Revere High School (Ohio)

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Revere High School
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
3420 Everett Road Richfield , Ohio 44286 United States
Coordinates	41°12′04″N 81°37′04″W / 41.20111°N 81.61778°W / 41.20111; -81.61778Coordinates: 41°12′04″N 81°37′04″W / 41.20111°N 81.61778°W / 41.20111; -81.61778
Information
School district	Revere Local School District
Principal	Andrew Peltz[1]
Staff	52.00 (FTE)[2]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	868 (2018–19)[2]
Student to teacher ratio	16.69[2]
Color(s)	scarlet, white, and royal blue
Fight song	Battle Cry II
Athletics conference	Suburban League American Division
Team name	Minutemen
Newspaper	The Lantern
Yearbook	The Reverie
Website	revereschools.org/Domain/42

Revere High School (RHS) is a public high school located in Bath Township, adjacent to the village of Richfield, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Revere Local School District and serves students in Bath Township, Richfield Village, and Richfield Township, along with small portions of Copley, Akron, and Boston Township.

In 2010, 2011, and 2015, the U.S. News & World Report named Revere High School a Silver school and ranked it in the top 1,000 schools in the United States.^[3] RHS offers 16 Advanced Placement courses from the College Board and in 2017, the school introduced several college credit plus courses where students earn college credit through the University of Akron.^[4]

History and previous building (1953-2020)[]

In the early part of 1950, the Bath-Richfield School Board supervised the purchase of 28 acres for the site of the new school at the intersection of Revere and Everett Roads. On 5 October 1950, the school board selected Revere High School as the name for the new school.

The name, which was eventually selected as the name of the school district, was first suggested by teacher and coach, Gordon E. Knapp, based on the road the new school was being built on. On 13 November 1950, the students voted Red, White, and Blue as the district's colors and “Minutemen” was selected as the mascot based on the inspiration of the new name of the school.

The ground breaking ceremony happened on 17 June 1951 and construction initiated on August 1951. While the school was being built, high school students spent their day between Bath School and the Richfield School.

In February 1952, the alma mater, Revere Revere, was chosen. The music was composed by Professor David T. Plank, and the words were written by his mother, Eulalia Plank. Publication of the Revere Lantern replaced the Bath School newspaper and the Richfield Echo. The yearbook, Revere Review, replaced the Bath Hi-Spy and the Richfield yearbook. It changed its name from the Revere Review to the Reverie in 1972.

From 1950 to 1952, there was a complete union of all school activities, functions, and faculty. While the school was being built, Carl Coffeen served as the superintendent and Roy M. Pugh, the former principal at Bath School, served as the principal. Upon moving into the consolidated building, Pugh served as superintendent and Harold Schweiserberger, the former Richfield School principal) served as principal of the high school. In 1955, Schweiserberger took over as superintendent and George Bayliss became the principal.

On 29 May 1952, the first graduating class of Revere held their commencement in the Richfield School auditorium. On 20 January 1953, all high school students moved into the new school. The official dedication of the school occurred on 21 March 21, 1954 and the Revere PTA was formed on 31 March 1953, with L. Wyatt serving as the first president. The Revere Alumni Association (RAA) was formed in July 1953 by Mike McCoy, Wanda Barthlomew, and Craig Richmond. Starting in the fall of 1961, Revere High School became a 10-12 school after the freshmen began attending Eastview Junior High. RHS was later reformatted into a traditional high school from grades 9-12.

Facilities in previous building[]

Over the next several decades, the school underwent various building additions and modifications. There were a total of seven additions completed to the school in the years 1954, 1957, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1982, and 1995. The school had a gymnasium, auditorium, library, laboratory, and a cafeteria. In 2016, voters approved a bond issue that would allow for the construction of a new Revere High School on the same property. At the time of the school's demolition in May 2020, the school had served the community for approximately 67 years. By the time of its demolition, the previous building had an area of 169,853 square feet and was located on 27.89 acres of land.

Gordon E. Knapp Memorial Addition

The RHS student council dedicated the new auditorium, main gym area, and multipurpose room to Gordon E. Knapp in 1981. Knapp was a teacher, coach, and principal who taught in the district from 1941 to 1980. The day before Knapp officially retired, he was involved in a fatal car crash on his way home. The Revere home for winter sports was originally the Richfield Gymnasium (the new high school did not originally have a gymnasium). The addition was completed in 1982.

Weight room

The weight room was initially known as the “Multi-Purpose Room” and hosted numerous activities. In 2000, the first weight room took shape with the wrestling program and a major donation by Jerry Kusar. In 2007-2008, the informal weight room was made into a formal training area.

Gymnasium

The home for winter sports was the Richfield Gymnasium at Richfield School. In 1953, a gymnasium was added at the 1-year old RHS. In 1972, a new gymnasium was added while the old gym was converted to a library. In 1982, locker rooms and a multipurpose room were added. As part of the 1995 addition, a new library was constructed in the new wing and the old gymnasium was converted from a library back into a gymnasium, where it was used for activities as well as a practice facility for the school's wrestling team.

1995 Addition

In 1992, a bond issue was passed to add a new two-story addition including a dedicated science wing with first-floor science classrooms that had laboratory spaces and a greenhouse, a new second-floor library, photography room, and media/video production room. In addition to this entirely new wing, other areas in the building were renovated extensively, including the 1954 and 1968 additions that housed the main office and guidance offices; and the existing library was converted back into an auxiliary gymnasium as it had been prior to 1972. A small addition in the form of a hallway was constructed in between the main gym and the auxiliary gym of the school in order to link the two gymnasiums to provide better accessibility.

The addition was designed by the architectural firm Lesko Associates of Cleveland. A groundbreaking ceremony for this addition was held on November 15, 1993. In addition to the high school addition and alterations, the bond issue also covered extensive renovations at both Revere Middle School and Hillcrest Elementary School. This addition to the high school was retained in the new building constructed in 2019; however, it was renovated to match the construction and flow with the rest of the new building.

Current building (2020–present)[]

By 2015, the state of the existing high school building was deteriorating and it was determined that the costs associated with renovating the high school exceeded costs for new construction. On November 9, 2016, voters approved Bond Issue 45, which funded construction of a new Revere High School, new Bath Elementary School, with renovations to Hillcrest School (which was renamed Richfield Elementary in 2018) and Revere Middle School, construction of a new bus garage, and installation of new athletic fields and facilities. ^[5]

Groundbreaking for the new high school was held in a ceremony with students, staff, administrators, and representatives from BHSM/Perkins + Will and the ICON Construction firm on September 21, 2018. The new building retained the library and science wing addition from 1995 which had been added onto the previous building. The Class of 2020 was the last graduating class to graduate from the existing high school (which at the time was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Building demolition began in May of 2020 and was completed in July 2020.

The new building was completed on September 8, 2020, and students began attending the new building at the start of the 2020-2021 school year. The current building is located on the same property, slightly adjacent to where the previous building stood. ^[6] The new building features learning environments beyond the classroom space such as open, collaborative learning spaces (both open and small-group rooms) in each of the two academic wings of the school that can be utilized for projects or individual learning, a new conference and maker space area in the library, and an outdoor patio space with tables outside the cafeteria for outdoor student dining; in addition to a new gymnasium, weight room, cafeteria, STEM classroom, and auditorium. The Class of 2021 was the first graduating class to graduate from the new high school.

Logo[]

Revere's initial logo for the mascot was based on The Minute Man, a statue by Daniel Chester French, erected in 1875 in Concord, Massachusetts. The image continues to serve as the official logo for RHS and is used in the school's emblem.

Revere has used a number of different style R's to represent the district over the years—some were official and some were not. In recent years, the district has adopted the Magneto Font R as the official style for Revere. The initial concept of the Magneto R was introduced by RHS student Tyler Thurn in the Spring of 2003 when he proposed to redesign the football helmets under new coach Terry Cistone. Cistone and Thurn modified the R slightly and the Magneto R was used on the helmet in the fall of 2003. Over the next 5 years, the district unofficially adopted it as the Official R—the Revere “R”.

Athletics[]

Prior to there being a Revere, there was Bath Buccaneers and the Richfield Rockets. The two different districts had a number of sports and actually competed against each other in the Summit County League. In 1950, in anticipation of the consolidation of the two schools, the two districts decided to combine football called Bath-Richfield football team that first year and Revere thereafter.

However, in basketball, the Richfield student body voted to delay the combining of the basketball teams until 1951 and in 1952, the permanent sports department was established with Kermit Smulbach serving as the athletic director and the team known as the Revere Minutemen. The school sponsored football, cheer leading, men's basketball, men's track, and baseball. Football, track, and baseball competition were held at Bath Field while basketball was held at Richfield gymnasium.

Girls at Revere, with the exception of cheer leading, did not have organized sports sponsored by the athletic department. But Bath and Richfield girls combined to become Revere's Y-Teens. Y-Teens (formerly Girl Reserves) is a club that is affiliated with the Youth Women's Christian Association (YMCA). There was 29 local high schools that had Y-Teen clubs. Revere girls first competed in swimming and basketball in 1952 and other sports were added through the years. In 1972-1973, girl's sports were added to suburban league competition.

Revere High School competes in the Suburban League American Division. They have been members since 1958 and are the second-longest active members of the league.

The football team plays its sixth game of the year against their rival Copley High School, and the winner gets possession of the Victory Bell Trophy.

Boys soccer won the 2013 OHSAA state title in Division II and has runner-up finishes in 1995, 2010, 2011, 2016, and 2018.

Facilities[]

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Joseph F. Pappano Stadium[]

Originally, the Minutemen played their home games at Bath Field, located next to Bath School at the corner of Cleveland-Massillon and Bath Roads. In the fall of 1955, construction on a new field began. The field was located at Revere High School, at the corner of Everett and Revere Roads, and included a new lighted field and track.

The field was financed through the Revere Booster Club. On 20 September 1957, the first game was played on the field; a 6-0 win over Copley. On 31 October 1958, Revere High School football field was officially dedicated. On 8 September 1962, a dedication ceremony was held to commemorate the completion of a number of projects to the field, including new 1,200 seat steel bleachers.

In 1994, the stadium was modified to add new visitor bleachers, an all-weather track, new permanent fencing around the field and stadium, and paving around the stadium to replace the gravel. In 2003, the stadium was rededicated and named after coach Joseph F. Pappano, who coached from 1977 to 2002. He finished his career with 160 wins, 9 league titles, 7 state qualifying teams, a 20–6 record against rival Copley, Ohio High School Coach of the Year in Division II in 1980 and ’89 and in Division III in ‘90, and was inducted into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Over the years, the stadium received an expanded playing surface, new fencing, a new all-weather track, new paving around the stadium, and play clocks on both sides of the field.

In 2008, a group of Revere parents proposed raising funds to replace the natural grass field with an artificial surface. They formed the Revere Turf Initiative to raise funds.

In 2019, a new turf and track surface was installed at the stadium, as part of Revere's new facilities projects.

William E. Moats Field House[]

When a bond issue that included the field house was defeated in November 1978, the Revere Booster Club decided to build it themselves. They raised over $250,000. On 30 May 1979, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Revere Field House and was officially opened on 18 October 1979. The house provided on-site locker rooms, heated concession stand, and permanent restrooms to the stadium. In 2000, the field house was re-dedicated and named after Dr. William E. Moats. The honor was bestowed upon Dr. Moats after his longtime presence in the district as a former standout athlete (football, basketball, baseball, and track), former Revere Booster Club President, and longtime team physician. In 2019, the field house underwent some cosmetic changes to its exterior as part of Revere's new building projects.

Baseball, softball and practice fields[]

The home of the baseball team was originally Bath Field. In 1961, a new baseball field was built. In 1968, spectator stands were built. In 1972, a new baseball field was built, next to the bus garage and the old baseball field was converted to a softball field. The baseball field underwent major modification in 2004.

In 2017, it was announced that the existing softball field and practice field had to be removed to make way for the new high school; the fields were removed in 2018. A short time later, a local couple generously donated the former horse show property across from the previous building on N. Revere Rd. to the district to be the site of the new softball and practice fields. ^[7] The new softball field and new practice field was constructed on the site and completed by 2020.

Notable alumni[]

• John 'Derf' Backderf, cartoonist and author of nonfiction graphic novel My Friend Dahmer; (Class of 1978)
• Kaitlyn Black, actress, played Annabeth Nass in The CW comedy-drama series Hart of Dixie; (Class of 2001)
• Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer and sex offender; (Class of 1978)^[8]
• Jerry Hollendorfer, Thoroughbred Horse racing owner/trainer; (Class of 1964)
• Andy McCollum, professional football player in the National Football League (NFL); (Class of 1988)
• Larry Nance Jr., professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and first-round pick (27th overall) in 2015 NBA draft; (Class of 2011).
• Karl Smesko, head women's basketball coach for Florida Gulf Coast University; (Class of 1989)

References[]