River Valley High School (Caledonia, Ohio)

River Valley High School is a public high school in Caledonia, Ohio. It is the only high school in the River Valley Schools district. In the fall of 2003, a new campus was opened for students due to the possibility of cancer-causing chemicals on the old campus.

Basic Facts

The school has approximately 400-500 students in grades 9 through 12 and an additional 50 or more that attend the nearby Tri-Rivers Vocational School. The school day begins at 7:50 AM and ends at 2:50 PM. River Valley is on "block scheduling" which means that the school day is divided into four blocks ("A", "B", "C", and "D"). Each full block class meets for 93 minutes per day for 18 weeks, or until the first semester ends. Once the semester is over, students are finished with that semester's classes and have new classes to begin after winter exams. They remain in this second round of classes until the end of the school year. River Valley does not have midterms as a whole student body, like other schools around the state, but individual classes have their own midterms scheduled.

Every year, River Valley pays homage to veterans by having a large and appreciative Veterans Day assembly. Up until the 2006 school year, they were headed up by history teacher Richard Jones.

"Cancer Scare"

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, a "cancer scare" arose among River Valley students, parents, faculty, alumni, and school district residents. The first high school and middle school campuses were built on Army Corps of Engineers land which was used during World War II as a chemical waste dump. The campuses contained dangerous levels of at least 75 chemicals. Concern of cancer was brought about when it was discovered there was an increased rate of leukemia among alumni. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) began negotiations with the school district and the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build new high school, middle school, and two new elementary school campuses, which were completed in 2003. The federal government also contributed fifteen million dollars for the new campuses. [ [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1622 River Valley Schools' Cancer Scare - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society ] ]

The controversy attracted much media attention as well. Reporters from WCMH 4 (NBC), WSYX 6 (ABC), and WBNS 10 (CBS) broadcast from the campus on several occasions, even interviewing some of the students. The story was featured on the NBC Nightly News.

Academics

In order to graduate, students must obtain 24 credits by the end of their senior year. They are required 4 credits of English, 3 credits of mathematics, 3 credits of science, 3 credits of history (often referred to as social studies), a half-credit of health, a half-credit of physical education(which is two .25 credit hour classes), and a half-credit of Life Planning (all seniors are required to take this class except those who take at least 3 years of Agricultural Science).

Students planning on going to college after graduation are highly encouraged to take 4 credits of English (with emphasis on composition), 3 credits of mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II), 3 credits of science (including Physical Science,Biology and Chemistry), 3 credits of history, 2 credits of foreign language (some schools now recommend 3), and one credit of art.

River Valley does have a long list of academic classes offered regularly, including Advanced Placement courses that allow you to obtain college credit by taking a test at the end of the school year, and are a weighted grade for your high school GPA. They also offer extra core academic classes, such as Physics, Anatomy and Physiology, Pre-Calculus, and A.P. Calculus, for those who wish to have a more rigorous schedule or to explore an area of academics further. Until the 2005 school year, River Valley also offered 3 foreign languages but had to drop German due to "financial difficulties".

Athletics and Extracurriculars

Athletics

* Football
* Boy's Basketball
* Girl's Basketball
* Baseball
* Softball
* Girl's Tennis
* Boy's Tennis
* Soccer
* Track & Field
* Cross Country!
* Girl's Volleyball
* Cheerleading
* Golf
* Swimming
* Wrestling

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

* Boys Cross Country – 1966cite web|url=http://www.ohsaa.org/|title=Ohio High School Athletic Association|accessdate=2006-12-31]

Extracurriculars

*Class Officers
*Marching Band
*Jazz Band
*Choir
*Orchestra
*Music Company (Co-ed Show Choir)
*New Addition (All female Show Choir)
*Spring Musical
*Fall play
*Yearbook Club
*Fellowship of Christian Athletes
*Teen Institute
*FCCLA
*National Honor Society
*Industrial Tech Club
*French Club
*Spanish Club
*FFA
*Junior State of America
*Academic Challenge

Other School in district (As Of 2007)

*Heritage Elementary School
*Liberty Elementary School
*River Valley High School
*River Valley Middle School

External links

* [http://www.rivervalley.k12.oh.us/ District Website]

Notes and references