Ballston Spa High School
Encyclopedia
Ballston Spa High School is a public high school located in Ballston Spa
, New York
. It is part of the Ballston Spa Central School District, which covers the towns of Ballston
, Milton
, and Malta
in Saratoga County
. The mascot is the Scottie dog, dedicated to long-time athletic director/coach Coach William R. Scott. The school colors are Purple and Gold but the complementary (alternative) color of black is often used.
The high school was shifted to a new building in 1998; it remains on the same campus as the previous high school, which now functions as a middle school. Prior to moving to current complex in the 1950s, Ballston Spa High School was located in what is now Malta Avenue Elementary School. Graduating class sizes range from 300 to 400, resulting in a total student population of around 1,400.
or technology
, or focus more on the arts
.
In addition to AP courses, Ballston Spa offers special college classes, in which students are presented with college level material and may gain credit from local colleges. Although enrollment into the college is not required to take a class, it is required to gain college credit for the class. Students are charged a reduced fee to enroll in the college course. Ballston Spa is also very open-minded in regards to independent studies
, including online coursework. Updated course information is provided in the Guidance section of the high school website, available at www.bscsd.org .
Ballston Spa operates on a rotating block schedule
, where eight scheduling blocks (classes) are distributed over four six-period days. Classes are divided between morning and afternoon classes, which rotate separately through the first three and last three periods, with fourth period having an extra half hour built in for lunches. Students are placed in one of three lunches, depending on which class is scheduled during that period. Although students report issues with schedule memorization, the schedule offers many benefits: days are more varied than in a simple A Day/B Day schedule, and not tying it directly to weekdays allows for more flexibility.
level for both boys and girls. The currently offered Varsity sports are:
Varsity Boys' Teams
Varsity Girls' Teams
The Athletics section of the website contains a wealth of information on the athletics programs in the district, and is accessed through www.bscsd.org.
, several kilns
, and a well-equipped auditorium/theatre
.
Symphonic Band
along with an audition-only Wind Ensemble, a String Orchestra and Jazz Band
.
Also, a Concert and Women's Choirs along with the audition-only Select Choir.
These groups perform at least twice a year, with concerts in December and May, occasionally performing at a special concert in March. Members from the groups also use their musical talents in the community on a regular basis, organized mainly by Ballston Spa's chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society
. Members of the band, for example, have performed on the street corners and Maplewood Manor, a local nursing home, around Christmas
, while chorus members have gone caroling both in downtown Ballston Spa and at a local respite home.
Some also consider the Intro to Theatre and Intro to Acting classes as performing groups, as students in these classes put on a "Scene Night" for both their midterm and final exams. For Scene Night, students prepare scenes that they either wrote themselves or found in plays that they read, and then perform them live for an audience in January and again in June.
.
Of note are several academic-related teams. Ballston Spa's Science Olympiad
team, advised by physics teachers, placed fourth in regionals for the 2006 season, and has frequently gone to state competitions. Of more recent note, the team placed 3rd at regionals and a new school record of 23rd in states for the 2008 season. The team also finished 3rd in the 2010 season. The Mock Trial
team, advised by a history teacher, also has a good record, placing well in the 2006-2007 season. A Biology teacher runs the Envirothon
team, which placed very well at states in the 2007 season. Ballston Spa also has an Odyssey of the Mind
team.
contains over fifty members from the Junior and Senior classes and is very active in the Ballston Spa community.
parody). These events have been known to gather large audiences and are popular among the students. Dances are held yearly at Ballston Spa. The first two, Homecoming
and Fire and Ice (held homecoming weekend and mid-February, respectively), are sponsored by the Congress of Student Legislators, while the Senior Prom
is put on in mid-late may, typically at SPAC
's Hall of Springs.
Ballston Spa, New York
Ballston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saratoga County. The village is named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler. The village lies on the border of two...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It is part of the Ballston Spa Central School District, which covers the towns of Ballston
Ballston, New York
Ballston is a town in Saratoga County, New York, USA. The population was 8,729 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from an early settler, Eliphalet Ball.The Town of Ballston is in the south part of the County and is north of Schenectady....
, Milton
Milton (town), New York
Milton is a town in Saratoga County, New York, USA. The population was 17,103 at the 2000 census. Some believe that the town was named after the poet, John Milton, while other sources state that it is a shortening of "Mill-town" for the early mill activity....
, and Malta
Malta, New York
Malta is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The town is in the central part of the county and is south of Saratoga Springs. The population was 13,005 at the 2000 census.- History :The town was first settled before 1865....
in Saratoga County
Saratoga County, New York
Saratoga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 219,607. It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Ballston Spa...
. The mascot is the Scottie dog, dedicated to long-time athletic director/coach Coach William R. Scott. The school colors are Purple and Gold but the complementary (alternative) color of black is often used.
The high school was shifted to a new building in 1998; it remains on the same campus as the previous high school, which now functions as a middle school. Prior to moving to current complex in the 1950s, Ballston Spa High School was located in what is now Malta Avenue Elementary School. Graduating class sizes range from 300 to 400, resulting in a total student population of around 1,400.
Courses
Ballston Spa offers a variety of courses in many fields. Students may take advanced courses in math, scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
or technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, or focus more on the arts
The arts
The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts – music, theatre, dance and...
.
Advisory periods
Each academic department maintains an "advisory room" and each teacher advisory hours. Similar to a professor's office hours at college, these are provided so that students can seek help during their study halls.Advanced Coursework
Beginning in the middle school, students have the opportunity to accelerate in several subject areas. This program continues into the high school, where classes have various levels to meet each student's individual academic needs. Many classes are also offered as Advanced Placement courses to students who wish to challenge themselves and earn college credit.In addition to AP courses, Ballston Spa offers special college classes, in which students are presented with college level material and may gain credit from local colleges. Although enrollment into the college is not required to take a class, it is required to gain college credit for the class. Students are charged a reduced fee to enroll in the college course. Ballston Spa is also very open-minded in regards to independent studies
Independent study
Independent study is a form of education offered by many high schools, colleges, and other educational institutions around the world. It is sometimes referred to as directed study...
, including online coursework. Updated course information is provided in the Guidance section of the high school website, available at www.bscsd.org .
IB courses
Ballston Spa plans to offer students the International Baccalaureate curriculum beginning in the fall of 2012.Requirements
Updated course requirments and more information is provided in the Guidance section of the high school website, available at www.bscsd.org .Schedule
| Ballston Spa Schedule Outline | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | A Day | B Day | C Day | D Day |
| 1 | Block 1 | Block 4 | Block 3 | Block 2 |
| 2 | Block 2 | Block 1 | Block 4 | Block 3 |
| 3 | Block 3 | Block 2 | Block 1 | Block 4 |
| 4 | Lunch 1 | Block 8 | Block 7 | Block 6 |
| Block 5 | Lunch 2 | |||
| Block 8 | Lunch 3 | Lunch 3 | ||
| 5 | Block 6 | Block 5 | Block 8 | Block 7 |
| 6 | Block 7 | Block 6 | Block 5 | Block 8 |
Ballston Spa operates on a rotating block schedule
Block scheduling
Block scheduling is a type of academic scheduling in which each student has fewer classes per day but each class is scheduled for a longer period of time . A student might be taking 7 different classes, but only 4 per day, and the specific daily classes would rotate through a changing daily cycle...
, where eight scheduling blocks (classes) are distributed over four six-period days. Classes are divided between morning and afternoon classes, which rotate separately through the first three and last three periods, with fourth period having an extra half hour built in for lunches. Students are placed in one of three lunches, depending on which class is scheduled during that period. Although students report issues with schedule memorization, the schedule offers many benefits: days are more varied than in a simple A Day/B Day schedule, and not tying it directly to weekdays allows for more flexibility.
Athletics
Ballston Spa's athletic program is a member of the Suburban Council. Ballston Spa offers many sports at the Modified, Freshman, Junior Varsity, and VarsityVarsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
level for both boys and girls. The currently offered Varsity sports are:
Varsity Boys' Teams
- FootballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
- Outdoor Track and FieldAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
- LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- Soccer
- SwimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
/ Diving - GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
- Cross CountryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
- Indoor Track and Field
- BowlingBowlingBowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- WrestlingWrestlingWrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
- Ice HockeyIce hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
(merged program with Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) - CheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
(Girls/Boys)
Varsity Girls' Teams
- Outdoor Track and Field
- SoftballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
- Lacrosse
- Tennis
- Soccer
- Swimming/Diving
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
- Cross Country
- Indoor Track and Field
- Bowling
- Basketball
- Cheerleading (Girls/Boys)
- SkiingSkiingSkiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
(merged program with Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) (2010-11 NYSPHAA State Champions)
The Athletics section of the website contains a wealth of information on the athletics programs in the district, and is accessed through www.bscsd.org.
Arts
Ballston Spa's arts program is and has a large number of motivated student participants. In school students can choose from a wide range of art, music theory/history, and performance oriented classes, which take advantage of Ballston Spa's art facilities, including a dark roomPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, several kilns
Ceramic art
In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...
, and a well-equipped auditorium/theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
.
Performing groups
A number of musical performing groups are offered through the music department, including aSymphonic Band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
along with an audition-only Wind Ensemble, a String Orchestra and Jazz Band
Jazz band
A jazz band is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands usually consist of a rhythm section and a horn section, in the early days often trumpet, trombone, and clarinet with rhythm section of piano, banjo, bass or tuba, and drums.-Eras:SwingDuring the swing era in the mid-twentieth...
.
Also, a Concert and Women's Choirs along with the audition-only Select Choir.
These groups perform at least twice a year, with concerts in December and May, occasionally performing at a special concert in March. Members from the groups also use their musical talents in the community on a regular basis, organized mainly by Ballston Spa's chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society
Tri-M
Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is a high school and middle school music honor society. Each school has its own chapter, which is run by the students but supervised by an advisor or sponsor, usually a school teacher...
. Members of the band, for example, have performed on the street corners and Maplewood Manor, a local nursing home, around Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, while chorus members have gone caroling both in downtown Ballston Spa and at a local respite home.
Some also consider the Intro to Theatre and Intro to Acting classes as performing groups, as students in these classes put on a "Scene Night" for both their midterm and final exams. For Scene Night, students prepare scenes that they either wrote themselves or found in plays that they read, and then perform them live for an audience in January and again in June.
Troupe
Ballston Spa's extracurricular theatre club is known as Troupe, and they put on two shows a year, the fall show typically being a smaller show or drama and the spring show being a large musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
.
Extracurricular
Ballston Spa offers a plethora of after-school clubs and activities. These include- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
- AnimeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
/International Travel Club - Art Club
- Best Buddies
- Biology Club
- Book Club
- Class Governments
- Communications Club
- Environmental Club
- National Honor Society
- Mock Trial
- Odyssey of the Mind
- Outdoor Club
- Science Club
- Student Council
- Troupe
- Engineering and Technology ClubEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- FIRSTFirstFirst or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...
Robotics Club Team #3044, 0xBE4 - Interact Club
- NCBINational coalition building instituteThe National Coalition Building Institute is a nonprofit leadership training organization based in Washington, D.C.- Foundation and approach :...
- Students Helping Students
- Ski ClubSkiingSkiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
- Swing Dance ClubSwing (dance)"Swing dance" is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s, although the earliest of these dances predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today...
- Theatre Outreach
- Tri-M Music Honor SocietyTri-MTri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is a high school and middle school music honor society. Each school has its own chapter, which is run by the students but supervised by an advisor or sponsor, usually a school teacher...
- Varsity ClubVarsity teamIn the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
- YearbookYearbookA yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
- Youth Court
Of note are several academic-related teams. Ballston Spa's Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
team, advised by physics teachers, placed fourth in regionals for the 2006 season, and has frequently gone to state competitions. Of more recent note, the team placed 3rd at regionals and a new school record of 23rd in states for the 2008 season. The team also finished 3rd in the 2010 season. The Mock Trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
team, advised by a history teacher, also has a good record, placing well in the 2006-2007 season. A Biology teacher runs the Envirothon
Envirothon
Envirothon is an annual environmentally themed academic competition held by the United States and Canada on a regional, state, and national level. It is sponsored by Canon, conservation districts, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Association of Conservation Districts...
team, which placed very well at states in the 2007 season. Ballston Spa also has an Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind, often called OM , is a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college. Team members work together at length to solve a predefined problem ; and present their solution to the problem at a competition...
team.
National Honor Society
The Ballston Spa Chapter of the National Honor SocietyNational Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
contains over fifty members from the Junior and Senior classes and is very active in the Ballston Spa community.
Student life
Throughout the year, student groups sponsor a wide variety of fundraisers and activities, such as the Homecoming Chicken BBQ, Pizza and Wings Night (area pizza places are invited to send in samples, and students vote for their favorite), Amnesty International sponsored Coffeehouses, the Talent Show, the annual Foreign Language Lip-Sync night, a "Mr. Ballstonian" contest, and Ballstonian Idol (an American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
parody). These events have been known to gather large audiences and are popular among the students. Dances are held yearly at Ballston Spa. The first two, Homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
and Fire and Ice (held homecoming weekend and mid-February, respectively), are sponsored by the Congress of Student Legislators, while the Senior Prom
Prom
In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...
is put on in mid-late may, typically at SPAC
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center is an amphitheater in Saratoga Springs, New York, which presents summer festivals of all kinds of music , dance, and opera, as well as a Wine & Food Festival...
's Hall of Springs.
See also
- Ballston Spa, New YorkBallston Spa, New YorkBallston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saratoga County. The village is named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler. The village lies on the border of two...
- Saratoga County, New YorkSaratoga County, New YorkSaratoga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 219,607. It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Ballston Spa...
- New York State Education DepartmentNew York State Education DepartmentThe New York State Education Department is the state education department in New York. It is part of the University of the State of New York , one of the most complete, interconnected systems of educational services in the United States...
- University of the State of New YorkUniversity of the State of New YorkThe University of the State of New York is the State of New York's governmental umbrella organization responsible for most institutions and people in any way connected with formal educational functions, public and private, in New York State...
- Education in the United StatesEducation in the United StatesEducation in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory.Public education is universally available...