School type Public, Coeducational CEEB code 363275 Enrollment 3,300 (2013) Principal Dave Hyatt | Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline Grades 9-12 Phone +1 513-398-5025 Number of students 3,300 (2013) | |
Opened First graduating class, 1886 (current building, 2002) Address 6100 Mason Montgomery Rd, Mason, OH 45040, USA District Mason City School District Similar Mason City Schools, Mason Middle School, Syca High School, Lakota West High School, Lebanon High School | ||
William Mason High School, also known as Mason High School (WMHS or MHS), is a four-year public high school located in the Mason City Schools district in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its enrollment makes it the largest high school in Ohio, serving more than 3,300 students in grades 9 through 12 in a 620,000 square-foot, three-story facility on a 73-acre campus.
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History
The school's first graduating class was in 1886, with 7 students at commencement at Mason's Opera House. In the following years, graduating classes consisted of 10, 3 (all girls), 3 (all girls), and, in 1890, 14, according to "Around Mason, Ohio: A Story", 1982, by Rose Marie Springman. At the school's 50th commencement in 1935, the school graduated 27. In 1959, the long-time high school on North East Street became a K-8 school with the building of a new high school on Mason-Montgomery Road (the site of the current Mason Middle School). Indoor athletics continued to be held at the old building until a new gym was added to the high school in 1967.
Academic clubs and teams
Mason High School is home to several academically competitive clubs, including Speech & Debate, Mock Trial, Science Olympiad, MathCounts, and an Academic Quizbowl Team.
Other activities include award-winning such as Dance Team, Speech and Debate and the Science Olympiad team. The school has a National Honor Society and a Student Government appointed to make a difference in students' communities, along with other leadership clubs such as Mason African-American Students for Change and H.O.P.E. Club. Most recently, Mason's Science Olympiad placed third at the state competition, after nationally ranked schools, Centerville and Mentor.
The school has a strong media outlet in its monthly campus student newspaper The Chronicle — a completely student-run publication which has won awards from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association — and MBC Newsmakers, a monthly broadcast show presented to the entire campus. Also present in the school are The Masonian yearbook and Writer's Block, the literary magazine.
Performing arts
The school's Drama Club performs two plays in the fall and winter, culminating in a spring musical each year. Mason High School is a member of the Cappies of Greater Cincinnati, and its winter 2009 play "Noises Off" won the Best Play Cappie. Its outstanding theater facilities include a complete auditorium, scene and costume shop, Green Room and newly constructed black box theater space.
The Instrumental Music Department encompasses six concert bands (concert white, green, silver, winds, symphonic band, and wind symphony), four orchestras, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Pep Band, Chamber Strings, Winter Guard, Winter Percussion, and AP Music Theory. The Mason Band Program was awarded the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Flag of Honor on May 24, 2008. In 2011, the William Mason High School Marching Band was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Shield, the highest honor a marching band can receive. MHS is one of only 15 schools to ever receive both awards.
Athletics
The Comets participate in the Greater Miami Conference. Previously, Mason was a charter member of the Fort Ancient Valley Conference from 1965-66 to 2006-07. Mason has won the GMC All Sports Trophy for eight consecutive years.
Athletic facilities include:
Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships/Team
Division I