Fern Creek High School

Coordinates: 38°9′20.90″N 85°35′32.39″W / 38.1558056°N 85.5923306°W / 38.1558056; -85.5923306

Principal Meyer (left) with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in 2015

Fern Creek Traditional High School is a Communications, JROTC, Media and the Arts magnet school located on 9115 Fern Creek Road in Louisville, Kentucky and is part of Jefferson County Public Schools. It was founded in 1923 as the first high school in the Jefferson County (Ky.) School System. Today, it has a population of around 1,400 students. Dr. Nathan Meyer is the principal.

Academics

FCTHS provides an academic program with a variety of majors to meet students' diverse career and college interests. Students select a School of Study that best suits their academic or career goals. There are four diversified Schools of Study to choose from:

• School of Communication and Media
• School of Visual and Performing Arts
• School of Analytical and Applied Sciences
• School of Leadership and Social Science
• United States Marine Corps JROTC (MCJROTC)

Within each School of Study, students choose to participate in one of the following tracks: the comprehensive, honors, or advance program. Each program is geared toward students' success after graduating from FCTHS.

Comprehensive Traditional Program

The Comprehensive Traditional Program is a high-standards curriculum that follows Kentucky Core Content. All students have the opportunity to gain skills to prepare them college or other opportunities after high school.

Honors Program

The Honors Program incorporates a more challenging college-preparation sequence with extensive reading and writing activities. Students must maintain a 2.75 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale to remain in the program.

Advance Program

For gifted and highly motivated students, Fern Creek offers an Advance Program curriculum that provides even more stimulating coursework. Students may choose advance studies in a single class or in multiple classes. This accelerated pre-college curriculum focuses on English, mathematics, science, social studies, and humanities. To participate, students must pass the Advance Program screening test, have a teacher/counselor/parent recommendation, and maintain at least a B average in designated classes. Seniors who complete the pre-college advance program requirements receive an advance-level seal on their diploma upon graduation from FCTHS.

Advanced Placement Courses

FCTHS offers 10 Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Students who take theses courses and then score well on the AP tests may receive college credit. Advanced Placement courses and tests are available in senior English, Government, Human Geography, Humanities, Calculus, European History, U.S. History, Art Studio, Physics, and Statistics. FCTHS faculty members are specifically certified to teach Advanced Placement courses.

Marine Corps Junior Reserved Officer Training Corps

The Marine Corps JROTC has won top honors in the country over the past several decades, including the MCROA. The MCROA award is presented to the top JROTC Unit in their perspective region that has shown great acts of leadership, teamwork, and organization within their cadets. The Leatherneck and Lady Leatherneck Drill Teams have also received top honors and titles throughout the years. Including the Lady Leathernecks winning the National High School Drill Team Championships in 1997 and consecutively since 2000. They have won their 13x Consecutive National Title in Daytona Beach, Florida on May 7, 2012. The Leathernecks have won multiple runners-up and place top five in the nation. These Drill Teams have made their presence known and are often watched due to their majestic dynasty at the All Service Nationals. They are tough competitors and have no problem showing it, they are definitely a team worth carefully watching and competing against.

Athletics

2014 shooting incident

On September 30, 2014, at approximately 1:00 p.m., at least one shot was fired at the school. One student was transported to a local hospital with unreported injuries. The high school and a nearby elementary school were placed on lock-down as authorities searched for the gunman, who was described as a "younger individual" and as a 15 to 16-year-old black male but not immediately identified as a student.^[1][2] WAVE-TV reported that the transported student's injuries were not life-threatening.^[3] Students were evacuated to nearby Fern Creek Park and released to their parents or for bus transportation home. A suspect was apprehended at a nearby apartment complex about three hours after the shooting and was described by authorities as a student, but no information was immediately released on the circumstances of the shooting.^[4][5]

Notable people

Alumni

• Chuck Bradley, American player of gridiron football
• James R. Ramsey, President, University of Louisville^[6][7]
• Lee Roberson, Baptist pastor, founder, president, and chancellor of Tennessee Temple University and Temple Baptist Seminary^[8]
• Richard Schmidt, college basketball coach
• Mario Urrutia, NFL football player for Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hartford Colonials and Sacramento Mountain Lions^[9]

Faculty

• John Givens, former basketball coach^[10]

See also

• Public schools in Louisville, Kentucky

References

External links

• Fern Creek Traditional High School Web site
• Fern Creek Tigers Live