Hanford Secondary School

Hanford Secondary School is unique among Richland schools in that the middle and high school students share the same facilities and campus. The projected enrollment for 1995-1996 is 700 middle school students and 950 high school students.

The school is committed to the concepts of academic excellence and innovation in teaching. In 1994-1995, Hanford successfully moved from a junior/senior high school concept into the new middle school framework, with the addition of 6th grade and an emphasis on team teaching. During the first year, the focus was on building educational teams and establishing a balanced mix of academic and extracurricular activities. In 1994-1995, Hanford Secondary School was the first Richland school to establish a funded position for coordinating educational opportunities for highly capable students, and also supported an active outreach program to explore innovative programs at other schools. In 1995-1996, the middle school team concepts will be continued, with an increased emphasis on providing accelerated learning opportunities for advanced students.

In addition to conventional classroom instruction, Hanford provides an active peer tutoring program. This is a before- and after-school program in which students needing extra academic help are paired with upper division or more advanced students, typically members of the National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society who have also received instruction in tutoring techniques.

Hanford school is also committed to maintaining and utilizing advanced technology where appropriate in its educational framework (and consistent with ever-tightening educational budgets!). In 1994-1995, the Hanford technology committee met their goal of creating an up-to-date computer lab and putting computers in each classroom. The lab contains 30 Macintosh PowerPC 6100/66 computers, one equipped for multimedia display including CD-ROM and upgraded sound. One LCD projection display is available. In addition, Macintosh computers were placed in the classrooms of all those teachers who requested them. These machines are currently equipped with Microsoft Works software, and the lab machines also have the Geometers' Sketchpad. With support from Microsoft, all machines associated with the Math Exploration Quilt are being upgraded to include Microsoft Office software.