Heritage High School is a public high school located in Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...

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The school is a part of Lynchburg City Public Schools

Lynchburg City Public Schools

Lynchburg City Public Schools is a public school district in Lynchburg, Virginia. It began operation on April 5, 1871.It has over 9,000 students enrolled in preschool through adult classes in two high schools, three middle schools, and eleven elementary schools...

 District. Mark Miear is the head principal . Heritage has enrollment of 1102 as of 2011. Its mascot is the Pioneer and its colors are blue and orange.

History

In January, 1975, a steering committee, representative of educators,
students, parents, and the community at large, was appointed to begin planning a new high school to accommodate approximately 2,000 students. This committee and twenty-three subcommittees worked under the able direction of Dr. Ernest Martin, Special Assistant to the Superintendent, to draw up the initial specifications for the new school. From this planning merged the architects' design of an ultra-modern structure, beautiful in appearance and functional in use.

The new school had no real identity until the spring of 1976, when a special School Board committee, chaired by Mr. James K. Candler, made the following announcement: "We propose Heritage High School as a fitting name for the city's newest secondary building. The name shall serve to remind this generation and generations to come that the first responsibility in public education is to see that our democratic way of life is preserved through an informed electorate. This name shall call to mind both the pride in achievements in the past and shall hold forth a challenge for greater progress in the future. It shall provide a continuing reminder to Lynchburg educators and citizens of the obligation which is theirs - to mold the future through the education of the youth - to carry on the heritage of free education first established in the city of Lynchburg in 1871 and in the Colony of Virginia in 1634.

The School

• First Floor- Cafeteria, Auditorium, Band, Chorus, Orchestra, Drama
• Second Floor- Clinic, Field House Driver's Education, Health
• Third Floor- Media Center (library), Math hall, Weight room, lecture hall (bottom entrance), First Floor Governor's School Entrance
• Fourth Floor- Career Tech hall, English hall, Social Studies hall, Foreign Language hall, lecture hall (top entrance), Second Floor Governor's School Entrance, Attendance Office
• Fifth Floor- Main Office, Guidance Department, Science hall

• There is an elevator
• There are six computer labs and one foreign language lab (excluding rooms where computer classes take place)
• Two of the computer labs are in the Media Center.
• There is one assistant principal office on the second floor, one in the Attendance Office on the fourth floor, and one in the Main Office on the fifth floor
• There are 2 restrooms on the first floor, 4 on the second floor (2 are in the field house), there are two on the third floor (there are single restrooms in the media center), seven on the fourth floor (3 women's, 4 mens), and two on the fifth floor.
• There are lockers on each floor, but the lockers on the first and second floor are not used, and most of the lockers on the career tech hall are not used.
• There are 3 main sets of stairs, one near the front of the floor (connecting the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors), there are a set of stairs in the middle of the school near the elevator (connecting the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors), and a set of stairs in the back part of the school (connecting the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors)

Facts

• Heritage High School was built to produce solar energy hence its unique architecture
• Heritage is one of three high schools in Virginia to have an indoor track on their campus (Ralph D. Spencer Memorial Fieldhouse) on the 2nd Floor

Notable alumni

• Leland D. Melvin
  Leland D. Melvin
  Leland Devon Melvin is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. He served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-122, and as mission specialist 1 on STS-129...
  
   (NASA engineer and astronaut)
• Paris Lenon
  Paris Lenon
  Paris Michael Lenon is an American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2000...
  
   (NFL Linebacker-Detroit Lions)
• David Craig
  David Craig
  David Craig may refer to:*David Craig , Northern Irish footballer who played for Newcastle United*David Craig *David Craig, Baron Craig of Radley, retired British Chief of the Defence Staff and Marshal of the RAF...
  
   (United States Air Force)
• Mike Tucker
  Mike Tucker
  Mike Tucker is a special effects expert who worked for many years at the BBC Television Visual Effects Department, and now works as an Effects Supervisor for his own company, The Model Unit. He is also the author of a variety of spin-offs relating to the television series Doctor Who and...
  
   (Colonial Circuits Director of Engineering)
• Keith Hamilton (NFL Lineman-NY Giants)
• Chris Cook
  Chris Cook (American football)
  Christopher O'Shea Cook is an American football cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was drafted in the second round, 34th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia....
  
   (NFL Cornerback-Minnesota Vikings)

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Central Virginia Governor's School

• Heritage High School is home to the Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology
  Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology
  The Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology is a magnet school located in Lynchburg, Virginia and directed by Dr. Stephen Smith. Students of this school are chosen from Lynchburg-area county and city schools...
  
  . Gifted high school students from Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, and Campbell counties as well as Lynchburg City attend classes at a separate location within the high school.

Athletics

Heritage (Lynchburg) has won a number of VHSL

Virginia High School League

The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...

 Seminole District, Region III, and State Championships at the AAA and AA level.

State Championships

• Recent Champions*

2002

• Virginia State AA Division 4 Football Champions
  • Lafayette High School-Williamsburg
    Lafayette High School (Williamsburg, Virginia)
    Lafayette High School is a public secondary school in James City County, Virginia, just outside the city limits of Williamsburg, Virginia. It is part of Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools and is located at 4460 Longhill Road.-History:...
    
     - 7 vs Heritage High School - 34
• Virginia State AA Indoor Track Champions (Boys)

2003

• Virginia State AA Indoor Track Champions (Boys)
• Virginia State AA Indoor Track Runner-Up (Girls)
• Virginia State AA Outdoor Track Champions (Girls)
• Virginia State AA Outdoor Track Champions (Boys)

2004

• Virginia State AA Basketball Final Four Tournament (Boys)

2006

• Virginia State AA Indoor Track Champions (Boys)

Regionals

1978

• Northwest Region AAA Baseball Champions

2002

• Region III Division 4 Football Champions

2003

• Region III Outdoor Track Champions (Girls)
• Region III Outdoor Track Champions (Boys)
• Region III Indoor Track Champions (Girls)
• Region III Indoor Track Champions (Boys)

2004

• Region III Indoor Track Champions (Girls)

2005

• Region III Indoor Track Champions (Boys)

Region III Baseball Champions
2006

• Region III Indoor Track Champions (Boys)

2007

• ACE Team (The VHSL calls it Scholastic Bowl)

2008

• Region III Indoor Track Champions (Boys)

Theatre

Heritage High School is also home to Pioneer Theatre. A student run program with Theatre Director Larry Hart and Associate Director Michelle Velastegui as of Fall 2008. In 2010, the Virginia Theatre Association named Director Larry Hart theatre educator of the year. All sets are built by Applied Technical Theater I & II. The theatre produces around six shows a year. The six plays usually consist of an Acting II Competition Piece, a Theater in the round, a Mainstage Straight Play, a Mainstage Musical, an Acting II Musical or "Straight Play" Dinner Theatre, and the Acting II Original One Acts. While this is the current compilation it does change slightly from year to year.

2006-2007 season

• Urinetown
• Murder of One
• House of Blue Leaves
• Beauty and the Beast
• Snoopy, The Musical
• Acting II presents Original One-Acts

2007-2008 season

• Singin' in the Rain
• When the Angels Cried and the Mountains Fell
• Its a Wonderful Life
• Evita
• Suburb, The Musical
• Acting II presents Original One-Acts

2008-2009 season

• Fahrenheit 451
• Paparazzo,a Morality Play in the Guise of a Musical Fantasy
• Noises Off
• The Producers
• Charlotte's Web
• Acting II presents Original One-Acts

2009-2010 season

• Once on This Island
• You Don't Know Jack
• Running in the Red
• Peter Pan
• The Foreigner
• Acting II presents Original One-Acts

2010-2011 season

• The Wedding Singer
• The Human Condition
• Lend Me a Tenor
• The Wizard of Oz
• Acting II presents Original One-Acts

External links

• Heritage High School
• Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology
• Lynchburg City Schools
• VHSL-Reference website
• Leland D. Melvin
  Leland D. Melvin
  Leland Devon Melvin is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. He served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-122, and as mission specialist 1 on STS-129...
  
  
• http://www.lcsedu.net/schools/hhs/activities-sports/clubs/pioneer-theatre/