Hanover High was recognized in 2009 by BusinessWeek in their "America's Best High Schools" annual article as having the "Best Overall Academic Performance" in New Hampshire, with a GreatSchools rating of 10/10.[3]
The academic program is divided into the traditional five departments: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language. Each department offers a selection of courses; however, all freshmen must take a standard set of courses. As students advance, additional opportunities become available. The school's curriculum and policies emphasize individual student freedoms. For example, seniors often elect to design and complete an independent study project that academically explores a personal interest. With Dartmouth College a short walk from the school, some students attend courses at the college when they have exhausted the high school's offerings.
The academic atmosphere is generally student-centric, with off-campus privileges widely available and with a council of students, faculty, and community members (founded in 1974) whose governing power extends in many areas beyond that of even the school principal.
Extracurricular and elective activities
Hanover High School's physical education curriculum includes a ropes course begun in 1987. One of the largest outdoor ropes courses in the world,[citation needed] it is the core of the outdoor education program that all 9th graders participate in. The program also includes an indoor ropes course in the gym that is used during winter months. Hanover had the very first high school ropes course in the state, one that has now been used for the past 35 years.[citation needed]
The girls' cross country team was fourth in the nation during the 2007 season. The boys' varsity soccer team has won the state championship for the last six years, as well as the state sportsmanship award for the past four years. The boys' hockey and lacrosse teams are both the smallest schools in Division I, yet Hanover almost always makes it to the state finals in at least one of the sports, if not both. The 2009 fall campaign was especially successful, with field hockey, boys' cross country, girls' cross country and boys' soccer all being crowned state champions.
The school has a number of music ensembles (both official and student-run), publications, community service organizations, a drama group "Footlighters" that puts on two shows and a musical each year, a student-organized drama group "SOS; Students On Stage" that puts on one show a year, and a quiz bowl team that has in recent years won both New Hampshire and Vermont state championships.[citation needed]
Hanover High School is one of the few public schools in New Hampshire to have a crew team.[citation needed] It is the largest sport at Hanover, with one in every six students participating.
HHS is a democratic school revolving around the Hanover High Council.[5] The council has the authority to act on all matters at Hanover High School not controlled by school board policy, state policy, administrative regulations established by the Superintendent of the Schools, and rules and regulations published in the Student Handbook of Hanover High School. Council elections are held each spring.
Mascot controversy
In 2020, after more than a year of debate, the school council elected to change the school mascot due to complaints that the marauder was offensive to those who had been victims of sexual assault. The proceeding election to determine the new mascot led to a five way runoff, with one of the most popular choices, the Jalapeños, being disqualified for fears of cultural appropriation. The results of the runoff, however, were invalidated due to widespread plagiarism among many popular designs and one popular design being removed from the competition by its creator. The current mascot is a bear.[6]
Mascot name competition
On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the New Mascot Selection and Implementation Committee — chaired by Kavi Patel ('24), Josh Stearns ('24), and Jason Hirschhorn (staff) — officially announced that out of the five mascot names — Bears, Hawks, Huskies, Maroon Crush, and Trailblazers — the Bears won the Name Competition. All current (2021–2022) Hanover High School students, staff, and sports coaches could vote in this election. There were a total of 909 registered votes with a total of 711 eligible ballots recorded (≈78% voter turnout). Not only did Bears win the Rank Choice Vote, but it also won a Plurality (also known as "simple majority") election.
Notable girls' teams include the perennial power house cross country team, which won the Class I state championship from 2004 through 2009, and placed fourth at the Nike Team Nationals high school championships. The girls' soccer team has also won NH Division II championships in 2014, 2015 and 2018. The girls' varsity tennis team appeared in five consecutive state championship finals from 2013 through 2017.
The girls varsity hockey team is a strong force at Hanover, winning 11/12 state titles for NHIAA girls hockey. Along with the girls varsity basketball team who recently won the 2022 division 2 state championship. They have been undefeated for three seasons straight in regular season games.
Notable boys' teams include the boys' cross country running team, that won back-to-back state championships in 2008 and 2009. The boys' soccer team is one of the most successful teams at Hanover, having won the Class I state championships every year from 2005 to 2010, and the Division I title in 2013 and 2019. They have won a state-record total of 18 overall. The boys' golf team has been consistently one of the top programs in the state, winning over 30 state championships since the early 1980s. In 1989 the golf team finished an undefeated 48–0 season under coach Glyn Reinders (791-50) and were named by the Boston Globe "New England Team of the Year".
In recent years swimming has become one of the favored sports, along with crew. One out of every six Hanover High students row in the spring each year.
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (November 2022)
