Hempstead High School (Dubuque, Iowa)
Stephen Hempstead High School is a public secondary school located in
Dubuque, Iowa.
It is one of three public
high schools located within the city of Dubuque, the others being Central Alternative High School and
Dubuque Senior High School. Hempstead is a part of the
Dubuque Community School District. The school is located near the western border of the city on Pennsylvania Ave. The school is named after
Stephen P. Hempstead, who was the second governor of Iowa.
After World War II, the population of Dubuque moved further out to the west. The children born during the post war
baby boom also were in their late teens at the time. The community found that Senior High School would no longer be enough to serve the needs of the community.
In
1966, the district began planning for Hempstead. District employees were encouraged to offer their thoughts on the design of the new building. In the spring of 1967, a $6.7 million dollar bond issue was approved to cover the costs of the building. In the fall of 1968, construction began on the new building, with completion scheduled by the fall of 1969. Construction was delayed by labor strikes and bad weather, which resulted in the building not being complete until the spring of 1970.
Because Hempstead was not yet ready, classes for Hempstead students were initially held at Senior High School. In the spring of 1970, students began receiving education at Hempstead for the first time under Principal Dr. Roger Kampschroer. In 1970, there was no graduating class because there was no senior class that first year.
In the 1990's, the windows on the second floor were replaced with windows that could be opened. The locker bay was recently refurbished. In the summer of 2005, construction began to expand the school, as enrollment is expected to increase over the next several years. Over the next several years the school district has formulated plans to completely remodel the school.
The building is a three level structure with an open courtyard in the center of the school. The school features a locker bay on the ground level; all student lockers were formerly centralized in the locker bay.
Renovations currently under way will relocate lockers to the school hallways. The second level contains classrooms, the library/media center. an indoor pool, gyms, art, music, driver education, and FHACS (Family Health & Consumer Sciences) classrooms. The third level holds the administrative offices, math, science, business classrooms, a physical fitness room, cafeteria/commons area, industrial technology, wood working, and automobile shops. The third level also features an auditorium complex.
The school is divided into wings. The "A" wing contains music, speech and driver education classrooms. School offices are in the "B" wing, the eastern edge of the triangle. Most of the general education classrooms are in the "C" wing, the southern side. To the west is the "D" wing, home of industrial education, art, and FHACS. An addition to the southwest corner of the building was added in late 2005 providing new classrooms for several general education subjects. The "E" wing on the north side of the building contains the cafeteria, gym and pool. The locker bay classrooms added in 2004 and 2005 are part of the "L" wing.
The gym can be divided into three separate areas, with retractable curtains for each section. There is also retractable bleacher seating along the eastern and western walls typically used for assemblies, ballgames and other functions.
Hempstead features a 25-yard indoor swimming pool. Although swimming is no longer part of the wellness education requirement for students occasional classes are held in the pool and it is also used by the swim teams of both Hempstead and Senior High School for both practice and meets. An upgraded scoring and timekeeping system was funded jointly by both schools' booster clubs in 2003. The city recreation department also allows the general public to use the pool when school is not in session.
There is also a large auditorium complex near the eastern end of the school. This complex features movable walls, and can be divided into one or more (up to six) seating areas. However, the design of this auditorium, because of its low slope, lack of a flyspace, and modified theater-in-the-round concept, has proved impractical for many productions. Therefore, musicals are currently performed at the Five Flags Theater, and concerts are held at Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School.
HVAC
The building was originally designed to be fully air conditioned. However a building-wide air conditioning system was never installed. The administrative offices were air conditioned, but the rest of the building was not.
As part of the renovation process, the school is upgrading the heating and cooling system. The school will use a geothermal system, and wells are being dug near the softball and football fields for this new system.
Hempstead, being one of the largest schools in the state, is able to offer eleven
advanced placement courses. This has enabled the school to rank highly on the Iowa AP Index published by the
Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, coming in 9th in the state in 2006 (based on the class of 2005).
The school is generally meeting No Child Left Behind proficiency standards, outpacing its goals in both reading and math.
Student Government
Hempstead is noted for its student government program, widely accepted to be one of the most active in the state. The group is comprised of an eight-member executive council and a 40-member senate, 10 elected from each class. Spring Wind, a week-long festival featuring speakers and activities every March or April, is completely organized by the student government, which is elected in May for the following year.
Sports
Hempstead competes in class 4A, the largest classification in Iowa, and in the Mississippi Valley Conference. The girls' volleyball team won the 4A State Championship in 2003 and competed in the state tournament in 2005. The mustang football team won its first and only state championship in 1979, and golf in the late 1980s. Baseball has also been successful, being the runner-up in the 2003 state tournament.
Music
Michael Gilbertson, class of 2006, is an accomplished composer who has written several pieces for orchestra, piano, and ballet. His works have been performed by the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony Orchestra, and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. He will be the first graduate of Hempstead to study at the Julliard School of Music this fall.
Economics
Since the National Council for Economics Education Economics Challenge was inaugurated in 2001, Hempstead has been extremely successful at the national level. The team won first place in 2002, second in 2001 and 2005, and third in 2004. In the six years of state competition (2001-2006), Hempstead has been first in Iowa every year. Much of the credit given to Hempstead's nationally recognized economics team goes to economics teacher Dennis C. Schroeder.
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Kate Mulgrew, actress, attended the school from 1970-72.
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Tom Churchill, radio & TV meteorologist, 1979 graduate
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Mark Steines, current host of Entertainment Tonight, 1982 graduate
In 2004, a renovation program began using proceeds from a 1-cent sales tax approved by Dubuque County voters in December 2002. The seven-phase program is projected to eventually cost $30,000,000, roughly five times the original cost of constructing the school in the 1960s.
Phase 1
During the summer of 2004, three classrooms were added to the locker bay. The art and FHACS areas were also remodeled. Geothermal wells were drilled in the softball field, and lockers were added to parts of the B, C, and D wings.
Phase 2
Work began in April 2005 when a portable classroom near the D wing was removed. The centerpiece of this phase was the construction of an 8-room addition to the school in the southwest corner, to be used for science, social studies, special education, and art. The passage way between the ground floor D wing classrooms and the C wing rooms was enclosed after many years of being open to the outside. This part was completed in December.
In addition, one half of the industrial education wing was refurbished. Air conditioning was added to the cafeteria in Fall 2005, albeit it did not function until winter 2005.
Phase 3 and 4
Phase 3 and 4, which will run simultaneously, will begin entirely remodeling the C wing in June of 2006. The first portion, expected to be complete in October 2006, will remodel the science department in its present location while constructing the new world language department in place of what is currently social studies. Notable changes throughout the two-year, $11.6 million project include air conditioning, hallways on both sides of the stairwell core, new furniture and fixtures, curved glass-brick walls, and a new library where the math department currently stands. During the construction, the auditorium will be converted into six classrooms, preventing it from use for performances.
Coinciding with the work is a new policy banning all food and drink (except water) from classrooms. Students are divided on the issue, citing the length of time between breakfast and lunch, the early start of the school day (7:40), and the funds raised for clubs from food and drink sales.
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Hempstead High School
