Plano Senior High School (commonly Plano, Plano Senior High, or PSHS) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas, serving students in grades 11â€"12. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District, with admission based primarily on the locations of students' homes. Plano is a two-time Blue Ribbon School and a Texas Exemplary School.
Founded in 1891 as Plano Public School, serving both primary and secondary students, the school was, by the mid-1910s, sending a majority of its graduating students on to college. Plano High School, created in 1952 by separating the primary students into Mendenhall Elementary School, was immediately accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, allowing its graduates to enter college without taking an entrance exam. In 1964, Plano High School integrated with the Frederick Douglass School (formerly Plano Colored School), and the integrated football team won the first of the school's seven state championships in 1965. In 1975, the school moved to a new 96-acre (39Â ha) campus with five buildings, very similar to the layout of a junior college, where it has remained since. During the first year only at the new campus, PSHS served 10th - 12th grade, making the Class of 1978 the only class to attend school at this campus for three years.
Plano administers more Advanced Placement tests each year than any other school west of the Mississippi River and all but one school in the United States. The school is accredited by the Texas Education Agency as well as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Plano was ranked in the top 2,000 high schools in the United States in 2013. Plano's mascot is the Wildcat. In 2013 Plano was ranked 117th in Newsweek's review of America's Best High Schools.
As of the 2012-2013 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,627 students and 149.54 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 17.57:1.
Demographics
As of the 2012-2013 school year, the demographic breakdown of the 2,627 students enrolled is as follows:
- Male - 49.4%
- Female - 50.6%
- Native American/Alaskan - 0.2%
- Asian/Pacific islander - 22.6%
- Black - 6.9%
- Hispanic - 13.3%
- White - 53.5%
- Multiracial - 3.5%
History
Plano Public School
In the 19th century, various private institutions existed within Plano for the education of children. One of these, the Plano Institute, was a private school founded in 1882 that offered an Artium Baccalaureatus degree. On June 9, 1891, the people of Plano determined by a vote that the city should assume control of the schools. In July of that same year, the citizens approved a fifty cent tax for school purposes and for the purchase of the Plano Institute's land and building. The building was used for the new Plano Public School, from which Plano Senior High School would develop. Thus, 1891 is generally considered the school's foundation year. The original school grounds would later become the Cox Administration Building. In 1892, Plano graduated its first class of five people.
In 1899, the Plano Independent School District became a separate entity from the city. Because of this separation, 1899 is cited by the district as the establishment date for Plano Senior High School. Starting in 1901, the school was affiliated with the University of Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, and Southwestern in order to ensure that graduates could secure entrance to college. Unfortunately for students, official affiliations eventually ended due to budget restrictions. However, the affiliations, coupled with the high standards of Plano schools, led to a large number of graduating students going on to attend college. By the mid-1910s, a majority of the graduating class (as much as eighty percent) matriculated to an institute of higher learning, such as the University of Texas at Austin or Baylor University. According to the 1915 Plano Review, "The University of Texas probably draws more students from Plano than any one other institution." The Review goes on to state that "no town in Texas, in proportion to its size, has more students in higher institutions of learning than Plano."
The original building burned down in 1894 and was reconstructed on the same site. The rebuilt Plano Public School again burned down in the spring of 1903, leading to the construction of yet another new building. The students went to classes in the local Opera House until the completion of the new building, often called the "Spanish School" because of its Moorish architecture. Following its construction, the district built various new facilities to support its students, including a new band hall, gymnasium, and auditorium.
In 1922, the Texas Department of Education informed the district that the Spanish School was "inadequate ... for high school work." By 1924, the district had constructed a new building to house the Plano Public School. In 1935, while the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, the WPA offered to build the district a much-needed new gym. The $125,000 USD ($2126773.05 according to inflation) building, completed in 1938, was used as a gym, auditorium, classroom, and laboratory, allowing new subjects to be taught, including agriculture, business, and home economics. At the time, Texas required that students complete 16 credits, or full semester courses, to graduate. This expansion allowed Plano students a choice of 30 credits with which to fulfill the requirement.
Plano High School
In September 1952, Mendenhall Elementary School was created, allowing primary students to be separated from secondary students. That same year, the newly created Plano High School was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, allowing its graduates to enter college without taking an entrance exam. In 1961, Plano High School moved to a new location on the east side of town, now the site of Williams High School, and the new building was constructed at a cost of $993,590 (6.2 million 2005 dollars).
Following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, the Plano school board considered the issue of integrating Plano High School with Plano Colored High School. The school board formed a committee of "colored citizens" to address the concern. Twice, in 1955 and 1957, when asked if they favored integration, the citizens on the committee stated they "were perfectly happy with their school and would like to be left alone." In 1964, the issue was raised again when the school board voted to let students of the Plano Colored School, by then renamed the Frederick Douglass School, decide if they wanted to integrate with Plano High School. The students voted to integrate, and Douglass School became a primary facility. The 1964â€"1965 football team, the first integrated team for the school, won the first state championship in school history, helping to ease racial tensions. By 1968, Douglass School was closed. The Texas Education Agency later praised the district for its handling of integration, calling it "an exceptional job."
Plano Senior High School
In the 1970s, in response to massive growth and with a desire to lower dropout rates and increase college readiness, then Superintendent H. Wayne Hendrick began a search for a new way to organize the school system. After touring several successful systems across the country, including those in Flint, Michigan; Cherry Creek, Colorado; Evanston, Illinois; and Hillsboro, Oregon, Hendrick found none of their systems suitable for Plano's needs. He instead decided to create a new senior high system. While the majority of American high schools serve students from grades nine through twelve, Plano's high schools serve only ninth and tenth graders, while senior high schools serve eleventh and twelfth graders. Two high schools feed into each senior high school, such as Plano Senior High. This system allows students to complete most of their required credits in high school and specialize with vocational classes at the senior high.
A plan was created for a 96-acre (39 ha) campus with five buildings, very similar to the layout of a junior college. The campus now contains six buildings with the addition in 2002 of an indoor workout facility. The buildings are interconnected by greenspace, which features a man-made pond as the central element. The campus was constructed at a cost of 10.3 million U.S. dollars (42.7 million 2010 dollars). The school opened for the 1975â€"1976 school year with only two buildings completed. By Christmas of 1975, all five buildings were completed, and the school was dedicated on March 7, 1975. The new senior high school offered a broad variety of studies previously unseen in the district. The new facility offered courses in social studies, drama, art, and journalism as well as vocational studies in clothing design, professional childcare, air conditioning repair, and metalworking.
Due to high population growth rates in Plano, Plano East Senior High School opened to juniors in 1981 to alleviate overcrowding. In 1999, Plano West Senior High School opened to juniors for the same purpose. Plano Senior High students currently feed from Vines and Clark High Schools. In 2002, Plano completed an $18 million renovation, making ADA compliance upgrades, and renovations to the science department, HVAC, fire sprinkler, and security systems, and site lighting.
In the fall of 2009, longtime principal Doyle Dean announced his retirement after serving as principal for 24 years. In the spring of 2010, it was announced that Sarah Watkins would take over the position.
Academics
Plano offers 31 Advanced Placement courses, which is all of the 34 courses possible with the exception of Latin Literature, Italian Language and Culture, and Japanese Language and Culture. Yearly, the school administers more Advanced Placement tests than any other school west of the Mississippi River, and the second most tests in the United States (2,237 total exams in the year 2005). The school also offers many vocational courses, as was Superintendent Hendrick's intent when it was built. Plano currently offers vocational courses including those in agriculture, family and consumer science, journalism, fashion design, advertising design, drafting, automotive technology, automotive paint and body, clinical rotation, and criminal justice.
In the 2007 graduating class, 97% of graduates went on to college or university: 80% went on to four-year universities, while 17% went to two-year colleges. Students in the class achieved an average composite SAT score of 1163 out of 1600 and a mean composite ACT score of 24.7 out of 36. Many Plano students received National Merit Scholarship accolades in the 2007 school year, including 46 finalists, 54 semi-finalists, and 62 commended students. These individual class statistics are indicative of previous years' performances.
Extracurricular activities
The extracurricular activities offered at Plano Senior High School are many and varied due to the school's large size. There are chapters of national organizations, such as the National Honor Society, and clubs founded by Plano students, such as Acoustical Word, in which students play guitar and recite poetry. Service organizations such as Key Club coexist alongside clubs which have a primarily social or recreational purpose. The usual range of athletic and music organizations are there for students to join, in addition to Plano's other clubs.
Plano Senior High School teams currently compete in UIL competitions in District 9 of the 5A Class, the class designated for the largest schools. For the 2008â€"2010 school years, Plano competed in District 8-5A.
Plano's 2007 enrollment for competitive purposes is officially listed as 5240. This is the number used by the UIL when determining what other schools Plano competes against in all UIL-sponsored athletic and academic competitions. This number exceeds the on-site enrollment of Plano Senior High because the official enrollment of each senior high school also includes the enrollment of each of its feeder schools. Ninth and tenth graders who are good enough to compete at the varsity level of a sport may be bused to the senior high school to compete in varsity sports, therefore becoming part of the senior high's talent pool. The number can be fractional because Jasper High School, one of Plano's feeder schools, is also a feeder school for Plano West Senior High School, and therefore the enrollment is split.
Academics
The 2006 state champion Plano Academic Decathlon team represented Texas at the national competition in San Antonio, Texas, placing second. The team won 30 medals in subject, overall, and team scores. At the 2005 National Forensic League national tournament, the Plano Senior Speech Team received School of Excellence awards in both the Speech and Debate categories, one of only three schools that year to do so. The team also won the 2005 national title at the Princeton University tournament. At the 2007 National Speech Tournament, Plano students won the sixth place Sweepstakes Trophy. In 2006 and 2009, the school finished 2nd in the annual National Public Policy Forum (NPPF) debate tournament held in New York City and hosted by the Bickel & Brewer law firm and New York University. In 2011, the school finished 1st in the same competition gone international (the IPPF) hosted by Bickel & Brewer and NYU.
Athletics
Football
A small group of Plano boys formed an unofficial football team in 1898. In 1900, the first official high school team was formed. In 1909, Superintendent C. F. Walker complained to the local paper, "Do you sleep well at night when you know your boy is on the streets kicking a football?" Despite his concerns, by 1914 Plano fielded a football team and a men's and women's basketball team. However, the First World War cancelled all athletics, as there were not enough men to field any teams.
By 1925, athletics programs had been re-established, and a mascot had been chosen: the Wildcat. The 1925 football team completed an undefeated season, and the resulting fervor led to the increased funding of athletics in Plano. The district allocated funds to purchase a cow pasture for the purpose of playing football and other sports. The pasture was renamed Guy M. Rice Field, after the team's first football coach. By 1939, a "modern" stadium had been built at this site. With the construction of Plano High School in 1957, an accompanying stadium was built, and Rice Field was abandoned. In 1977, Plano completed construction on John Clark Field at a cost of $2.75 million ($8.92 million 2005 dollars). Clark Field, with a capacity of 14,224, is the facility used for most varsity football games today. Kimbrough Stadium, a new stadium in 2004, is also occasionally the site for home games.
Following the integration of Plano High School with Plano Colored School, the football team made its first run at the Texas state championship in 1965. Most of the town shut down to make the drive to Austin and see the Wildcats win their first state championship. After the Wildcats won the championship again in 1967, the team was voted Texas Outstanding Football Team.
The Plano Varsity football team has gone to nine Texas state championships, as detailed below, and won seven. Plano's seven championships were tied for most in the state along with Brownwood, Celina, and Southlake Carroll until Celina won its eighth in the 2007 season.
Following the creation of Plano West Senior High School in 1999, Plano lost much of its player base to the new school, and the 2003 Plano Varsity football team suffered a winless season for the first time in the history of the school. The tenth graders who were recruited to play at the varsity level during the dismal 2003 season became twelfth graders in the 2005 season. Partly due to this extra experience, the 2005 team completed a perfect 10â€"0 regular season and went 3â€"1 in the playoffs, finally being defeated by the eventual state champions, Southlake Carroll Dragons. Coach Jaydon McCullough took the reins as head coach in school history and set school records during the 2007 season, a team led by quarterback Carson Meger, running back Rex Burkhead and wide receiver Kris Lott, advanced to the state semifinals, until getting beaten in double overtime (27-30) by eventual State Champion Euless Trinity.
Basketball
The Plano boys' basketball team, which has existed as long as the football team, has taken only three trips to the state championships. After losses in the 1952 and 1980 championships against Dimmitt and Houston Kashmere, respectively, Plano did not return to the tournament again until 2006. On March 11, 2006, the boys' basketball team won the school's first state basketball championship in overtime against Humble Kingwood High School at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The game was broadcast across the southwest United States by regional carrier FSN Southwest, and in turn nationally by Fox's digital cable network, Fox College Sports Central.
The girls basketball team has played in one 5A championship, losing to Mansfield High School 69â€"43 in 2000.
Soccer
The boys' soccer team has played in seven state championship games and the girls' soccer team has played in six. The boys' team has emerged victorious six times, and the girls' four.
Other sports
Plano has also had state titles in boys' golf in 1989 and 1994. Plano lost in the team tennis state finals in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998. The Plano swim team has been very successful. The boys won state titles in 1991, 1992 and 1998. The girls won in 1988 and 1998. Since the 2000â€"2001 season there have been 2 national champions, 7 state champions, 1 Texas 5A State Record Holder, 4 Texas 5A Male Swimmers of the Year, and 63 All-Americans. The Plano boys' and girls' cross country teams have both seen success, including sending Scott McPherson to the 2004 Locker Championship. The 1991 and 1992 Men's teams finished 4th and 3rd in the state respectively.
Music
Plano Senior High was named by the Grammy Foundation as a 2005 Grammy Signature School Gold school for their achievement in the arts. In 2008, Plano Senior High School was once again one of two schools in the nation to be named a Grammy Signature School Gold.
Choir
The Plano Senior High School Varsity Women's Choir was named a TMEA Honor Choir in 2009 under the direction of Derrick Brookins and Christopher Ahrens. In 2012, the Plano Senior High School A Cappella Mixed Choir was announced to represent the state of Texas at ACDA. As of 2017, the choir is still under the baton of Derrick Brookins, with Lisa Newby as the Assistant Choral Director. In 2016, it was announced that the Plano Senior High School Varsity Women's Choir would once again be named as a TMEA Honor Choir under the direction of Lisa Newby at the 2017 convention. In addition, the Plano Senior High School Varsity Men's Choir will be representing the state of Texas at ACDA under the direction of Derrick Brookins in 2017.
Band
An unofficial band was first organized in 1935. In 1955, Plano hired University of Arkansas graduate Emmitt Clem, who led the band for twenty-one years and wrote the school song. The band quickly became widely acclaimed under his direction. The band performed pre-game for the first Dallas Cowboys season and at a nationally televised Cowboys game at the Cotton Bowl in 1962. In June 1976 the Plano band, led by Clem traveled to Washington DC and played on the steps of the US Capitol during national bicentennial events. In the fall 1976 Mr Clem was moved down to Wilson Middle School and Tom Bennett was brought in as band director for two years ending in the 1978; Mr Bennett led the band to perform in the 1977 State championship football game at Texas Stadium where Plano beat Port Neches Groves 13-10. He was followed by Charles Forque as band director. Forque brought close friend Doc Severinsen, band leader of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, to the high school every year to play with the band. The band has performed in Carnegie Hall and at The Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. The Plano band is currently under the direction of Jason Lewis, assisted by Michael A. Hernandez and Mark De Hertogh. In 2007, The Plano Wind Ensemble was named a 5A National Wind Honor Band, ranking them fifth in the nation. The Jazz Band at Plano, directed by Jeremy Kondrat, was chosen to attend the Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City in both 2005 and 2010.
Orchestra
The Plano Senior High Full Orchestra (composed of the best winds and strings at the school) was named Texas' Honor Full Orchestra in 2007 under the direction of Jeff Turner. Under the direction of Brian Coatney, they were named Texas's Honor Full Orchestra for 2009, 2012, and 2015. Plano's String Orchestra was selected as the TMEA honor orchestra in 1993, 1995 and 1998, under the direction of Kathleen DeBerry. In 1995, the Orchestra played at Carnegie Hall. Plano has been named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1984â€"85 and again in 1994â€"96.
Notable alumni
References
Further reading
- Benne, Bart (1989). The best high school football in the country: A history of Plano, Texas, high school football from 1900 to the present. Dallas: Taylor Pub. ISBNÂ 0-87833-712-1.Â
External links
- Plano Senior High School website
- Plano Senior High School report card
