Roy C. Ketcham High School

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Roy C. Ketcham High School, more informally Ketcham or RCK, is a public secondary school under jurisdiction of the Wappingers Central School District. Located in Wappingers Falls, New York, the school serves approximately two-thousand students in grades nine through twelve residing in the southwest of Dutchess County.

History

As a result of the considerable population growth in Dutchess County during the 1940s and 1950s, a new senior high school was built and opened to students in the fall of 1952. The new school was named in honor of Roy C. Ketcham, a prominent member of the town's board of education for a quarter of a century.

Academics

The class of 2005 consisted of 340 graduates, approximately 80% of whom continued their formal education full-time; of which 47% enrolled in four-year colleges and universities and 33% entered two-year colleges. Graduates of the class went on to study at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Northwestern, and NYU. Some graduates choose to go to a community college or state school as well. Seven students were recognized by the prestigious National Merit Scholarship program, 15 were New York State Academic Excellence Scholarship winners, and 6 were recipients of the Thomas J. Watson Scholarship. ^[2]

130 instructors constitute a teaching faculty that caters to 1853 students, making an approximate 1:14 faculty-student ratio.

English curriculum includes mandatory classes for grades 9-12. The school offers underclassman honors-track classes that lead into Advanced Placement Language and Composition and Advanced Placement Literature and Composition for 11th and 12th grades, respectively. Ketcham's English program is known to be very strong and had had better results than John Jay.

Ketcham's social studies department offers many unique courses not offered in the other high school in the district, the likes of African Studies and Latin American Studies. Ketcham's social studies department proves to be one of the best in the area year after year.

The school offers four languages: Spanish, Italian, French, and German. All are continued until the advanced placement level.

Roy C. Ketcham's music and theatre programs are quite well known in the local area and have a reputation for being among the best in the county.^{[citation needed]} The music department occasionally hosts regional events at the school, such as NYSSMA competitions, Area All State Festivals, and All County Jazz Festivals.

Roy C. Ketcham's current principal is Mr. Thomas Stella,who in his short time being principal has done a lot for the school and its athletics. The assistant principals for the 2009-2010 school year are Mr. Matthew Lawrence, Mr. Anthony Giovinazzi and Mrs. Sydnie Vasquez.

Athletics

Ketcham has many sports teams normally common in northeastern high schools. It holds many state and sectional championships for baseball. The cheerleading time has won sectional champions as well as numerous local tournaments. They are ranked very highly across the nation. Ketcham's Varsity football team had a 6-3 record for the 2009-2010 school year, defeating the 08 section finalists Carmel in their opening game. Ketcham has quite a successful Wrestling program thanks to coaches Joe Warren, Dave Grafmuller, and Andrew Turner. The wrestling team has not lost a dual-meet to John Jay in 14 years. .

Notable alumni

• DB Woodside, actor
• Dario Brose, soccer midfielder
• Bo Oshoniyi, soccer goalkeeper, currently playing for the Kansas City Wizards.
• Pepper Burruss, head athletic trainer for the Green Bay Packers.^[3]
• Keith Lockhart, music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
• John Regan, bassist
• Mary Chris Wall, actress
• Ryan Kienle, bassist

References