In 1983, our very own Strath Haven High School was founded.
This was a result of a merger between Swarthmore High School and Nether Providence High School. It’s been 40 years since, and Strath Haven is one of the best schools in Pennsylvania— ranked #18 on Niche.com and #32 in US News and World Report.
The merger makes our school young in the Central League. By contrast, Penncrest was founded in 1955, Marple Newtown in 1914, and Radnor High School in 1893.
The merger itself seems to have gone smoothly. In the very first issue of the school newspaper “The Panther Press,” published on October 14, 1983, the staff editorial stated, “One would expect the first year in a merged school to be shaky and unpredictable, but the absence of such effects indicates that all the time, effort, and preparation which went into the construction have paid off.”
Fun fact: did you know that one of the students from the class of 1983 teaches here at Strath Haven? That teacher would be math teacher Mrs. Lisa Sweeney.
“As a student, it was great, because we got to meet a whole other group of people who came from the other high school,” Sweeney said. “So it increased our class size, we had a lot more people involved in sports and activities and music.”
“And so for me, personally, I really enjoyed it because I’m still very good friends with many of the people that I met when we joined,” she said.
Sweeney watched Strath Haven evolve throughout the years and has seen improvement.
“I would say one of the biggest changes would be the band, because when we came from our smaller high schools, we didn’t have the band that Strath Haven has, for sure,” she said. “And that’s a program that really, really got built up.”
According to havenfootball.net, the school’s marching band, the Panther Marching Band, is the second largest marching band in the country, standing at over 400 students participating. The band contains roughly a third of the entire high school. They don’t just play at the school football games or events at school, they go to all sorts of festivals, locations, and even sometimes the Philadelphia Eagles football games.
There are many sports stars who had their sports starts at our school. In the NFL, players such as Steven Johnson (former linebacker for the Broncos, Titans, Ravens, and Steelers), Isaac Jones (former wide receiver for the Colts), and Lamar Campbell (cornerback for the Lions) came from Strath Haven. On the soccer field, Peter Luzak formerly played for the US national team. In the Olympics, Jacob Hoyle does fencing to support the American team.
In addition to the swelling achievements of the marching band, Sweeney also thinks the differences in the building itself have been significant. Since she graduated, a whole new wing was constructed.
“Again, I just think a lot of our activities, because we had a bigger student population, we’re able to grow in terms of sports teams and arts,” she said. “So, from my standpoint, coming back as a teacher, I just think we’ve had a chance to really blossom as a district because of the consolidation.”
