Thomas McKean High School

Thomas McKean High School
Address
301 McKennan's Church Rd. Wilmington, Delaware United States
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Its a great day to be a highlander
Established	1966
School district	Red Clay Consolidated School District
Principal	Brian Mattix
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1062 students (as of 2007)
Athletics conference	Blue Hen Conference - Flight B
Mascot	Highlander
Rival	Dickinson
Accreditation	Middle States Association’s Commission on Secondary Schools
Website	http://www.mckeanhs.com

Thomas McKean High School is a comprehensive public high school located on 301 McKennan's Church Road in Wilmington, Delaware. The school opened in December, 1966, and graduated its first class in June 1967.

Contents

• 
  1 Traditions
  


• 
  2 Physical building
  


• 
  3 Enrollment decline
  


• 
  4 Sports
  


• 
  5 Points of pride
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

Traditions

Having selected Thomas McKean, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, as its namesake, the school followed several traditions associated with the Scottish heritage of Thomas McKean. The mascot is a fierce Highlander, wearing a kilt made of the tartan of the Clan MacDonald. Among the dominant colors of the plaid are blue and green, the school's colors. In addition, the names of the school newspaper - Minstrel - and the yearbook - Talisman - reflect the culture of the Scottish Highlands. The Minstrel is headed by Junior Catherine Gillette, who is also its editor.

Physical building

Originally designed as a model school for flexible scheduling, the building has several unique features and has proven adaptable to many situations. The school expanded in 1972, adding a new wing to the building as well as adding ninth grade to the student body. Thus, the class of 1976 was the first to spend four years at McKean.^[1] The school is currently undergoing construction to update the labs and slowly upgrading the school's internal computer network. A new band room and several other new rooms are also being constructed.

Enrollment decline

According to the Delaware School Profiles, Thomas McKean High School is currently declining in enrollment. This may be due to a mix of changing area demographics, the Delaware school choice system, and increasing enrollment at charter and magnet schools across the state. It is, however, most likely due to the poor math, science and English attained by the students enrolled at the school. It is a shame that the poor student scores are tied directly to the staff and curriculum as opposed to the students.

In the year 2001, 1,354 students were enrolled at Thomas McKean High School. By the year 2007, 1,062 students were enrolled, a 19% drop.

During the 2013-2014 school year, Thomas McKean High School was listed^[2] as having 874 students, a slight increase of 11 over the previous school year.

Sports

McKean was known to be one of the top public powerhouse men's swimming teams. They consistently finished in the top three for States. Here are some of the team's accomplishments.^[3]

Year	Men's swimming season accomplishment
1980	Blue Hen Conference Champions
1996	Blue Hen Conference Champions
1997	State Runner-Up Blue Hen Conference Champions
1998	Delaware State Champions Blue Hen Conference Champions
1999	State Runner-Up Blue Hen Conference Champions
2000	Blue Hen Conference Champions
2001	State Runner-Up Blue Hen Conference Champions
2002	State Runner-Up Blue Hen Conference Champions
2003	State Runner-Up Blue Hen Conference Champions
2004	State Runner-Up Blue Hen Conference Champions

Points of pride

• McKean's current marching band is led by Drum Major Claudia Duran. The Director is Ryan Williams.


• The school's most famous alumnus is former Dallas Cowboys great Randy White, who has the football field named in his honor.^{[citation needed]}
  


• The school also counts Tom Verlaine of the band Television as a former student.^{[citation needed]}
  

References

1. 
   ^ http://www.k12.de.us/mckean/school/information/history.shtml. Retrieved January 25, 2007. Missing or empty |title= (help).mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   ^{[dead link]}
   


2. 
   ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2012-10-19.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
   


3. 
   ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-02-13. Retrieved 2007-01-25.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
   

External links

• Official site

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Coordinates: 39°45′27″N 75°40′00″W / 39.7574°N 75.6668°W / 39.7574; -75.6668

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