Gloucester High School (Massachusetts)
Encyclopedia
Gloucester High School is a public four-year comprehensive secondary school with 1,351 students and 150 faculty and staff. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and is a member of the Northeast Alliance of High Schools.
In 1889, the school moved into its then new building on Dale Avenue.
The Dale Avenue building was converted to Central Grammar School in 1939.
The current Gloucester High School, located along the Annisquam River, near the entrance to Gloucester Harbor, was completed in 1939, with an addition in the 1970s and a new Field House wing added in the 1990s.
Fall
Winter
Spring
Recent State Champions
Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association (GFAA)
Renewal Newell Stadium
But Gloucester mayor Carolyn Kirk quickly responded that they had no confirmation of any pregnancy pact.
Finally, one pregnant student, interviewed on Good Morning America
, said:
Media reactions to the event ranged from general criticism of the episode as representing a misguided adolescent shortcut to adulthood and identity, to the matter of whether statutory rape occurred. (Some of the girls were under 16, which in Massachusetts made it illegal for their partners to have sex with them.)
However, most early media reactions were not completely accurate because they had not received all of the necessary information until later.
During the 2007–2008 school year, two staff members began to publicly advocate that the school clinic provide contraception
without parental consent, largely in response to the surge in student pregnancies. This recommendation drew opposition from the board of Addison Gilbert Hospital, which sponsors the clinic. The clinic staff, a pediatrician and nurse practitioner, resigned in protest at the end of the school year.
On October 8, 2008 the Gloucester School Committee granted the use of contraceptives through the Student Health Center, provided the students had parental approval.
The "pregnancy pact" controversy inspired some fictional treatments. The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
episode "Babes", airing in November 2008, featured a pregnancy pact between four high-school girls, with one becoming involved with a mentally-ill homeless man in order to conceive. The following March, an episode of Bones
, "The Salt in the Wounds", featured a high-school girls' volleyball team with many members pregnant or already having given birth. Barbara Delinsky
published a book titled, 'Not My Daughter', which was inspired by events in Gloucester. On January 23, 2010, Lifetime premiered a new movie called The Pregnancy Pact, which is inspired by these events.
The controversy is also the subject of a documentary, "The Gloucester 18." The film crew interviewed a number of the girls allegedly involved in the "pact," many of whom speak publicly for the first time in the movie. The documentary purports to be the only source of the true story behind the Gloucester pregnancy pact and includes interviews with the girls and their families as well as Dr. Brian Orr and nurse Kimberly Daly, who ran the health clinic at Gloucester High during the time of the controversy.
The 2011 French feature film, "17 filles," a story of "young female friendship—and naiveté" is based on the Gloucester High "pact." It is the first feature film from sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin.
History
Established by 1839, Gloucester High School became a four year institution by 1857.In 1889, the school moved into its then new building on Dale Avenue.
The Dale Avenue building was converted to Central Grammar School in 1939.
The current Gloucester High School, located along the Annisquam River, near the entrance to Gloucester Harbor, was completed in 1939, with an addition in the 1970s and a new Field House wing added in the 1990s.
Athletics
Gloucester High School is well known for its many athletic teams and competes in the Northeastern Conference (NEC) of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA).Fall
- Football (D1a) – Newell Stadium 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 NEC
- Soccer (D1) – Newell Stadium 2006, 2007 NEC
- Cross Country (D2) – Ravenswood Park 1992–2006, 2007 NEC
- Golf (D2) – Bass Rocks Golf Course
Winter
- Hockey (D2) – Dorothy Talbot Memorial Rink, 2006, 2008 NEC
- Basketball (D2) – Benjamin A. Smith Fieldhouse
- Track (D2) – Benjamin A. Smith Fieldhouse, 14 of last 16 NEC
Spring
- Baseball (D1) – Nate Ross Field
- Lacrosse (D1) – Newell Stadium
- Track (D2) – Newell Stadium (No home meets because track is condemned), 11 of last 15 NEC
- Tennis (D1) – Stephen Ross Tennis Courts
Recent State Champions
- Football – 1991, 1995, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010
- Hockey – 1993, 1998, 2006
Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association (GFAA)
Renewal Newell Stadium
Music
Headed by director David Adams and assistant director David DiPietro, the high school's music program includes a chorus and a stage band, "The Docksiders". The band has traveled as far away as California to perform, and is slated to go to Hawaii in April 2010.Notable alumni
- Roger CresseyRoger CresseyRoger W. Cressey is a former member of the United States National Security Council staff, where he held the position of Director for Transnational Threats from November 1999 through November 2001. He was until recently the president of the Good Harbor consulting group, and an adjunct Professor of ...
, former member of the United States National Security CouncilUnited States National Security CouncilThe White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
, terrorism analyst for NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
, president of Good Harbor Consulting, and adjunct professor at Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States... - Billy MacleodBilly MacleodWilliam Daniel MacLeod is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1962 season. Listed at 6' 2", 190 lb., he batted and threw left-handed....
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pitcher - Benjamin A. Smith IIBenjamin A. Smith IIBenjamin Atwood Smith II was a United States Senator from the state of Massachusetts from December 1960 until November 1962.-Family and education:...
, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts - Abigail Rogers
Teen pregnancy controversy
On June 18, 2008, the high school drew international attention as news broke that 18 students had become pregnant in the last year, over four times the previous year's reported pregnancies. Principal Joseph Sullivan claimed that some of the girls had made a pact to become pregnant together, one even seeking a homeless 24-year-old man in her pursuits to conceive.But Gloucester mayor Carolyn Kirk quickly responded that they had no confirmation of any pregnancy pact.
Finally, one pregnant student, interviewed on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, said:
There was definitely no pact [...] There was a group of girls already pregnant that decided they were going to help each other to finish school and raise their kids together.
Media reactions to the event ranged from general criticism of the episode as representing a misguided adolescent shortcut to adulthood and identity, to the matter of whether statutory rape occurred. (Some of the girls were under 16, which in Massachusetts made it illegal for their partners to have sex with them.)
However, most early media reactions were not completely accurate because they had not received all of the necessary information until later.
During the 2007–2008 school year, two staff members began to publicly advocate that the school clinic provide contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
without parental consent, largely in response to the surge in student pregnancies. This recommendation drew opposition from the board of Addison Gilbert Hospital, which sponsors the clinic. The clinic staff, a pediatrician and nurse practitioner, resigned in protest at the end of the school year.
On October 8, 2008 the Gloucester School Committee granted the use of contraceptives through the Student Health Center, provided the students had parental approval.
The "pregnancy pact" controversy inspired some fictional treatments. The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
episode "Babes", airing in November 2008, featured a pregnancy pact between four high-school girls, with one becoming involved with a mentally-ill homeless man in order to conceive. The following March, an episode of Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
, "The Salt in the Wounds", featured a high-school girls' volleyball team with many members pregnant or already having given birth. Barbara Delinsky
Barbara Delinsky
Barbara Delinsky is an American writer of nineteen New York Times bestsellers. She has also been published under the pen names Bonnie Drake and Billie Douglass.-Biography:Delinsky was born on August 9, 1945 near Boston, Massachusetts...
published a book titled, 'Not My Daughter', which was inspired by events in Gloucester. On January 23, 2010, Lifetime premiered a new movie called The Pregnancy Pact, which is inspired by these events.
The controversy is also the subject of a documentary, "The Gloucester 18." The film crew interviewed a number of the girls allegedly involved in the "pact," many of whom speak publicly for the first time in the movie. The documentary purports to be the only source of the true story behind the Gloucester pregnancy pact and includes interviews with the girls and their families as well as Dr. Brian Orr and nurse Kimberly Daly, who ran the health clinic at Gloucester High during the time of the controversy.
The 2011 French feature film, "17 filles," a story of "young female friendship—and naiveté" is based on the Gloucester High "pact." It is the first feature film from sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin.