Conestoga High School
Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place.
Conestoga, commonly referred to as "Stoga", is northwest of Philadelphia in the suburbs known as the Main Line.
Departments
Conestoga has eight academic departments: Business/Technology, English, World Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts, and Wellness/Fitness/Family & Consumer Science. Students must earn 24 credits in order to graduate. One credit is equivalent to a year-long class.Distinctions and honors
In 2016, Niche.com ranked the Tredyffrin Easttown school district first in the United States. In the 2016 edition of Newsweeks "America's Top High Schools", Conestoga High School was ranked 36th in the nation and the 1st in Pennsylvania.National Merit/College Board Recognition
The Conestoga Class of 2022 includes 39 National Merit Semi-finalists, the most in Pennsylvania. The Conestoga Class of 2018 includes 34 National Merit Semi-finalists, 26 National Merit Commended students, and 2 National Hispanic Scholars.Extracurricular activities
Student Journalism
''The Spoke''
Conestoga is home to a student-produced news website, Spoke.news. It is produced by the staff of The Spoke, Conestoga's student run newspaper. The Spoke has been the recipient of several national awards.Civic engagement
In 2017, Conestoga was the first high school to receive the Pennsylvania Governor's Civic Engagement Award for registering 85% of eligible students to vote. In 2018, the students who ran the drive brought the organization "New Voters" to the national level.Athletic teams
Conestoga competes in 17 different sporting events generally within the Central League.Notable alumni
- Dave Bush, former professional baseball player, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays
- Brian Chippendale, rock drummer and vocalist
- Jake Cohen, professional basketball player, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israeli national basketball team
- Chris Donovan, professional soccer player, Philadelphia Union
- Jennie Eisenhower, actress, granddaughter of President Richard Nixon, and great-granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Robert Ellis, author
- Drew Endy, bioengineering professor, Stanford University, and founder of the Registry of Standard Biological Parts
- FanFan, singer and actress
- Gregg Foreman, musician and actor
- Todd Glass, comedian and actor
- Steve Gerben, Actor, Producer, Writer
- Pat Heim, professional lacrosse player
- Mark Herzlich, professional football player
- Roger Hobbs, author
- Elizabeth Hoffman, executive vice-president, Iowa State University, president emerita, University of Colorado
- Keith Hughes. former professional baseball player
- Kasie Hunt, political correspondent
- Chris Hurst, TV anchor and member of the Virginia House of Delegates
- Abbi Jacobson, actress and co-creator of Comedy Central TV series Broad City
- Larry Krasner, 26th District Attorney of Philadelphia
- Brendon Little, professional baseball player, Chicago Cubs
- Craig Lucas, Tony Award-nominated playwright
- Mt. Joy, Indie folk/rock band featuring alumni Matt Quinn and Sam Cooper
- Brian Munroe, Pennsylvania State Representative
- P.T. Ricci, professional lacrosse player
- Johanna Schmitt, professor of evolution and ecology, University of California, Davis and professor of natural history, Brown University
- Grant Shaud, actor
- Tommy Shields, professional baseball player, Chicago Cubs
- Glenn R. Simpson, journalist
- Melissa Shusterman, Pennsylvania State Representative
- Marquis Weeks, professional football player
Hazing scandal
In 2015, there was a legal case involving students who were in their first year at Conestoga High School. Among them was a 14-year-old male freshman who was a part of the varsity football team. Many of the older football players regarded this young student as overly self-assured and confrontational.During the course of the legal proceedings surrounding inappropriate text messages, the father of the accused minor informed the school that his son had experienced bullying several months earlier at the hands of the Conestoga football team. This included an incident in which a broomstick was inserted into his son's rectum. Complying with legal obligations, this report was forwarded to the Tredyffrin Township Police Department, who then sought guidance from the District Attorney's Office.
Subsequently, three juveniles chose to acknowledge their involvement in acts of harassment. They confessed that two individuals had physically restrained the victim while the third used a broomstick to intimidate him. These charged juveniles admitted that their intention had been to instill fear in the victim.