Athens Drive High School


Athens Drive Magnet High School, formerly known as Athens Drive High School, is a secondary Wake County public high school in southwestern Raleigh, North Carolina that serves grades 9-12. As of 2019-2020, the school has 2,077 enrolled students and approximately 121 hired educators. It is also part of the Wake County Public School System.

History

Athens Drive High School was opened on September 5, 1978. ADHS was then dedicated on April 11, 1979. The first graduating class was in 1979.
Athens Drive High School was the first high school in Wake County built for school and community use. It was the first high school built after the merger of Wake County Schools and Raleigh City Schools. It was designed by architect F. Carter Williams. The price tag of the ADHS building was $7.1 million. At the time, ADHS was the largest and most expensive high school built in North Carolina. The City of Raleigh paid $425,000 to construct Williams Stadium. Athens Drive is considered a small 4A school by NC standards. Originally, before the Jaguars were decided as the mascot for the school, the Owl was going to be the school's mascot.
The school underwent a major refurbishment during the 2001-02 school year. A new wing was added to the school, originally called the Freshman Academy Wing, built specifically for freshman classes, but the name was later removed and the wing is now used for math and science classes for all grades. The main entrance was also moved. While the refurbishments occurred, all ADHS students were assigned to Middle Creek High School for the 2001-02 school year, which had not opened yet for its own students. The refurbished ADHS reopened in the fall of 2002.
In September 2015, Athens Drive was selected by WCPSS to become a magnet school, starting from the 2016-17 school year.

School profile

As of the 2016-2017 school year, there were 1,934 students, a combination of 847 White, 509 African American, 375 Hispanic, 119 Asian, 6 Native American or Alaska Native, and 1 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander as well as 77 who were two or more races. 41.1% were eligible for the state's free or reduced lunch program. Athens Drive High School offers the following AP courses: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science Principles, Computer Science, Environmental Science, European History, Human Geography, Language and Composition, Literature and Composition, Physics 1, Physics 2, Psychology, Spanish Language and Culture, Statistics, Studio Art: 2-D Design, Studio Art: 3-D Design, United States Government and Politics, and United States History. The school has 16 varsity sports.
It had a Child Development Center, which was called Baby Jags, served 3 and 4 year olds prior to their enrollment in kindergarten. It was shut down after the 2017-2018 school year.
Athens Drive is a Wake County STEM High School. The school offers two STEM academies: the STEM Academy of Energy and Sustainability, established in 2012, and the Health Science Academy, which was established in 1990, and is the basis for the magnification for the school, Athens Drive Magnet High School: Center for Medical Sciences and Global Health Initiatives.
Athens Drive is a Community School in the Wake County Public School System. There are night classes for adults offered all year and a community library that is open to the public.
Stephen Mares is the current principal. He replaced Dr. James Hedrick, who died on August 2nd, 2016.
Athens Drive operates on a 4x4 semester block schedule.

Fine arts

Athens Drive offers a variety of instrumental, drama, vocal and visual art, as well as leadership development and community service. The school contains two art studios, a printing graphics studio and a yearbook/computer art studio. The Performing Arts facilities include the 1,000 seat theater, 150 seat choral room, 200 seat band room, and tech shops.
The band room is able to hold the marching band for rehearsals. The room features large stadium-style risers, two instrument storage rooms and low brass stations. The music library houses over 25,000 volumes of band, orchestra and choral literature and also serves as the storage library for the NC Band Masters Association's Central District's festival music. The current band director is Dr. Jerry Markoch.
The chorus room features large stadium-style risers and contains a supplemental music library, offices, and storage rooms for equipment. In March 2010, the symphonic band performed at the "Music For All" National Festival, sponsored by Bands Of America. The Wind Ensemble performed at the 2010 NC Music Educators Conference. In March 2014, the Wind Ensemble will travel to New York City and perform a concert at Carnegie Hall at the National Band and Orchestra Festival. They will perform a 30-minute concert for a panel of internationally known wind band conductors and composers. The band was chosen based on their past superior performance records and their appearances in the "Music for All" National Festival and at the NC Music Educators Conference.
The theater department won the Marchael Bayne Best Musical Award in 2019 for their musical All Shook Up. They also received four other nominations for 'Best Ensemble', two for 'Best Actor', and one for 'Best Actress.' The previous year they were nominated for their musical In The Heights for 'Best Ensemble', two for 'Best Actress' and one for 'Best Actor.'

Athletics

The Jaguars compete in the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference. Athens Drive offers the following sports:
The facilities of Athens Drive Athletics include: