Richmond Hill High School (Georgia)


Richmond Hill High School is a public high school in Richmond Hill, Georgia, United States, which teaches grades 9-12. RHHS is located in the center of Richmond Hill at 1 Wildcat Drive, which is named after the school's mascot.

Campus

In 1994, RHHS moved to its current location, which has four separate halls for classrooms, connected through one major hall which leads from the lobby to the portables on the side of the school next to the Richmond Hill Middle School campus. Richmond Hill Middle School was relocated and its former campus was incorporated into RHHS. The first and fourth hallways are the newest additions to the campus, constructed in 2005.
Richmond Hill High School does not have an auditorium, so many school functions are held in the gymnasium or cafeteria. Before its present location, it was located at the current site of Richmond Hill Middle School which is located directly to the right of the high school campus and is connected by a sidewalk. In 2012, due to overcrowding, a new middle school was built and the high school was expanded to the middle school, which is referred to as the West Campus.

Legacy

In the 2006–2007 season, RHHS's marching band won grand champion at the Coastal Marching Competition. This was the first time the band had won a competition.
In the 2013–2014 football season, Nick Fitzgerald committed to play quarterback for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
In 2016 the marching band marched in the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Parade. The marching band has won 13 competitions in the past 10 years, consisting of at least 1-3 wins per year.

Dual enrollment programs

RHHS is involved in the Move on When Ready Georgia dual enrollment program. MOWR students participate in classes at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah Technical College, Georgia Southern University, or Point University. Classes include the University System of Georgia core and Technical College System of Georgia courses. Savannah Tech also offers a Criminal Justice pathway on the RHHS campus. With dual enrollment, students receive a high school credit for each course successfully completed. Students in this program benefit from the college experience.

Extracurriculars

Marching and concert bands

The school's corps style marching band has won competitions and has played at every football game and many local parades and festivals.
They were Grand Champions of the 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016 Coastal Empire Classic in Rincon, Georgia.
In 2011, the Symphonic Band played a joint concert with the Georgia Southern University Wind Ensemble at the historic Lucas Theatre in Savannah. In 2013 and 2015, the RHHS Marching Band won the Grand Championship of the Georgia Marching Band Series. In both instances, the band swept the captions of Music, Visual and General Effect. In 2013, the Marching Band named Grand Champion of the Marching Mustang Invitational in Guyton, Georgia. In 2013, the Symphonic Band was named one of three Bands of Distinction in Georgia by Georgia State University and were invited to participate in the school's Honor Clinic in Atlanta.
In 2010 and 2014 the Marching Band was Grand Champion of the Battle on the Border in Lowndes County, Georgia featuring bands from Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. In 2014, the band swept the captions of Music, Visual, and General Effect at this competition. In 2012, the band took 3rd place with a score of 96.04, taking high Visual Performance, and missing 1st place by less than 0.03 points. This score was the band's highest in the history of the program.
In 2016, the band marched in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. In 2016, The RHHS Marching Wildcats were crowned Grand Champions of the Ware County Sound of Gold Competition, again, taking high Music, Visual, and General Effect. At this competition, the band marked their highest score to date, 96.83.
In 2018, the Marching Band competed in three competitions in South Carolina and Georgia. At the 42nd annual East Georgia Marching Band Championship in Statesboro, they were named best band in Class AAAAA, sweeping all captions. They were also named the Grand Champions of this competition, winning high Music and General Effect. They scored a 96.575, their 2nd highest score to date. This was the first year the marching band did not earn high Visual Effect at any of their competitions since 2006. In 2018, the RHHS Marching Band was chosen to represent Georgia in the 2019 San Antonio Fiesta Flambeau Parade. This was the first time the band had traveled west of the Mississippi River.

Tennis

In 2003, the Richmond Hill boys' tennis team, coached by Pat Paruso, played in the Final Four state tournament in Atlanta, where they lost versus The Westminster Schools. The 2002 Wildcat tennis team also went to the state tournament, but their run started shortly in the first round.

Football

RHHS's football team had a series of successes in the early 2010s. In the 2012–2013 season their record was
8-3 and they finished second in their region behind Ware County High School. They lost in the first round of the state tournament to Warner Robins High School. In the 2013–2014 year their record was 10–2 and they finished first in their region. They won in the first round of the state tournament against Thomas County Central High School but lost in the second round to Warner Robins High School for the second straight year.
Prior to the start of the 2013–2014 season, the Wildcats quarterback, Nick Fitzgerald, committed to play football at Mississippi State University.
On April 28, 2018, former RHHS and Middle Tennessee State University kicker Canon Rooker signed an undrafted free-agent deal with the New York Jets.

Cheerleading

RHHS is home to the one-time regional champion cheerleaders.