Heritage High School is one of three

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 ''Öffentlichkei ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s in Rockdale County in

Conyers, Georgia Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...

, United States (the others being

Rockdale County High School Rockdale County High School is located in the heart of Conyers, Georgia, United States, in the old-town district. RCHS is one of three high schools located in Rockdale County, along with Heritage High School, and Salem High School. RCHS also h ...

and Salem High School), under the

Rockdale County School District The Rockdale County School District (also referred to as ''Rockdale County Public Schools'' or ''RCPS'' for short) is a public school district in Rockdale County, Georgia, United States, based in Conyers. It serves the communities of Conyers and ...

. Heritage High School is home of the Patriots. It has twice been named a School of Excellence. In December 2009, ''U.S. News & World Report'' gave Heritage High School a silver medal ranking in the top 500 high schools in the nation. In 2014 Heritage High School became an Academy for Performing and Visual Arts.

Shooting

On May 20, 1999, a month to the day after the

Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...

, 15-year-old student Anthony "T.J." Solomon opened fire with a .22-caliber rifle on the Heritage campus, wounding six students. A 15-year-old girl was hospitalized in critical condition, and the other victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Solomon attempted suicide with a revolver but was talked into surrendering by an assistant principal. Solomon initially faced up to 351 years of prison if convicted of

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

and other charges, but in 2000 he was found guilty but mentally ill, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 65 years of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. A judge later reduced his sentence from 40 to 20 years. He was released to his mother's house on parole on July 26, 2016.

Performing Arts

In July 2014, Heritage High School became an Academy for Performing and Visual Arts, also referred to as the Fine Arts Program. Students accepted into the program are enrolled in one of the following majors: * Vocal Music * Instrumental Music * Dance * Theatre * Technical Theatre * Visual Arts

Theater

Heritage High School's drama department won the

Georgia High School Association The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is an organization that governs athletics and activities for member high schools in Georgia, USA. GHSA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The association has 463 pu ...

one act play competition at the 6A level in 2017 and 2018. Also in 2017, they won the Georgia High School Theater Award for Overall Production, for their production of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

Notable alumni

Tyler Austin Christopher Tyler Austin (born September 6, 1991) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, ...

Yokohama DeNA Baystars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

first baseman and outfielder * The members of the band

Cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

Clint Mathis Clint Mathis (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward or midfielder. He appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal. He also played in Major League Soccer for the MetroStars, wh ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

soccer player *

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, who gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in ''30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'' he was no ...

, actor, singer, and comedian *

Jamie Newton ''Survivor (American TV series), Survivor'' is an American reality television show, based on the Swedish program, ''Expedition Robinson''. Contestants are referred to as "castaways" and they compete against one another to become the "Sole Survivo ...

, founder of Golf Turf Management; appeared on one season of '' Survivor'' * Richard T. Scott, artist, writer, and coin designer for the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

. *

Marcus Printup Marcus Edward Printup (born January 24, 1967) is an American jazz trumpeter who attended the University of North Florida Jazz Studies program and went on to work with Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and Tim ...

, Jazz Trumpeter and member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under the leadership of

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

References

External links

Heritage High School website

Rockdale County Public Schools website
Schools in Rockdale County, Georgia Public high schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Educational institutions established in 1976 1976 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) {{GeorgiaUS-school-stub