Roy C. Ketcham High School
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox school
|name = Roy C. Ketcham High School {{cite web|url=http://www.wappingersschools.org/rck/site/default.asp|title=Wappingers Schools}}
|image =
|motto =
|established = 1962
|district = Wappingers Central School District
|grades = 9-12
|principal = David Seipp
|students = 1,596 (2023–2024){{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3629880&ID=362988004022|title=ROY C KETCHAM SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL|publisher=National Center for Education Statistics|accessdate=December 19, 2024}}
|athletics =
|colors = {{Color box|red|border=darkgray}} Red
{{Color box|#000080|border=darkgray}} Navy Blue
|mascot = Storm
|location = 99 Myers Corners Road
Wappingers Falls, New York 12590
|country = United States
|coordinates = {{coord|41.59743|-73.89214|display=inline,title}}
|homepage = {{URL|https://www.wappingersschools.org/Page/8446}}
}}
Roy C. Ketcham High School, more informally Ketcham High School, RCK, or Ketcham, is a public secondary school under jurisdiction of the Wappingers Central School District. Located in Wappingers Falls, New York, United States, the school serves approximately 1,600 students in grades nine through twelve residing in the southwest of Dutchess County. Their mascot is the Ketcham Storm.
History
As a result of considerable population growth in Dutchess County during the 1940s and 1950s, a new senior high school was built and opened to students in the fall of 1962. It was named in honor of Roy C. Ketcham, who had been a prominent member of the town's board of education for a quarter of a century.
In 1987 the school became involved in a national controversy when 11th grade African-American student Tawana Brawley skipped class and faked her own abduction and rape, falsely accusing four white men of the crime which included writing racial slurs on her body and smearing her in feces. A grand jury hearing later found all the allegations to have been fabricated and Brawley lost a defamation suit against one of her victims.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/26/nyregion/village-scorns-spotlight-of-brawley-case.html|title=Village Scorns Spotlight of Brawley Case|first=Fox|last=Butterfield|publisher=}}
Prior to 2023, the school's mascot was the Indians. In 2023, the New York State Education Department ruled that all schools using Native American mascots must change them. After a heated local debate and multiple student votes, it was ruled that the schools mascot would be changed to the Ketcham Storm.{{cite news |last1=Haynes |first1=Stephen |title=Ketcham drops 'Indians' moniker in favor of 'Storm', drawing mixed reaction from community |url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/sports/high-school/2023/11/09/wappingers-school-district-changes-nickname-from-indians-to-storm/71514303007/ |access-date=18 December 2023 |publisher=Poughkeepsie Journal |date=9 November 2023}}
=Athletics=
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
- Cheerleading
- Bowling
- Basketball
- Football
- Golf
- Crew Club
- Hockey Club
- Baseball
- Gymnastics
- Soccer
- Track and Field
- Cross Country
- Tennis
- Lacrosse Club
- Wrestling
- Volleyball
- Softball
- Swimming
- Field Hockey Section 1 (NYSPHSAA)
{{div col end}}
Academics
Notable alumni
- Tyler Adams (2017), athlete, soccer midfielder.{{Cite web |last=Martelli |first=A. J. |title=Tyler Adams gets Ketcham graduation, plays for Red Bulls, too |url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/sports/high-school/2017/06/25/tyler-adams-gets-ketcham-graduation-red-bulls-nycfc/426597001/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=Poughkeepsie Journal |language=en-US}}
- Brigetta Barrett (attended from 2006 to 2008), athlete, Olympic high jumper.{{Cite web |date=2012-06-28 |title=Former Ketcham student looks to qualify for Olympics high jump |url=https://usatodayhss.com/2012/former-ketcham-student-looks-to-qualify-for-olympics-high-jump |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=USA TODAY High School Sports |language=en-US}}
- Dario Brose, athlete.
- Jeh Johnson (1975), lawyer who was United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017.Pace, Julie; and Cassata, Donna. [https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2014/11/27/jeh-johnson-defense-secretary/19598775/ "Dutchess' Jeh Johnson could be next defense secretary"], Poughkeepsie Journal, November 27, 2014. Accessed December 2, 2020. "Johnson, who previously served as the Pentagon's general counsel, is a 1975 graduate of Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls."
- Keith Lockhart (1977), music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1995 to present.{{Cite news |date=1977-03-22 |title=Article clipped from Poughkeepsie Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/poughkeepsie-journal/13846295/ |access-date=2024-08-04 |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |pages=20}}
- Bo Oshoniyi, athlete, soccer goalkeeper.
- John Regan, musician, bassist.
- Mary Chris Wall, actress.
- D. B. Woodside (1987), actor.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Anitra Sue |date=2015-02-24 |title=Roy C. Ketcham High School’s Masque and Mime Society Has Been Launching the Careers of Actors for 50 Years |url=https://hvmag.com/life-style/roy-c-ketcham-high-schools-masque-and-mime-society-has-been-launching-the-careers-of-actors-for-50-years/ |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=Hudson Valley Magazine |language=en-US}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.wappingersschools.org/rck/site/default.asp School website]
{{authority control}}
Category:1952 establishments in New York (state)
Category:Educational institutions established in 1952