Horace Greeley High School is a public, four-year secondary school serving students in grades 9–12 in Chappaqua, New York, United States. It is part of the Chappaqua Central School District.
It is consistently ranked among the top high schools in America. In 2015, it was listed as the No. 1 best public high school in the US by Best Colleges.
Distinctions
Greeley was ranked No. 46 nationally in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings of "America's Best High Schools," and No. 7 among those with open enrollment. It currently offers 21 advanced placement courses.
Recent years have seen approximately one-tenth of graduating seniors recognized by the National Merit Scholarship committee. The class of 2004 included 25 National Merit semi-finalists, the class of 2005 had 16, and the class of 2007 had 22. The mean SAT and ACT scores among graduating seniors for the Class of 2022 were 1337 and 29.5, respectively.
The school offers several extracurricular programs. Its academic challenge team won the National Academic Championship in 2003, 2013, and 2023 and finished third in 2009 and 2010. Chip Beall, the organizer of the tournament, noted in 2007 that Greeley's team had "the most airline miles logged at the National Academic Association's expense", a nod to their placement in the final rounds of the tournament more times than any other team in the tournament's history.
The Horace Greeley Debate Team has sent debaters to the state competition every year since its inception in 2002.
The Madrigal Choir, a select group of students auditioned from the full chorus, has attended the Disney Honors festival in Orlando, Florida and has performed with other choirs at such venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. In 2011, the Madrigal Choir received a gold award and came in second place at the Boston Heritage Festival.
Programs at Horace Greeley include the LIFE (Learning Independently From Experience) school, an alternative school for grades 11–12 located on campus, independent study, and senior project options. Language classes are offered in four foreign languages: Spanish, French, Latin, and Chinese. In the 2005–2006 school year, Ancient Greek was taught for the first time, as an independent study. Students have the opportunity to take Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA) Forensic Science. Students may take Business Law for college credit from Mercy College.
Administration
The principal is Sandra Sepe, and there are three assistant principals.
Student clubs
The school is named for Horace Greeley, the editor of The New York Tribune who made his home in Chappaqua late in life. The school's main publication is The Greeley Voice.
Other student organizations at Greeley include the Model United Nations, One World Study Circle, and community service groups. The largest service groups are SHARE and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). Peer leadership is also a popular student/faculty-run program on campus that gives upperclassmen a chance to help acclimate freshman students to the high school environment.
Another main club is the Federal Reserve Challenge Club. The Fed Challenge Club is an economic club that sends students every year to the New York Federal Reserve to compete in the fed's annual High School Fed Challenge.
The school has three a cappella groups, The Enchords, a co-ed group, the Quaker Notes, an all female group, and the Acafellas, a male group.
Athletics
Among the diverse offerings are varsity programs in baseball, basketball, bowling, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, cross country, volleyball, and wrestling.
Greeley's boys' indoor track and field team won leagues, counties, and sectionals in back to back years, 2022 and 2023. The school's only state championship came in 2002 and was won by the cross country team. In 2001 the school's football team finished with a record of 11–2, losing 22–15 to Rochester's Aquinas Institute in the New York State Class A State Championship game. The 2002 boys' cross country team won the Class-B title, and remains the only Greeley sports team to win a state championship.