| Great Neck South High School | |
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Great Neck South High School as it appeared in 2007. | |
| Location | |
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| Information | |
| Type | Senior high school |
| Established | 1958[1] |
| Principal | Mr. Randolph H. Ross[2] |
| Assistant Principals | Sharon Applebaum John Duggan[3] |
| Website | www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/GNPS/SHS/index.htm |
William A. Shine Great Neck South High School or simply "South High School" is a high school, comprising grades 9 through 12. It is located in Great Neck as part of the Great Neck School District.
National publications often include Great Neck South High School among the top secondary schools in the country. These publications have based their conclusions on surveys of groups such as college admissions officers, the Carnegie Foundation, the Institute for Educational Leadership at George Washington University, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.[3]
More than 82 percent of South High students achieve a “B” average or better. Over 98 percent of the South High School Class of 2006 entered college. Approximately 1,230 students are enrolled in South High School for the 2006-2007 academic year. Eight percent were recognized as Finalists or received Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.[3]
Great Neck South was rated the 31st best school in Newsweek Magazine's recent listing of "America's Best High Schools" in the May 8, 2006, issue,[4] with each twelfth grader averaging 4.321 Advanced Placement courses.
The school ranks number one among large high schools in the percentage of test-takers receiving 3 or better on the AP Psychology test.[5] The school boasts an 80% passing rate for the Advanced Placement Program AP Calculus AB examination and a near perfect passing rate for the AP Calculus BC examination.
The music department presents a full-scale opera performed by the students each year. To date, it is the only public high school opera company in the U.S. The production consists of a full cast and pits orchestra, and is usually performed on the last weekend of March. Past performances include Carmen (2006, 2000), Les Miserables (opera/musical 2005), Sweeney Todd (2005), Die Fledermaus (2004), The Tales of Hoffman (2003), The Magic Flute (2002, 2007), The Marriage of Figaro (2001), Pirates of Penzance (1999) and Candide (1998).
The department was selected as a 2005 and 2003 Grammy Signature School among the top 40 high school music programs in the U.S. by a panel from the Grammy Foundation. It has also been named a Grammy Signature School Finalist (top 100) in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The Great Neck District was selected as one of the top "100 Best Communities for Music Education in America 2005" by the American Music Conference.[6]
The Great Neck South High School Chamber Music Society has been selected as a winner of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society's "Young Musicians' Program" Chamber Music Competition in seven out of the last eight years (2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 & 1998). This regional high school competition selects between eight to ten chamber groups from participating schools throughout the New York metropolitan area, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Winning ensembles receive three coaching sessions from members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and have an opportunity to perform at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center at the Young Musicians' Concert in April.
South High School offers major sequences in several fields of study. In addition to courses required for graduation, students elect many others according to their abilities, interests, and future plans. Also offered are an independent study program that provides an opportunity for students to explore their own academic pursuits, guided by a teacher; a music program that has earned international, national, and state awards; and a choral program that results in a full-scale opera each year. Educational opportunities include Advanced Placement (AP), Independent Study, Honors (H), Regents, accelerated courses, career training, special education, TESL, nine languages, including Mandarin Chinese and American Sign Language, and remedial education. AP courses are available in art, art history, biology, calculus, chemistry, computer science, economics, English, French, government, history, Latin, music, physics, psychology, Spanish, and statistics.[3]
The student body in the school year of 2004-2005 consists of:[7]
Great Neck South has a strong math program which is shown in the ranking of its math team in state and county math leagues. The math team is part of the Nassau County Interscholastic Math League [2] where it has placed 1st in six of the past seven years; 2000,[8] 2001,[9] 2002,[10] 2003,[11] 2005,[12] 2006,[13] it also placed 2nd in 2004.[14] During the Spring 2006 UTD/UWW Mathematics Meet the math team has also placed 2nd out of 538 teams.[15] [16]The advisor is Ms. O'Connor.[17]
The school's annual literary magazine is named "Exit 33", since the building is located off Exit 33 of the Long Island Expressway. The Faculty Advisor is Mr. Ehrlich.
Southerner is the school's monthly newspaper. It typically covers news and events within the school but includes editorials and news from the surrounding community. The advisor is Mr. Wheeler.[18]
