Manchester High School is a high school located in the unincorporated town of

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

in Chesterfield County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The school is a part of Chesterfield County Public Schools.

History

In 1914, three schools consolidated to form Elkhardt School (eventually Elkhardt Middle School) at 6300 Hull Street Road, which had a faculty of four, including the principal. In 1916, the first public transportation to the school was provided by horse-drawn wagon. The name was changed to Manchester District High School in 1924, with the first graduating class, in 1925, consisting of eight students. Rapid population growth, following World War II, required that new facilities be built, and in fall 1964 the school was moved to 7401 Hull Street Road (now Manchester Middle School). Westward

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

from the nearby city of

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, required yet another move in 1992 to the current location at 12601 Bailey Bridge Road.

Campus

Manchester shares many of its facilities with the adjacent Bailey Bridge Middle School. It is home to Lloyd Swelnis Stadium, named after the long-time Manchester athletic director. In 2003 closed-circuit

cameras A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

were installed in the building and parking lots to provide better security for students and staff. An addition to the main building was completed in 2004 to house the Mass Communications and Spanish-Immersion Specialty Centers.

Students

Manchester High School has a diverse student body, consisting of approximately 1900 students, and is reflective of the multiple ethnicities present in Chesterfield County. The opening of

Cosby High School Cosby High School is a public high school in Midlothian, Virginia, United States. Cosby opened in 2006 and is the newest of eleven high schools administered by Chesterfield County Public Schools. The school serves over 2,300 students. History C ...

in 2006, and the new location and recreation of

Clover Hill High School Clover Hill High School is a public secondary school located in Midlothian, a suburb in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It is part of Chesterfield County Public Schools and is located at 13301 Kelly Green Lane. The school opened in 1972 and mov ...

has alleviated the over-crowding at Manchester High, allowing for the reduction in number of trailers previously used as classrooms.

Activities

Sports teams include

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, cross-country,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. Notable clubs include a

JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is a Federal government of the United States, federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US mil ...

program, Foreign Language clubs, school news paper, Model UN,

show choir A show choir (previously known as a "swing choir") is a Ensemble (musical theatre), musical ensemble that combines choral singing with choreographed dance, often integrated into a narrative story or overarching theme. Origin Show choirs have been ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

, Red Cross and

cheering Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate social approval, approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French lang ...

. There is also a

Mass Communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

and a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux * ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian group Pendulum * ''Immersion'' (film), a 2021 ...

specialty center. In 2018, Manchester High School won the Class 6 Virginia State Championship in Football.

Notable alumni

* DaShaun Amos – professional American football player (class of 2012) *

Kei'Trel Clark Kei'Trel Clark (born March 19, 2001) is an American professional football cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Liberty Flames and Louisville Cardinals. Early life Clark a ...

– professional American football player (class of 2019) * Kavell Conner – professional football player (

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

) (class of 2004) * Pearce Paul Creasman – professor of archaeology, Egyptology and dendrochronology (class of 2000); world junior champion, triathlon (2001–2002) *

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He also co-owns and op ...

–

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver (class of 1999) * Domonic Jones – expatriate professional basketball player (class of 2000) * Dick Lines – former professional baseball player ( Washington Senators) * Sean Marshall – professional baseball player (

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

) (class of 2001) * Rada Owen – swimming coach and former competition swimmer

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1924 Schools in Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County Public Schools 1924 establishments in Virginia