Parkland High School (Pennsylvania)

Parkland High School is a large public high school in South Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, near Allentown. The school serves students in grades 9–12 and is the only high school in Parkland School District.

Parkland High School
Parkland High School in March 2020
Address
Map

,
Pennsylvania
18104

United States
Coordinates40°38′20″N 75°32′47″W / 40.6388°N 75.5465°W / 40.6388; -75.5465
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1949
School districtParkland School District
SuperintendentMark Madson
NCES School ID421851002829[1]
PrincipalNathan Davidson
Teaching staff212.1 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades9th12th
Enrollment3,242[1] (2023–24)
Student to teacher ratio15.29[1]
Campus typeSuburban
Color(s)Red and gray   
Athletics conferenceEastern Pennsylvania Conference
NicknameTrojans
RivalEmmaus High School[2]
NewspaperThe Trumpet
YearbookPar Key
Websitephs.parklandsd.org

As of the 2023–24 school year, it had a student population of 3,242, according to National Center for Education Statistics data, making it the fourth-largest public high school in Pennsylvania.[3]

History

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20th century

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Parkland High School was formed in 1949 when North Whitehall Township and South Whitehall Township merged to create Parkland Union School District. The following year, in 1950, Upper Macungie Township also joined the school district.

Parkland High School's predecessor, South Whitehall High School, was at the present-day Troxell Building at 2219 North Cedar Crest Boulevard. In 1954, a larger building was built to serve as Parkland High School, located on Route 309 in Orefield, and it served as the high school for 45 years.[4]

In 1999, the new and current Parkland High School building on Cedar Crest Boulevard was opened due to overcapacity of the Orefield building. The school was designed by the architecture firm Armstrong, Torseth, Skold & Rydeen and was based on two of the firm's prior high school buildings in Minnesota and Illinois.[5] The old school, in turn, was renovated and renamed Orefield Middle School, which replaced Troxell Junior High School.[6][7]

21st century

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In April 2012, the online news outlet HuffPost reported that, viewed from above, the layout of the current building and grounds closely approximate the shape of the Millennium Falcon, a spacecraft featured in the Star Wars films.[8] School officials claim that the design was not deliberate.[9]

The Parkland High School campus spans 128 acres and has three entrances, including one for the main academic and administration entrance, one for the cafeteria and gymnasium, and one for the auditorium. The entrances are labeled by academics, athletics, and arts.[10]

Academics

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Parkland High School offers 25 AP courses, including AP Literature, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Spanish, AP Calculus, and others, with a pass rate of 86%. The school has an average SAT score of 1240 and average ACT score of 29. The average graduation rate at Parkland is 95%. The state testing scores have an average of 86% in reading and 80% in mathematics.[11] Parkland High School has about 3,187 students enrolled in grades 9-12 as of the 2020-21 school year. The student to teacher ratio is 17-1. Parkland High School is ranked 123 in the state of Pennsylvania. About a quarter of the students participate in some type of AP classes.[12]

Activities

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Parkland High School has several dozen extracurricular organizations for students.[13]

In the August 2010, Parkland High School's theatrical production of Les Misérables was featured in the documentary Most Valuable Players, featuring the school's competition against neighboring Emmaus High School in Emmaus and Freedom High School in Bethlehem Township as the three large high schools participated in the Freddy Awards competition, which recognizes the best theatrical productions by Lehigh Valley-based high schools.

Athletics

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Parkland competes athletically in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, one of the premier high school athletic divisions in the nation. Cumulatively among all of its sports, Parkland has secured fourteen Pennsylvania state championship titles.[14][15]

Baseball

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The baseball program has won 17 conference championships and 7 district titles. The program has 11 athletes that have been inducted to the Parkland High School Hall of Fame. The program has a record of 854-416-1 with a winning percentage of 0.672 in 73 seasons.[16]

Basketball (Boys)

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The boys basketball team has won 6 conference championships and 10 district titles. There have been 7 players inducted into the Parkland High School Hall of Fame. The program has had 8 1,000 point scorers. The program as a entirety has a record of 1,145-698 with a winning percentage of 0.621 in its 74 seasons.[16]

Sam Iorio attended Parkland High School, playing guard and forward for its Trojans basketball team.[17][18] He graduated in 2017 as the school's all-time leading career scorer with 1,892 points as he averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.[19][20] He was named Class 6A Player of the Year and First Team All-Pennsylvania, and was named Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2016 by the The Morning Call.[21]

Basketball (Girls)

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The Parkland Girls basketball team has an overall record throughout program history of 807-621, which has a winning percentage of 0.565. The program has 8 1,000-point scorers throughout the program with the most recent being in the 2006-2007 season. The program has 3 conference championships, 4 district championships, and 1 state title in the 2005-2006 season.[16]

Cross country (Girls)

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The Parkland girls cross country team has a record of 449-179-2 over 40 seasons with a winning percentage of 0.714. The program has won 7 conference championships, 5 district championships, and 1 state title. They have 3 athletes that have been inducted into the Parkland Hall of Fame.[16]

Football

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The football program at Parkland High School has won 18 conference championships, 10 district titles, and 1 state title in its 69 years as a program. Their overall record is 454-269-21, with a winning percentage of 0.624.. There are 30 athletes that have been inducted into the Parkland Hall of Fame, 29 athletes with 1,000 rushing yards, 16 athletes with 1,000 passing yards and 1 athlete with 1,000 receiving yards.[16]

Ice hockey

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Parkland High School also is one of eleven Lehigh Valley-area high schools with an ice hockey team; the team competes in the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Ice Hockey League. The team has won the LVSHL district championship 14 times, as well as making the state finals in 2013. [22]

Soccer (Boys)

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The Parkland boys soccer team has an overall record of 615-303-48 with a winning percentage of 0.661 over 47 seasons as a program. They have won 11 conference and 9 district championships. 13 athletes have been inducted into the Parkland's Hall of Fame.[16] The most league wins for the program was 17, which occurred in 2002. The most overall wins occurred in 1998, with 25. The most goals scored by the team in a single season is 115, and the fewest goals allowed in a season was 10. The best record the team has had was 17-0. The most goals by an athlete in a season was 39 and was completed by Josh Ottinger in 2000. The most assists was 23, completed by JC Tishishimbi in 2005. The most points were also completed by Josh Ottinger with 89, and the most shutouts in a season was 19 by Rob Weisel in 1998.[23]

Softball

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The Parkland softball program has a record of 912-241 with a winning percentage of 0.791 over 53 seasons. They have won 5 state titles, 27 conference championships, and 16 district titles. They have had 20 athletes inducted into the hall of fame.[16]

Swimming and diving (Boys)

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The swimming program has won 8 conference championships and 12 district championships. The program has a winning percentage of 0.724 with a record of 508-192-5 over 62 seasons.[16]

Swimming and diving (Girls)

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The girls swimming and diving program has a program overall record of 545-124-2 with a winning percentage of 0.814. The program has won 19 conference titles, 25 district championships, and 3 state titles in its 54 seasons. The program has 40 athletes that are in the Parkland Hall of Fame.[16]

Tennis (Boys)

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The boys tennis program at Parkland has three athletes that have been inducted into the Parkland Hall of Fame. they have a winning record with a winning percentage of 0.814. They have won 671 matches, lost 151, and dragged 5. They have one 23 conference championships and 11 district titles.[16]

Tennis (Girls)

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The girls tennis program has a winning percentage of 0.827 with 633-132 with 18 conference championships and 11 district titles. They have had one athlete inducted into the Parkland Hall of Fame in the 2011-2012 season.[16]

Volleyball (Boys)

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In 2015, the boys volleyball team won the PIAA state championships.[24] The boys volleyball team has won 13 conference championships, 10 district championships, and 1 state title in its 36 seasons as a program. The program has produced 24 athletes into the Parkland High School hall of fame. The volleyball program as a whole has a record of 507-164 with a winning percentage of 0.756.[16]

Volleyball (Girls)

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In 2011, 2014, and 2015, the girls volleyball team won the PIAA AAA state championships.[25][26] The girls volleyball program at Parkland High School has 9 conference championships, 11 district championships, and three state championships. The girls team has had 27 girls inducted to the Parkland Hall of Fame. The record over 42 seasons for the girls volleyball program is 577-289 with a win percentage of 0.666[16]

Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Search for Public Schools - Parkland High School (421851002829)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "Hard to believe, but it's rivalry week". The Morning Call. October 26, 2021. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "2023 Largest Schools in Pennsylvania" Archived 2023-09-01 at the Wayback Machine, Niche.com
  4. ^ "The Early History of North Whitehall Township" (PDF). Northwhitehall.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  5. ^ Report, Morning Call | Staff (August 22, 1999). "PARKLAND GETS HIGH-TECH HIGH SCHOOL * LEHIGH VALLEY'S NEW $77 MILLION COMPLEX MIRRORS BUILDING TRENDS ELSEWHERE IN THE NATION". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  6. ^ "Parkland High Target Date Extended To 1999". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  7. ^ "Parkland High School : Profile 2015-2016" (PDF). Parklandsd.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  8. ^ Spears, Steve (August 4, 2011). "This high school made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  9. ^ Hibbard, Laura (April 16, 2012). "Millennium Falcon Look-Alike High School Delights 'Star Wars' Fans". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  10. ^ "Outstanding buildings: High school: Parkland High School". American School & University. Vol. 74, no. 3. Nashville. November 2001. pp. 122–123. ProQuest 212739748.
  11. ^ "Parkland High School Test Scores and Academics". Niche. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "Parkland High School Academic Ranking". Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  13. ^ "Activities" Archived December 8, 2023, at the Wayback Machine at Parkland High School
  14. ^ "LVIAC Historical Stats". LVIAC. September 8, 2008. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008.
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  19. ^ "Sam Iorio," American University Eagles.
  20. ^ Nick Fierro (April 15, 2017). "Parkland’s Sam Iorio leads Valley’s strong All-State basketball contingent," The Morning Call.
  21. ^ "H.Be'er Sheva signs rookie Sam Iorio in his first year in pro basketball," Eurobasket News, July 3, 2023.
  22. ^ "Parkland". Lehigh Valley Scholastic Ice Hockey League. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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  26. ^ Kyle Craig (October 29, 2013). "Parkland girls volleyball wins second straight state title with dramatic rally - lehighvalleylive.com". Highschoolsports.lehighvalleylive.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
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  29. ^ Longsdorf, Amy (November 1, 2009). "Allentown native Michaela Conlin: The 'girl next door' is an irreverent crime-solver on the hit show 'Bones'". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019.
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  35. ^ "Aimee Mullins". National Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
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  37. ^ "Pop singer EJ emotionally battered no more". The Morning Call. June 9, 2005. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
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