Marvin Ridge High School

Marvin Ridge High School (commonly Marvin, Marvin Ridge, or MRHS) is a public secondary school in Waxhaw, North Carolina, USA serving students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Union County Public School system. The School occupies a two story building with a full auditorium and fully air-conditioned gym. Admission is based primarily on the location of students' homes and district lines. Marvin Ridge High was No. 1 among the 300-399 cohort size for having a 99.3 percent graduation rate in North Carolina.^[1]

History

The school was founded in 2007^[2])^[3] to reduce overcrowding in the neighboring Weddington High School, transferring about half of the student body to the new school.^[4] The school currently has approximately 1200 students with class sizes that average from about 18 to 31 students.^[3]

The school serves neighborhoods in the Marvin, NC and Waxhaw, NC areas. Three elementary schools, Rea View Elementary, Marvin Elementary, and Sandy Ridge Elementary, feed into the school, as does Marvin Ridge Middle School.

The school's teams are known as the Marvin Ridge Mavericks with school colors orange and royal blue.

Trending hashtags on twitter for MRHS include, #MarvinForever, #ProudMav, #MaverickNation, and #OrangeCrush.

Diversity

The school is ranked a ten out of ten on the "Great Schools" website^[5] However, the diversity rates tend to be less than the state average for every ethnicity with the exception of white/caucasian. There are 84% White students, 10% Black, 4% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian or Alaskan Native.^[5]

Expenditure

The district in which the school lies subsides the budget, $6,953, which is $1,000 less than the state average. About 65% of the budget is spent for instructional purposes, 9% for student and staff support, 8% for administration, and 18% for other expenditures.^[5]

Academics

Marvin Ridge was named a North Carolina Honor School of Excellence with High Growth in 2009-2010. The school has a college preparatory orientation, offering a variety of Honors and Advanced Placement classes as well as the only International Baccalaureate Diploma program in the Union County schools.^[3] The school offers nineteen Advanced Placement courses, five foreign languages (Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Latin). The Distance Learning Program is also offered through the internet through Odyssey-ware.^[6] EOC results for the senior class of 2010 for Marvin Ridge was above district and state averages in every subject. The school actually had a 100% passing rate in Biology, Civics and Economics, U.S. History, and English 101.^[7] The school was named the Honor School of Excellence for 2008–2009 and 2009-2010 by the State Department of Education for having a 91.3% or higher average on EOC tests. Thus far the school has also met all Adequate Yearly Progress goals under the No Child Left Behind guidelines. It has the Highest English II Writing Scores in 2008-2009 in Union County

Athletics

Marvin Ridge is recognized on regional, state, and national levels for their atheltic programs.

Cross Country and Track
Cross Country and Track have won one State Championship.

Cheerleading
In the 2009-2010 school year the Maverick Cheerleaders won the State Championship, and again in the 2011-2012 school year.

Men's Soccer
The MRHS Men's soccer team won three State titles in eight years. In 2012, the Men's team achieved a national ranking of #1.^[8] Its most recent championship was in 2016 against Chapel Hill High School.^[9] The Marvin Ridge High School Men's Varsity Soccer Team is the 3A High School State Champion.

Women's Soccer
The school's Women's Soccer team has won the conference championship four years in a row. ^[10] In 2010 the team finished their season with a perfect score of 24-0 winning the NCHSSA women's soccer title. The team only allowed 4 goals all season.^[11]
Wachovia Cup In 2008, the school won the conference Wachovia Cup. In 2009 it won the cup for 3-A schools, but placed fourth in the final standings; it had the same result in 2010. In 2011 it again won the cup for 3-A schools, but placed third in the final standings.^[12]

Clubs

There are over forty active clubs at Marvin Ridge.

Student Council
The Marvin Ridge High School Student Council is a North Carolina Association of Student Councils (NCASC), Southern Association of Student Councils (SASC), and National Association of Student Councils (NASC) member school and has been recognized every year as a NCASC Clinton Blake Honor Council since 2009. Marvin Ridge served as the North Carolina Western District Chair School during the 2014-2015 school year under 2016 alumni Alicia Nam and the North Carolina Communications Officer School during the 2015-2016 school year under 2017 graduate Danielle Sofio. The Student Council boosts "Maverick Pride" and school morale around the halls of Marvin Ridge High School. They host events such as talent shows, Sadie Hawkins, prom, and many more.

Deca
The MRHS Deca chapter is the largest chapter in North Carolina.

Speech and Debate
In 2011 the Marvin Ridge Speech and Debate team kept their title for Dramatic Interpretation Champions for the second year in a row, placing as the second best Speech and Debate team in the state.^[13] In 2010 there were six qualifiers for the National Forensics League^[14]

Marching Band
The MRHS Marching Mavericks have enjoyed great success and have traveled across the country competing in numerous competitions. The band also traveled to Ireland in the Spring of 2012 to perform in the Dublin Saint Patrick's Day Parade.

Theatre
The school's Theatre Arts program offers experience in acting, directing, playwrighting, technical theatre, and dramaturgy. The school has put on a four or five productions each year^[15]

For the past two years the school has participated in the North Carolina Theatre Conference where theatre groups come from around the state to compete at local colleges. In 2010 Marvin Ridge entered this contest for the first time with "Once Upon a Playground" earning the award for "Excellence in Ensemble". After competing a second time in 2011 with "The Cave" the Performers came back with a reward for "Excellence in Design and Use of Masks". The play featured Jack Edward Bermes, who has gone on to other major plays. (http://www.nctc.org/events/hs_festival.php)

The school also has an improvisational group, "Check". This improvisation troupe entered the Olympics in Rock Hill on March 19, 2011 and won first place.^[15]

Choir
The school's Choir, led by Deborah Lutz, performed at the Carnegie Hall in the spring of 2011.^[16]

Administration

Donna Cook is the current principal of Marvin Ridge High School.

David Dahari, a teacher of chemistry and physics at the school, was named as Union County's 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year.^[17] On December 18, 2009, Dahari was chosen as the 2010 Southwest Regional Teacher of the Year.^[18]

Ray Fumo is the Head Men's and Women's soccer coach. He has had 20 years of coaching experience for men and 13 for women. His overall Men's head coach record is 288-123-36 and his overall Women's head coach record is 201-58-18. He has been named Men's Conference Coach of the Year eight times and women's nine times, as well as being named Regional coach of the year twice for men, and six times for women. He has also been named as the women's North Carolina State Coach of the Year once as well as the Head Women's Coach of the East/West All Star Game.^[10])

Cameron Starr is the head coach of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. He has been named Conference Coach of the Year six times, twice for track and field and four times in cross country. The Charlotte Observer also named him the All-Piedmont Girls Cross Country coach in 2008-2009.^[19]

References