Rockingham County High School

Rockingham County High School (RCHS) is located in Reidsville (near Wentworth), North Carolina. It is located near Rockingham County Middle School, which feeds into the high school. Rockingham County High School's mission statement is, "teaching all students to become lifelong learners." The school believes that all children can learn and by staying current with new trends and equipping classrooms with 21st century technology children can grow academically and socially.

Distinctions

For the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, Rockingham County High was a North Carolina Public Schools "School of Distinction" for being ranked 7th in the state for combined End of Course Test scores.^[1] In 2003, the Piedmont Triad Educational Consortium designated RCHS as a "Signature School", and in 2005 it was named a "Light House School" by the North Carolina Association for Curriculum Development.^[1]

Academics

Rockingham County High requires students to take four English courses consisting of English I, English II, English III, and English IV. Mandatory math classes include Math I, Math II, and Math III. The school requires Environmental Science, Physical Science, and Biology. History classes needed to graduate are World History, American History I, and American History II. Rockingham County High also offers Visual Arts, Marching Band, Concert Band, Woman's Ensemble, Chorus, Concert Choir, Piano Lab, Theater Arts, Journalism, Yearbook, Latin, Spanish, Physical Development, Team Sports, Fitness Training, AFJROTC, Chemistry, Psychology, Advanced Functions and Modeling, Pre Calculus, Calculus, Career Management, Principals of Business, Entrepreneurship, CTE Advanced Studies, Microsoft ITA, Hospitality and Tourism, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Agriscience Applications, Animal Science, Agricultural Mechanics, Horticulture, Health Science, Nursing Fundamentals, Appeal and Textile Production, Interior Design, Personal Finance, Introduction to Design, Automotive Service, Drafting, Emergency Medical Technology, Public Safety, Fire Fighter Technology, Career Development Internship, Co-op, and Bible.

Many classes have optional honors credits and the school offers AP credit in the following courses: Biology, Calculus, Language and Composition, Literature and Composition, World History, and US History.

Demographics

62.7% of students are White, 19.8% of students are African-American, and 17.5% of students are of other ethnicities.^[2]

Athletics

RCHS is currently a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and competes in the 3-A Mid-State Conference. Their biggest rivals are Reidsville High School (a class 2-A school) and Morehead High School (an in-conference class 3-A school), both of which are also operated by Rockingham County Schools. The school currently fields teams in these sports:^[3]

Fall: Cross country, football cheerleading, men's soccer, football, women's golf, women's tennis, women's volleyball

Winter- Men's basketball, Women's basketball, basketball cheerleading, swimming, wrestling

Spring- Baseball, men's golf, men's tennis, track, women's soccer, and softball

In the school's history, the most prominent athletic programs have been: women's basketball, baseball, and both men's and women's golf. Rockingham's baseball team won the state championship in 1996 under Coach Sam Jones. In the winter's of 2002 and 2003, the women's basketball team fell in back-to-back state finals games under long time and still current coach Woody Wall. In 2006, Mike Williams took over as the head men's and women's golf coach and since that time has coached his two teams to a combined 11 state championship appearances, including back-to-back 3-A state championships for the women's team in 2015 and 2016.

Football

Derrick Minor was named head football coach in January 2015.^[4] He led the Cougars for one season finishing 5–6 ^[5] overall and 4–4 in the Mid-State 3-A Conference before accepting a position with Fred T. Foard High School May 12, 2016.^[6] Rockingham County is currently searching for a new head coach.

Notable alumni

• Bryan Mitchell, baseball player 2009–current, New York Yankees
• John Settle, Appalachian State RB 1983–86; Atlanta Falcons RB 1987–90; currently University of Wisconsin running backs coach
• Lonnie Galloway, current wide receivers coach West Virginia University

References

Coordinates: 36°23′42″N 79°45′21″W / 36.395137°N 79.7558674°W / 36.395137; -79.7558674