William Mason High School

William Mason High School, also known as Mason High School, is a four-year public high school located in the Mason City Schools district in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its enrollment makes it the largest high school in Ohio, serving more than 3,300 students in grades 9 through 12 in a 620,000 square-foot, three-story facility on a 73-acre campus.HistoryThe school's first graduating class was in 1886, with 7 students at commencement at Mason's Opera House. In the following years, graduating classes consisted of 10, 3 (all girls), 3 (all girls), and, in 1890, 14, according to "Around Mason, Ohio: A Story", 1982, by Rose Marie Springman. At the school's 50th commencement in 1935, the school graduated 27. In 1959, the long-time high school on North East Street became a K-8 school with the building of a new high school on Mason-Montgomery Road (the site of the current Mason Middle School). Indoor athletics continued to be held at the old building until a new gym was added to the high school in 1967.Extracurricular activitiesPerforming artsThe school's Drama Club performs two plays in the fall and winter, culminating in a spring musical each year. Mason High School is a member of the Cappies of Greater Cincinnati, and its winter 2009 play "Noises Off" won the Best Play Cappie. Its outstanding theater facilities include a complete auditorium, scene and costume shop, Green Room and newly constructed black box theater space.The Instrumental Music Department encompasses six concert bands (concert white, green, silver, winds, symphonic band, and wind symphony), four orchestras, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Pep Band, Chamber Strings, Winter Guard, Winter Percussion, and AP Music Theory. The Mason Band Program was awarded the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Flag of Honor on May 24, 2008. In 2011, the William Mason High School Marching Band was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Shield, the highest honor a marching band can receive. MHS is one of only 15 schools to ever receive both awards. In 2017, The William Mason High School marching band earned the title of third in the nation at BOA Grand Nationals, for their show "World out of Balance."