Heritage High School (Wake Forest, North Carolina)

History

Heritage High School opened in 2010 in response to rapid population growth throughout Wake Forest. During the 2009-2010 school year, the campus was used by the students and staff of Wake Forest-Rolesville High School while their campus underwent renovations. When Heritage opened, it was armed with a top-level administration team and well-respected educators from a variety of surrounding high schools, including former Wakefield High School principal Dr. Mark Savage. Two other Heritage employees of note came from Wakefield: Dean of Students Deirdra Williams and Athletic Director Patrick Kennedy.

When Heritage first opened, it was only occupied by students in 9th and 10th grades. In this first year, Heritage trotted out varsity teams in every sport with the exception of football. In the 2011-2012 school year, the building was three-fourths occupied due to the addition of another freshman class. The school was finally filled with all four classes in the 2012-2013 school year. The 2012-2013 year also marked Heritage's first-ever graduating class.

On July 19, 2016 the Wake County Public School System announced that Heritage principle Dr. Mark Savage would be promoted to the Western Area Superintendent and former Enloe principal, Mr. Scott Lyons would be moved to Heritage to become the school's second principal.

Early Accolades

After the first graduating class, Dr. Mark Savage was named WCPSS Principal of the Year in 2013, an impressive accomplishment for a new high school. The following year, Heritage teacher Allison Reid was named the Wake County Teacher of the Year for her outstanding ability to integrate technology into instruction. In 2016, Miles Macleod, another Heritage educator, was named Wake County Teacher of the Year for his work in establishing a culture of service and global knowledge at the school through the creation of Project Wisdom organization. Heritage became the first Wake County school to ever have two different educators win the award in three years.

Schedule

The school year at Heritage High School starts in late August and ends in early June. The class schedule, commonly referred to as "block scheduling", has four different classes each semester, each period being approximately ninety minutes long. This completes a course in one semester instead of one year, and provides four new classes in the second semester. Students take exams in mid January and again in early June.

Heritage High School operates on the three lunch, or A, B, C Lunch system. All lunches are 40 minutes long, and juniors and seniors are permitted to drive off campus.

Heritage High School also uses the Husky Help time period for extra help and instruction. For 30 minutes per day students with a D or an F must stay back in their class to receive remediation from their teacher on a more individualized basis. The students with an A, B, or C are allowed to leave the classroom and have 30 free minutes to use as a study hall.

Heritage High School offers numerous Advanced Placement(AP) courses. AP classes offered at Heritage include the following: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP French Language, AP Human Geography, AP Macroeconomics, AP Music Theory, AP Physics, AP Psychology, AP Seminar, AP Spanish Language, AP Statistics, AP United States Government and Politics, AP United States History, AP World History, and AP Visual Arts-2D Design.

Athletics

As a public high school, Heritage is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Due to its large population, Heritage is classified into the 4A division, the highest classification. Ever since opening in 2010, Heritage has been a member of the CAP-8 conference, a Raleigh-based conference made entirely up of 4A schools. In May 2016, the NCHSAA passed a new set of conferences that, when placed into effect for the 2017-2018 school year, moves Heritage into the smaller Conference A, which is made up of six 4A schools to the east of Raleigh. Until then, Heritage will remain in the CAP-8 for one more season. The name of the new conference has not been revealed.

Conference Championships

State Championships

School Organizations

Notable student organizations include: Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Science Olympiad, Gay-Straight Alliance, Environmental Club, Key Club, Nation Achievers Society, Art Club, International Club, National Honor Society. Other clubs include various honor societies, community outreach programs, extracurricular foreign-language and culture clubs (French, Spanish), and athletic boosters.

Heritage Hooligans

The Hooligans are an award-winning student section. Named after their behavior, the Hooligans are widely known to be some of the most rambunctious fans in North Carolina high school sports. Operating out of Heritage High School's esteemed Spirit Club, the Hooligans are the only student section to win HighSchoolOT.com's "Student Section Showdown" in back-to-back years (2013 and 2014).

Heritage Theatre

The program has put on numerous productions every semester. A list of performed shows are as follows: Camp Rock, Fools, Christmas Pageant, Fame, Harry's Hotter At Twilight, The Little Mermaid Jr., Hairspray, Aladdin Jr., Grease, Shrek! the Musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and its most recent performance Beauty and the Beast.