Salem High School (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

School Administration

History of the School

Salem High School, located at 1993 Sundevil Dr (numbered in honor of the class of 1993), is built on a 50-acre (200,000 m²) site acquired by the School Board in 1985. Construction of the 258,862-square-foot (24,049.1 m²) building began in July 1987. The school which contains 85 classrooms, an auditorium, a large lecture hall, a large gym, and two auxiliary gyms, opened on September 5, 1989, to a capacity enrollment of just over 2,000 students. A student committee selected the name, SunDevils, to represent Salem High School in the spring of 1989. The school colors are scarlet, black, silver, and white. A life-sized school mascot was unveiled during the 1991-1992 school year; "Sunny the SunDevil" (identical to the Tasmanian Devil from Warner Bros. Looney Tunes) is depicted on school sweatshirts and athletic programs. The Visual and Performing Arts Academy (VPAA) became an integral part of Salem High School in 2004. The student body had one of the largest number of Filipino-Americans in the city.

Visual and Performing Arts Academy

The Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Salem High School (VPAA) consists of five strands: music (both vocal and instrumental), dance, theatre, and visual arts (photography, painting, drawing, etc.). While students typically select one strand as their concentration, they are also encouraged to explore areas outside their selected strand; all seniors participate in an inter-disciplinary final project.

Curricula includes instruction in performance, exhibition, theory, and history of the arts. Independent seminars and performances are also offered throughout the year.

Admission to the program is based on several criteria: an audition/portfolio evaluation, recommendations by core subject teachers as well as previous teachers in the arts, achievement as evidenced by honors or awards in the arts, and participation in extracurricular and community activities.

The Academy Coordinator is Mr. Christopher Buhner

Chorus Department

The Salem High School Chorus department is recognized as being among the finest in the city of Virginia Beach, and the choirs have received national recognition for their outstanding performances. Choirs from Salem have performed in the White House and National Cathedral (Washington, DC), Carnegie Hall (New York, NY), Walt Disney World (Orlando, FL), Universal Studios (Orlando, FL), Cardiff Cathedral (Cardiff, Wales, UK), and Westminster Abbey (London, England, UK). In addition, they have performed multiple times at the Virginia Music Educators Association annual in-service conference and the Southern Division convention of the Music Educators National Conference, and have been the featured ensemble at the Sweet Adelines International Mid-Winter convention. They have sung in a private performance for actor/singer Jimmy Dean and commissioned works from renowned composer Daniel E. Gawthrop. They have performed in concert with the Old Dominion University Concert Choir, the Christopher Newport University Choir, the Greensboro College Concert Choir, and the Virginia Commonwealth University "Commonwealth Singers." In recent years, they have been honored to work with such outstanding choral musicians as: Weston Noble, Eph Ely, Rodney Eichenberger, Jing Ling-Tam, Kevin Fenton, William Powell, Deen Entsminger, Rebecca Reames, and the world-famous ensemble, "Chanticleer."

The choirs have earned Grand Champion, Outstanding Ensemble, Best in Class, and First Place trophies as well as "Superior" ratings in competitive choral festivals in Orlando FL, Las Vegas NV, Atlanta GA, New York NY, Nashville TN, Gatlinburg TN, Richmond VA, Williamsburg VA, and Virginia Beach, VA, and have earned many "Superior" ratings at the VMEA District 2 choral festivals since the festival's inception (singing Grade VI music, the most challenging level recognized).

They have performed major works including Handel's "Messiah," Rutter's "Requiem," Bach's "Jesu, Meine Freude," Schubert's "Mass in G," and "Mass in F," Britten's "Ceremony of Carols," and Vivaldi's "Gloria."

Vocalists from Salem High School have been selected for the All-Virginia Choir every year since the school opened in 1989, and for the elite VMEA Senior Honors Chorus every year since 1990.

The Academy Choral Director is Dr. Don Krudop and the Salem High School Choral Director is Ms. Lynne German.

The Academy's most elite choir, Vox Harmonia, performed at the GQ Magazine Gentlemen's Ball in Fall 2008. They were invited by the famous music producer Timbaland and performed in front of him along with other celebrities such as Usher, Hilary Swank, Mark Wahlberg, Forest Whitaker, and James Cameron.

Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps

The NJROTC unit at Salem was established in 1996 under the authority of Title 10, United States Code, Chapter 102, Section 2031 to "...instill in students in United States secondary educational institutions the values of citizenship, service to the United States, and personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment." The unit motto is "Do right and fear not".

The unit is a competitive force in Area 5, winning the Distinguished Unit Award for thirteen consecutive years. The unit also received Unit Achievement once but once again achieving Distinguished Unit once more one year later. The units Drill, Athletics, and Academic team have been to Nationals twice in Pensacola, Florida, most recently placing twentieth in the nation in the 2014-2015 school year. The unit is led by Senior Naval Science Instructor Captain Patrick W. Hunt, USN (ret.) and Naval Science Instructor Sergeant Major Timothius Robinson, USMC (ret.)

Academic Departments

Advanced Placement Courses

Sports

State Championships
Boys Basketball
-2001

Girls Basketball
-1994

Girls Gymnastics
-1992

Girls Volleyball
-1998

Alma Mater

The Silver, Black, and Scarlet
Words & Music by Dr. Don Krudop

(Verse) There's a place that will live in my mem'ry,
When the days of my youth pass away.
In my heart hold it dear,
Though I roam far and near,
And there it shall always stay.

'Tis the place where I left my childhood,
And grew toward what my life would be,
In Virginia, the Old Dominion,
Salem High, I call to thee.

(Chorus) Lift your hearts and lift your spirits,
Lift your voices to the sky,
Raise the Silver, Black, and Scarlet,
Raise them up for Salem High.

Notable alumni