Sanford H. Calhoun High School is a public high school located in
Merrick,
New York. Established in 1958, Calhoun is one of three high schools in the
Bellmore–Merrick Central High School District, and acts as a
magnet school
In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...
for several programs.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,224 students and 110.6 classroom teachers (on an
FTE basis), for a
student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1. There were 146 students (11.9% of enrollment) eligible for
free lunch
A free lunch is the providing of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers and increase revenues from other business. It was once a common tradition in saloons and taverns in many places in the United States, with th ...
and 16 (1.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
[School data for Sanford H Calhoun High School]
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed September 1, 2020.
''Hoofbeats''
''Hoofbeats'' is the official student newspaper of Calhoun. The newspaper has won numerous awards, and five editions are produced each year.
Athletics
Calhoun competes in Section VIII athletics, a compilation of public schools in
Nassau County. The fall season hosts boys' and girls' cross country, football, boys' and girls' soccer, girls' tennis, boys' badminton, boys' volleyball, girls' volleyball, cheerleading, and girls' swimming. The winter season hosts wrestling, boys' and girls' basketball, cheerleading, and indoor track, with district teams—including athletes from the other two schools of the district,
Mepham and
Kennedy—for ice hockey, swimming, diving, rifle, and bowling. The final season, spring, is home to boys' and girls' lacrosse, track and field, baseball, softball, boys' tennis, and girls' badminton.
Calhoun Choral Program
The Calhoun Choral Program (CCP) is composed of over 160 students, and consists of three groups. Many students belong to more than one group.
* Concert Choir is an auditioned 75-person class composed of tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. Each spring, over one-hundred students audition for the incoming group. The group performs a wide variety of three-, four-, six-, and eight-part music, primarily
a cappella.
* Chorale, a 3-section class made of over 80 ninth–twelfth grade students, is a group that performs a wide variety of three-part a cappella and accompanied music.
* Crescendo, the most well known of the ensembles, is an auditioned show choir of 24 to 27 students that performs pop-rock literature with
choreography.
Calhoun Band Program
The Calhoun Band Program consists of three main ensembles: Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band, as well as the extracurricular Calhoun Rock Band. Each ensemble is under the direction of Mr. Edward Tumminelli.
* Wind Ensemble is the most advanced of Calhoun's ensembles, consisting of about 40 students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors) selected for the group via. audition. The group is known as Calhoun's Varsity Band (CCVB). Members perform in two concerts each year and take overnight trips to locations including Disney World, Virginia Beach, and Boston.
* Symphonic Band is also composed of sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and performs in two concerts each year. No audition is required for membership.
* Concert Band is Calhoun's freshman band. The group performs in concerts with Symphonic Band. No audition is required for membership.
* Rock Band is composed of vocalists from Calhoun's Choral Program, as well as students who play rock instruments. The group performs at Sweet Sixteens, Homecoming, and football games.
Calhoun Theatre Program
Calhoun High School's award-winning theater program, the On Tour Company, began in 1974 and has been successful in producing a wide range of productions each year. Since 1985 the program has been run by Salvatore Salerno of Merrick. Typically, the company stages a Shakespeare play, a straight play, a musical, and an alternating style show each year, in addition to several smaller productions. These include 3 improv nights, the Gotta Sing, Gotta Act and Gotta Dance production and one night of senior one acts each year.
The On Tour Company also participates in various local community wide events such as street fairs and Shakespeare festivals. The On Tour Company is currently directed by Salvatore Salerno.
Notable alumni
*
David Architzel, U.S. Navy aviator and vice admiral
*
Ben Cohen and
Jerry Greenfield
Jerry Greenfield (born March 14, 1951) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc.
Greenfield grew up on Long Island. He attended Oberlin College, where he was a National Merit Sch ...
, of
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream ...
,
*
Debbie Gibson
Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress.
Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...
, singer and actress
*
Steve Grilli, baseball player
*
Lindsay Lohan, actress, singer and model
*
Jeff Mattson, lead guitarist and singer of
Dark Star Orchestra
*
Dana Milbank
Dana Timothy Milbank (born April 27, 1968) is an American author and columnist for ''The Washington Post''.
Personal life
Milbank was born to a Jewish family, the son of Ann C. and Mark A. Milbank. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he wa ...
, author, political analyst, and columnist for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''
*
Robbie Rosen, ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' contestant
*
Zack Ryder
Matthew Brett Cardona (born May 14, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Zack Ryd ...
, professional wrestler
*
Kevin Shinick
Kevin Thomas Shinick ( ; born March 19, 1969) is an American writer, producer, director and actor, as well as a comic book creator. Shinick received an Emmy award for his work on the stop motion animated series ''Robot Chicken'', and an Emmy no ...
, actor, writer, director, and creator of the animated sketch comedy show ''
MAD''
*
Lou Silver, American-Israeli basketball player
*
Bruce Sussman
Bruce Howard Sussman (born July 12, 1949) is an American lyricist, and librettist. Though he has collaborated with numerous composers, he is probably best known for his work with his long-time collaborator, Barry Manilow. Together they have wri ...
, songwriter and librettist
*
Jacob Derwin, ''
Survivor'' contestant
*
Peter Ragone, American
public affairs expert
References
External links
*
Calhoun alumni websiteCalhoun Choral Program website
{{authority control
1958 establishments in New York (state)
Educational institutions established in 1958
Magnet schools in New York (state)
Public high schools in New York (state)
Schools in Nassau County, New York
*