Framingham High School


Framingham High School is a public high school in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States, serving grades 9 through 12. It is located approximately 20 miles west of Boston and enrolls about 2,500 students, making it one of the largest high schools in the state.
The school traces its origins to the late 18th century through the Framingham Academy and related institutions. The modern Framingham High School was established in 1991 through the merger of Framingham North High School and Framingham South High School.
WWW Official Site

History

The Framingham Academy was established in 1798, replacing the organization known as the Proprietors of the Brick School House, which had formed in 1792.
The current high school was created when Framingham North High School and Framingham South High School merged in 1991.
The town of Framingham gave the academy $1000, but some time later this was determined to be illegal and the academy was dissolved.
The high school was formed in 1852 and later became the legal successor to the academy. Thus, the high school can be considered to be founded in either 1792 or 1852.
In 1958, mid-year, a new building on Flagg Drive replaced the original high school on Union Avenue that was built in the 1920s. The original building was eventually converted to house several facilities, including the Danforth Museum and the Callahan Senior Center.
In 1963, due to an increasing school population, the original Framingham High was split into two schools: Framingham North High School and Framingham South High School.
South High was located in the Flagg Drive campus in South Framingham and North High was located at a new school building at Winch Park on A St. in Saxonville.
Originally, North High shared facilities with Winch Park Middle School until 1974 when the first Cameron Middle School opened on Elm Street.
The two high schools remained separate until 1991 when they were merged to create a unified school under the name Framingham High School.
On a visit on October 20, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Improving America's Schools Act in the school's John F. Kennedy gymnasium.

Academics

In the late 1990s, Framingham High School was identified as an underperforming school. After a series of reforms in the early and mid-2000s, student performance improved, with higher state test scores and increased participation in Advanced Placement courses. In later years, the school performed better on standardized assessments than many districts serving similar student populations. In 2008, Newsweek listed Framingham High among the top 500 high schools in the United States.
The school has also been noted for outcomes among students learning English as a second or foreign language. Many students become proficient in English after several years of instruction, and Framingham reports higher graduation rates and test scores than other districts with large English-learner populations. State law allows families to choose English-only instruction, but few parents of high school students in Framingham select this option.
Framingham High uses a co-teaching approach in many classes, with two teachers working together. The model emphasizes collaboration and has been cited as a factor in the school’s designation as a Commonwealth Compass School.
The school offers a range of programs to support students who need additional help, including mentoring, peer tutoring, academic support services, and an alternative high school campus.
In 2004, Framingham High also introduced a homeroom adviser program to help identify struggling students early and improve freshman retention.
Framingham High School has received several state recognitions, including designation as a Commonwealth Compass School and as a Vanguard Model School by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

Demographics

Framingham High School is a racially, ethnically, and economically diverse school due to the town of Framingham historically being a hub for immigrants to the United States. The student body of Framingham High is made up of significant immigrant populations from Brazil, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Russia, Asia, and Africa.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The Framingham High School Flyers compete in the Bay State League-Carey Division of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's Division I. Their mascot is the Flyer. The Framingham High School Flyers compete in the Bay State Conference-Carey Division of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's Division I. The school offers and competes competitively in a number of sports, including dance, cross-country, outdoor track, indoor track, cheerleading, baseball, basketball, field hockey, fencing, American football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, swimming, softball, wrestling, and volleyball.

Drama company

The school offers a theatre program for all levels of young actors.
The Drama Company presents three annual shows, one of which is a one-act play for a statewide festival ran by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild. Framingham has won numerous awards for acting and technical design and often makes it to the state finals. In 2006 and 10 years later in 2016, the Drama Company won the METG state finals with their productions of Tales of Trickery and Sideways Stories from Wayside School.

FHS-TV (Home of "Flyer News")

Framingham High School Television began airing its student-run news program, Flyer News, in 1997, broadcasting live to the school each morning at 7:15 a.m. The program expanded in 2005 to air throughout the town.

Exchange program

Students participated in an exchange program with China in 2016.

Notable alumni