Lower Merion High School

Lower Merion High School
Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve
Address
315 East Montgomery Avenue Ardmore, Pennsylvania 19003 United States
Information
Type	Public
Established	1894
School district	Lower Merion School District
Principal	Sean Hughes
Faculty	107.7 FTE
Enrollment	1,378
Color(s)	Maroon     White
Team name	Aces, bulldogs
Website	www.lmsd.org

Lower Merion High School is a public high school in Ardmore, a community in Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs. It is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District; the other one is Harriton High School. Lower Merion serves both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. In 2005 it was ranked among the top sixty public or private U.S. high schools by The Wall Street Journal. In 2010, 1,378 students attended the school. Its athletics teams are known as the "Aces," but the football team is called the "Bulldogs".

In 1894, with the consolidation of the area's three village high schools (Merion Square, Bryn Mawr, and Ardmore), Lower Merion began its first year in a stone building shared with the Ardmore Avenue Elementary School in Ardmore (photo). In 1897, nine students participated in the school's first commencement ceremony. The original high school faculty had seven members, including the principal and superintendent. The curriculum offered only a two-year preparation for either college or industry.

The Ardmore Avenue School burned in 1900 but was rebuilt, also of stone (photo). In 1911, the high school moved out of the elementary school to new quarters, designed and constructed at the present site, 245 E. Montgomery Avenue. Dedicated on December 2, 1911, "Lower Merion Senior High School" was an impressive granite and stone edifice considered one of the finest new educational facilities in the state. The 17-acre (69,000 m²) property, complete with three stone-arch entrances, landscaped grounds, and a football stadium, eventually grew to 23 acres (93,000 m²) with the purchase and annexation of the Clarke House. At its opening, twenty-one staff members were employed under principal "Professor" Charles B. Pennypacker. (photo)