Shea High School
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Charles E. Shea High School, commonly known as Shea High School and previously known as Pawtucket West High School, is an American
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secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
at 485 East Avenue in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Prov ...
. Shea is part of the Pawtucket School Department. The mascot is the "Shea High Raider". The school was named after a well-known Pawtucket resident, Charles E. Shea.


About the school

In the 1950s through the late 1960s, what was then Pawtucket West High School shared a building with the East Avenue Elementary School, a local neighborhood all Caucasian school. After the Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. the Board of Education, students were bussed to Samuel Slater Junior High School for their middle school years, which were seventh, eighth and ninth grade in that era. Students were tracked into a college preparation strand or a vocational education strand, as was common in those days.
LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...
and U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy made a surprise visit to Shea High School in 2005 to talk about the future and school academics. LL Cool J then met with students and signed autographs. After a low test-score history for some years, the State authorities were going to take control of the school, but good scores in 2006 averted this. After 2010 changes to the No Child Left Behind Act granted federal waivers for schools with low graduation rates upon implementing leadership change, then-principal Dr Christopher Lord stepped down to ensure funding, despite widespread acclaim and public support. The school was targeted by the state in 2011 for turnaround because of low test scores and a graduation rate of 67 percent. A new principal introduced changes, and by 2014 the graduation rate had risen to 88 percent, higher than the state average. Graduation rates fell to 78% by 2020 upon the school's exit from turnaround School enrollment is about 1,188 students: 1% Asian, 29% Hispanic, 39% Black, and 31% White. Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien attends Shea's graduation every year. Each year the school has a celebrity guest speaker for the graduating class.


Architecture

The main school building is an imposing three-story Art Deco structure, set back on a terraced lot on the west side of East Avenue. It is an E-shaped building, with a central portion flanked by end bays which project slightly to the front, and more to the rear. Behind the central portion a third leg extends to the rear. The building was designed by
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
architect John F. O'Malley and built in 1938–39 with funding from the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...
. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1983.


Notable alumni

* John M. Nielson, 1961, third president of
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(1989-2001) *
Ronni Kern Ronni Kern is an American film and television writer and producer. Kern is best known for writing such films as ''American Pop'' and ''A Change of Seasons (film), A Change of Seasons'', as well the miniseries and television movies ''Helen of Tr ...
, Hollywood screenwriter *
Chet Simmons Chester Robert Simmons (July 11, 1928 – March 25, 2010) was a television executive. He worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL. From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in sports ...
, President NBC Sports, President ESPN, Commissioner USFL


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Pawtucket, Rhode Island __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pawtucket, Rhode Isl ...


References


External links


Shea High home page

Shea High Classes of 1979 and 1980 Home Page
{{authority control Art Deco architecture in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Pawtucket, Rhode Island Schools in Providence County, Rhode Island Public high schools in Rhode Island School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Pawtucket, Rhode Island