Harriton High School is a public secondary school in Rosemont, Pennsylvania , serving portions of Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania . The school is located on the Philadelphia Main Line .
17-642: Harriton is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District , with the other being Lower Merion High School . Harriton High School is situated on a portion of the plantation grounds belonging to Charles Thomson , son-in-law of Richard and Hannah Harrison, giving Harriton High School its name. Thomson was secretary (1774–1789) of the Continental Congresses as well as the Convention to debate and negotiate
34-522: A full concert band, orchestra, and performance jazz band. Every fall and spring, Harriton stages a music concert featuring all the ensembles, as well as an occasional string quartet and percussion ensemble. While it does not support a marching band, Harriton does have its own "RAM Band" which plays at home and away football games. Every year Harriton musicians audition for positions in the PMEA district band and/or orchestra. The school newspaper had been called
51-457: A simple and effective layout with a focus on natural light and an airy environment. Ironically, Harriton's 1958 campus buildings surrounded a mostly concrete courtyard and was nicknamed "the Tombs" (despite the natural light and air). By 2009, a new three-story building had replaced Kling's 1958 design, providing more sports and academic facilities to serve the growing student body. Harriton hosts
68-745: A spin-off from the Suburban League when nine schools, most of them along the Main Line , announced they were leaving the Suburban League to start the Central League, to begin play in the 1967 academic year. The schools that founded the league were Conestoga, Harriton, Haverford, Lower Merion, Marple, Penncrest, Radnor, Springfield and Upper Darby. Ridley joined in 1969 when Harriton joined the Suburban 3 League . Harriton rejoined
85-798: A successful Science Olympiad chapter. The team has placed among the top 10 at the Science Olympiad National Tournament for 21 consecutive years, winning three national championships and 16 consecutive state championships in that span. Harriton competes in the Southeastern Region for Regionals and Pennsylvania for States. Although they have not run any invitationals in the past, Harriton participates in multiple invitationals, including Conestoga, Twin Tiers (Athens), Solon, Wright State, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) , Cornell , UPenn and Princeton . In
102-399: Is the organizing and executing body of the annual "Mr. Harriton" competition, one of the flagship productions at Harriton High School. "Mr. Harriton" is a competition between male students engaging in a "beauty pageant" style competition. The event is held in a comedic spirit and raises money for charity. The Student Council collects revenue through ticket sales and catalog advertising. In 2014,
119-756: The Central League , is a high school sports league located in the suburbs of Philadelphia . Currently, the league consists of twelve high schools primarily from Delaware County with additional constituency from Chester and Montgomery counties. The schools all compete in varsity high school sports in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association , or the PIAA. Central League teams compete in District 1 . The Central League started on May 28, 1966 as
136-532: The Constitution of the United States . Harriton High School was designed in 1957 by architect Vincent Kling and opened in 1958. Kling's design consisted of five buildings connected by covered walkways otherwise open to the elements, a style unusual for the region (and that it shared with Welsh Valley Middle School , built at the same time). Kling intended to create a modern design that encompassed
153-804: The Harriton Forum or the Harriton Free Forum since the opening of Harriton High School in 1957. In October 2006, it was renamed the Harriton Banner . Harriton TSA has had successes at regional, state, and national competitions, including a TSA national championship in Prepared Presentation in 2010. Harriton TSA members held five of the eight Pennsylvania TSA state officer positions. The four Lower Merion School District TSA chapters, including Harriton's TSA, consistently win more awards than any other school district in
170-420: The 2010 WebcamGate case, plaintiffs charged Harriton High School and Lower Merion High School with secretly spying on students by remotely activating webcams embedded in school-issued laptops the students were using at home, thus infringing on their privacy rights. The schools admitted to secretly snapping over 66,000 webshots and screenshots, including webcam shots of students in their bedrooms. In October 2010,
187-645: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. HSC is the main body of representation for the Harriton student body and holds meetings that are open to any Harriton student. Members are divided into six committees: Students' Rights, Events, Communication, Finance, Planning, and Technology. There is a sub-committee under Students' Rights that was established after the district initiated the 1:1 laptop-to-student initiative (the Students' Rights Technology Sub-Committee). Council
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#1732786943054204-589: The Student Council raised a record $ 17,000, all of which went to charity. In December 2018, the name of the event was changed to "Dr. Harriton" to reflect the fact that anyone may participate. Harriton High School competes the Central League in District 1 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). The schools has tennis , lacrosse , cross country , track and field , ice hockey , rowing , football , soccer , and swimming . In
221-502: The league in 2008. Strath Haven joined in 1983. Garnet Valley joined in 2008. At the end of the 1988 scholastic year, the Ches-Mont League was down to only four schools - Coatesville, Downingtown, West Chester East, and West Chester Henderson. Fearing that it could not operate as a four-team league, the remaining Ches-Mont schools applied for membership in the Central League, but they were rebuffed. The PIAA tried to force
238-546: The oldest districts in Pennsylvania. It is the wealthiest school district in the state, and one of the wealthiest school districts in the country. In February 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against the school district, alleging that Harriton High School had been secretly using remotely activated webcams built into laptops issued to their students to spy on the students in their homes, thereby infringing on their privacy rights. The webcam picture-snapping function
255-525: The school district agreed to pay $ 610,000 to settle two lawsuits related to privacy violations. Lower Merion School District Lower Merion School District , or LMSD , is a public school district located in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania . The school district includes residents of both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth . Established in 1836, LMSD is one of
272-707: The states competition, Harriton held the longest winning streak of any Pennsylvanian team—athletic or not—placing first place at State for sixteen consecutive years (1997 to 2013). At the National competition, the team won the national title in 1995, 2001 and 2005. Harriton High School features a chapter of the United States Academic Decathlon. The chapter participates in the Eastern Pennsylvania Regional Competition. Harriton's music department features
289-663: Was part of an anti-theft mechanism to help locate laptops that were reported by students as stolen. This function was activated by the school district on numerous occasions without adherence to the established guidelines. The lawsuit was filed by the parents of a student who had been warned by Lindy Matsko, an assistant principal, that he had been engaging in "improper behavior" in his bedroom. The schools admitted to snapping over 66,000 pictures and screenshots, including webcam shots of students in their bedrooms. However, no individuals were found guilty of spying. Central League (PIAA) The Central Athletic League, known colloquially as
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