Much can be said about Fairhill Community High School.
How it came to be.
When it was created.
Its purpose and mission.
The real story, however, lies within the students and the faculty that make the facility come alive, each and every day. Fairhill’s story is one that tries to combat the past – offering hope where there was none, extending help when no one has ever asked before, setting expectations for those who were never thought of as being able to handle them, and taking the time to notice everything about a student who has gone overlooked for too long.
Fairhill offers an on-site daycare (limited enrollment) to those students who are parents. It is one of the many programs put into place to help students get to school. Along with the daycare is a stellar emotional support team, willing to help the students at any given moment throughout the day with outside agency paperwork, credit tracking, emotional/social issues, appointments and counseling sessions. The social worker even makes home visits to those students who have not attended school for a few days to make sure everything is all right.
In addition to these services, Fairhill offers as many academic opportunities as possible. Students earning As, Bs and at maximum one C are invited to participate in a quarterly ceremony of the Honors Society. Students earn pins and certificates and afterwards they, their parents, friends and family are treated to lunch.
Spelling bees, poetry slams, art shows, senior seminars, guest speakers, career days, college fairs, PSSA prep courses, SAT assistance and after-school tutoring are all offered to make the students’ academic lives that much richer and fuller. Of course, no high school would be complete without their graduation ceremony. Easily the most special day of the students’ academic lives, the graduation ceremony is geared toward personalizing the experience for every single student and their family. By the end of the evening, there’s not a dry eye in the house.
Students are also given many extra-curricular opportunities. Fairhill has long been home to a chess club, and an art club has also arisen within the past year. Students can join the Student Activities Committee (SAC) and serve their school, or they can show off their beautiful voices in the school’s chorus. There are parenting groups offered to our student-parents, and there have been talks for a while about a newspaper or journal written by the students. There are also opportunities to go on field trips out of state. In past years, students have been to Washington, D.C. for numerous occasions. Some students were taken there to speak with Congress, while others were taken to tour the sites and explore the museums.
More than anything else, Fairhill offers young adults a true second chance – a chance to succeed, to make friends, to set goals and see them come to life…to be the person they always wanted to be but never thought was possible. Fairhill’s mascot is the Phoenix, the mythological bird that rises from the ashes brand new. That is what Fairhill stands for. A chance to begin again and burn more brightly than anyone thought they could.
