Louis E. Dieruff High School

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Louis E. Dieruff High School
815 North Irving Street, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Information
Principal	James Moniz
Enrollment	1,846
Type	Public
Established	1959
Mascot	The Husky
Colors	Grey and Blue
Homepage	Louis E. Dieruff High School web site

Louis E. Dieruff High School (typically referred to as Dieruff High School) is a public high school located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The school is named after Louis E. Dieruff, a noted educator in the Allentown School District.

The school, founded in 1959, is located at 815 North Irving Street in Allentown. It serves students in grades nine through 12 from the eastern and northern parts of the city. The Allentown School District serves a largely poor population including extensive government housing areas. Of Dieruff students, 58 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunch with a district wide eligibility of 68 percent (10/2007), versus a 35 percent average for the state[1].

Allentown's other public high school, William Allen High School (founded in 1858 as Allentown High School), serves students from the western and southern parts of the city. Dieruff is the smaller of the two schools.

1 History
2 Awards and achievements
- 2.1 Athletic accomplishments
- 2.2 Student accomplishments
3 Mascot
4 Planetarium
5 Athletics
6 Clubs and Activities
7 External links

[edit] History

Dieruff High School was founded in 1959 with the first graduating class in 1960. Its construction began in 1957 as a prospective junior high school to serve the growing population of Allentown. In 1965 the Allentown School District Planetarium was added to the building. Additional classrooms and the The East Branch of the Allentown Public Library (later closed and converted to classrooms) were built in 1970.

Dieruff is scheduled for a $28 million renovation and expansion as part of the Allentown School District's Comprehensive Facilities Plan. Its scheduled completion date is Winter 2008[2].

[edit] Awards and achievements

[edit] Athletic accomplishments

Football::

1980: Undefeated champions (10-0-1), Lehigh Valley Conference (formerly known as the East Penn Conference).
1981: Tri-champions with (Emmaus High School and Whitehall High School), East Penn Conference.

[edit] Student accomplishments

Dieruff High School has had many students who have won various individual awards and competitions, including:

"National Merit Scholars"
Four "Pennsylvania State Advanced Placement Scholars" (2006)
Three-Straight 4th Place finishes in the Pennsylvania State "We The People" Competition in Philadelphia (2005-2007)
Olympiad of the Mind runner-ups (2005)
Three-Straight 1st Place finishes in the Midwest Regional JROTC Drill Competition in Galloway, Ohio
JROTC Drill Midwest Region Champions: 2004-2005-2006
Two-Straight 1st Place finishes in the Eastern Regional JROTC Drill Competition in Sewell, New Jersey (2005-2006)
JROTC Drill Norhteast Region Champions: 2000-2002-2003-2006
2006 AJROTC Dieruff Huskies PA-011 National Drill Champions #1 Team in the Nation.
2nd Place, Group 1A Marching Band, US Scholastic Band Association's Yamaha Cup. "Best Percussion," and "Best Music" awards, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 2006.

[edit] Mascot

The school's mascot, an Alaskan husky, is an actual husky dog named "Kiska IV" (now the fourth dog mascot so named by the school since 1959). The husky is named in honor of the 10 men and women captured by the Japanese on Kiska Island in 1942, during World War II, some of whom were Allentown servicemen. Dieruff's teams are known as "The Huskies".

[edit] Planetarium

Amidst Cold War fears of science education inadequacy and a general interest in astronomy before the Moon landing, the Allentown School District erected a planetarium inside Louis E. Dieruff High School in 1965 [3].

Following an acrimonious budget debate in 1991, wherein all programs that were deemed as "nonessential" were to be removed from the Allentown School District's budget, all funding for the continued operation and upkeep of the planetarium has come from private sources.

[edit] Athletics

Dieruff competes in the Lehigh Valley Conference in District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). The conference is generally considered one of the most competitive in the state and nation and has produced many professional athletes.

The school plays its home football, soccer, and field hockey games at J. Birney Crum Stadium, which, with a 15,000 capacity, is the second largest high school stadium in Pennsylvania.

[edit] Clubs and Activities

Dieruff High School has more than two dozen clubs and activities for students to become involved with. This includes:

Academic Bowl, Acceptance Club, AFJROTC, Art Club, Band (Marching Band, Jazz Band, Concert Band), Band Front, Chess Team, Choir, Class Councils, Dance Team, Debate Team, Drama Club, Environmental Club, Future Educators Association, German Honor Society, Historian Club, International Club, Key Club, "The Leader" Newspaper, "Ledannus" Yearbook, Library Club, National Honor Society, Physical Fitness Club, SADD, Scholastic Scrimmage, School Council, Science Club, Ski Club, Spanish Honor Society, Stage Crew, Strategic Gaming Club, Student Council, Student Forum, and Weightlifting Club