Drexel Hill Middle School
Encyclopedia
Drexel Hill Middle School (DHMS), located in Drexel Hill
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Drexel Hill is a census-designated place in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel Hill is located southwest of Center City, Philadelphia and is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, is one of the two middle schools in the Upper Darby School District
Upper Darby School District
Upper Darby School District is a school district of approximately 12,000 students in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania.It consists of an area including Upper Darby Township, Clifton Heights borough, and Millbourne borough...

. It was built in 1957 and was originally the Drexel Hill Junior High School.

Academics

The school operates under a "team" system in which students attend classes in basic subjects (mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, language arts
Language arts
Traditionally, the primary divisions in the language arts are Literature and Language, where language in this case refers to both linguistics, and specific languages....

, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, and social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...

) with other members of their team. Each grade has four teams. The sixth grade teams are currently named Apollo, Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...

, Enterprise
Space Shuttle Enterprise
The Space Shuttle Enterprise was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight...

, and Endeavor
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour was the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...

. The seventh grade teams are known as Ambassadors, Athenians, Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...

, and Gladiators
Gladiators
Gladiators is a British television series produced by LWT for ITV on Saturdays nights from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000. It is an adaptation of the United States game show American Gladiators. An Australian spin-off and a Swedish one followed...

. The current eighth grade teams are 1776ers, Patriots
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...

, Untouchables, and Visionaries. "Related Arts" classes include students from various teams and grade levels. Related arts subjects include art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, computers, health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

, gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

, languages such as Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, and 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 ;...

.

Gifted Education

As some students are tested by their IQs if found high enough they could be classified as "gifted". Which means they will undertake a class instead of a normal intervention class. This class is taught by George Hight.

HealthySYNC

In June 2001, Drexel Hill Middle School installed 3 more multibrand beverage vending machines called "HealthySYNC". 2 regular Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

 beverage vending machines were installed in 1999, and students at the end of the school day get beverages from the school's Coca-Cola vending machines or the HealthySYNC machines. The HealthySYNC machines were discontinued in 2003.

A special pass for the HealthySYNC machines at Drexel Hill Middle School was used for rewards like field trips and other events, and the pass can be inserted in any HealthySYNC machine for students with no money (If the student didn't receive the pass, he or she has to use traditional currency
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

). When former principal Jonathan Ross in late 2002 said, "HealthySYNC passes can be used for field trips or any special events of the first marking period", he said. HealthySYNC machines along with the passes were removed at the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year.

Awards

The school has been recognized in 1995 as a National Safe & Drug-free School. In 2001 & 2004 it placed third in the National Champion Future Cities/Young Engineers competition, and First Place in Delaware County
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....

(6th & 7th grade) and Second Place in the state (6th grade)in the 2002 Pennsylvania Mathematics League competition. Also, in 2009, it placed second in the National Champion Future Cities/Young Engineers competition. In 1996 & 2001 it was awarded the Pennsylvania State Counselors of the Year, 2000, 2001, & 2002 Pennsylvania State Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalists, News of Delaware County “People’s Picks” Best Middle School in Delaware County 2002. Drexel Hill Middle School was also one of three middle schools in Pennsylvania to be recognized by the Pennsylvania Middle School Association in 2005.

Sports

DHMS athletic teams compete in a number of sports, including basketball, football, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, cheerleading, wrestling, and track. In the 2007-2008 season, the wrestling team went undefeated, 13-0. The most points recorded in a basketball game, 22 points, was set by DHMS forward, Tarell Reason, in the 07-08 season.

External links

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