high 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 '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in
Rochester, Pennsylvania
Rochester is a borough in central Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located northwest of Pittsburgh, it is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,480 at the 2020 census. Like many places around Pittsburgh, ...
, United States. It is the only high school in the Rochester Area School District. Athletic teams compete as the Rochester Rams in the
Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The Western Pennsylvania Inte ...
.
Campus
Rochester High School is housed in a K-12, all-grade academic complex. The elementary school is separated from the middle and high schools by a common area that includes the district library, a little theater and several cafeterias. This design enables faculty, administration and students to interact with one another on a daily basis.
Extracurriculars
Rochester High School offers a wide variety of clubs, activities and an interscholastic sports program.
Clubs and activities
Rochester Area High School offers many extracurricular activities to students. The most popular activity is the Cultural Diversity Club, which sponsors an annual Cultural Diversity fair. Other club offerings include "Hometown Hi-Q", Bowling Club, Student Council, Students of Service, Art Club, and National Honor Society.
Music
Rochester Area High School is well known for being the first high school in the United States to show the musical ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
'' in 1964. The musical was directed by Chorus and Musical director Mr. Philip Inman. It was reported that the high school auditorium was standing-room only for the musical's opening night.
Athletics
Rochester Area is well known for its success in athletics, particularly football. The high school football team won the
WPIAL
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
The Western Pennsylvania Int ...
Class A Championship in 1916, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004, and went on to win the PIAA Class A Championship in 1998, 2000, and 2001. The 1998 season is best remembered, as the team finished the season undefeated 15-0. Mr. Gene Matsook has served as head coach since 2000, and his brother, Daniel Matsook, served as the head coach from 1985–1999. Matsook is now the superintendent of the Central Valley School District. The Matsooks have established a well known football legacy throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
Rochester Area, whose mascot is the
Rams
In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)South Side Beaver High School. Since both schools use the ram as a mascot, the annual football game is known as the "Battle of the Rams".
The school is known as the home to Olympic track star
Lauryn Williams
Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Champ ...
, who set many school and state records in track.
The school also won the 1983 PIAA Class AA Men's Basketball Championship.
Battle of the Bridge
The football team played in one of the most notable rivalries in
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
Monaca
Monaca ( ) is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States along the Ohio River, northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 5,615 as of the 2020 census. First incorporated as Phillipsburg as the home of the New Philadelphia Socie ...
just across the Ohio River. The two schools played in the annual Battle of the Bridge, in which the winner had their name listed first on the Rochester-Monaca Bridge for a year. The rivalry was so well known that it was featured at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.
The rivalry also led to the two schools meeting in the playoffs on several occasions. In 1998 and 2000, both schools met at
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).
Buil ...
to determine the WPIAL champion, with Rochester winning both times. When the two teams did meet in the postseason, the Rochester-Monaca Bridge was not on the line, as that year's results were already determined.
On occasion, the football rivalry would spill into other sports. In 2001, the two schools met in Rochester for the first of two men's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
matchups for the season between the two schools. Near the end of the game, a fight erupted in the stands, with several people arrested. To prevent another incident for the second game at Monaca, only school administrators were allowed at that game, as fans, cheerleaders, and even parents of the athletes were not allowed at the game. Fans were allowed at future games after that season.
With the merger of the Monaca School District and
Center Area School District
The Center Area School District is a defunct school district formerly covering Center Township and Potter Township in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The district formerly operated Center High School, Center Middle School, Todd Lane Elementary Sch ...
s into the new
Central Valley School District
Central Valley School District No. 356 is a K–12 public school district located in Spokane Valley, Washington, Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, Washington. Over 14,100 students attend one of the twenty-one schools within the district.
Histo ...
, the year 2009 marked the final season that Monaca High School existed. Consequently, 2009 was the last season in with a "Battle of the Bridge" game. This contest took place on Saturday, October 31, 2009 and the Rams won 28-0. The game was given national attention by the Great American Rivalry Series, with Rochester Stadium reportedly having a
standing-room only
An event is described as standing-room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand, at least those spaces not restricted by occup ...
attendance of 11,000 fans witnessing the final game of a great rivalry. Since the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the permanent name of the bridge is "Rochester-Monaca" on the Rochester side and "Monaca-Rochester" on the Monaca side.
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
coach
*
Kris Griffin
Kristofor Lawrence Griffin (born May 27, 1981) is a former American football linebacker. He was originally signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His ...
- 1999 graduate,
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
of the Kansas City Chiefs and
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
, member of the undefeated 1998 state championship football team.
*
Lauryn Williams
Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Champ ...
2004 Olympic Games
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
* Derek Moye - 2007 graduate, wide receiver for Penn State 2007–2011. Moye was signed to the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2012 and made the starting roster in 2013.