non-stop musical performance available to students with free periods or lunch. Friday concludes the eventful week with Outreach Day. On this day, the entire school is bused to the three elementary schools. Students meet with their new little brothers and sisters for an hour. They play games and teach them about CARE. A song written about this week by former students Sean Lyness, John Cieply, Pat Dupont, and David Lachance is played yearly.
Graduation
![FHSGraduation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/FHSGraduation.jpg)
Fairport High School holds its high school graduation at the
Blue Cross Arena
Blue Cross Arena, also known as the War Memorial, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rochester, New York. For hockey and lacrosse, its seating capacity is 10,662. The arena opened on October 18, 1955, as the Rochester Community War Memor ...
in downtown
Rochester, NY
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in Wes ...
.
See also
*
Fairport Central School District
The Fairport Central School District is a public school district in New York State that serves approximately 5,800 students in most of the town of Perinton and the village of Fairport in Monroe County, with about 1,200 employees and an opera ...
*
Fairport, New York
Fairport is a village located in the Town of Perinton, which is part of Monroe County, New York, United States. Fairport is a suburb east of Rochester. It is also known as the "Crown Jewel of the Erie Canal". In 2005, it was named as one of th ...
*
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
Footnotes
References
External links
*
School district pageGreatschools.net profileFairport FIRST Team's WebsiteFairport Cheerleading websiteFairport Track and Field website
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1968
High schools in Monroe County, New York
Perinton, New York
Public high schools in New York (state)