Hempfield High School is located on the district campus in East Hempfield Township and serves approximately 2,145 students in grades nine through twelve. More statistics on HHS can be found on the Building Report Card.

A Message from the Principal

Welcome to Hempfield High School, home of the Black Knights! HHS is the largest single school in the Lancaster/Lebanon county IU 13. Every day our faculty and staff work with over 2,200 students to help them grow, achieve, and succeed. We are proud to be a quad-A school focused on our academics, athletics, arts, and alumni.

Academics
We are very proud of our academic curriculum, which includes multiple levels that students can challenge themselves within our core academic subjects. We also offer extensive elective opportunities in Communications Technology, Family & Consumer Sciences, Technology & Engineering, Business & Computer Information Technology, and Health & PE. Our academic program boasts 23 Advanced Placement courses, and we continue to add college in the classroom courses. Furthermore, our upperclassmen can take advantage of numerous open-campus options, including dual-enrollment college courses, internships, and school-to-work experiences.

Athletics
HHS offers a full array of athletic opportunities for our students, including 24 PIAA varsity sports. HHS students also participate in school-affiliated sports such as rugby and ice hockey. No matter the athletic contest, HHS is committed to developing highly competitive athletes without losing sight of the educational process and its values of sportsmanship, health, and scholastic achievement. We are very proud of our student-athletes and the regular success that they enjoy.

Arts
HHS is well known for its artistic prowess across multiple mediums, including the performing arts. We offer extensive curricular and co-curricular artistic opportunities for our students, including AP art and music courses. HHS musicians routinely earn top honors in county, regional, and state orchestras/bands/ensembles. HHS boasts the largest Performing Arts Center of any area high school and produces first-rate musicals and dance theater productions. The arts hold such high esteem at HHS that cross-curricular offerings have been developed, such as our Movement, Exploration, and Dance physical education course, and our Set Design and Fabrication Technology Education Course. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the Hempfield Marching Knights who annually compete for top honors with their impressive and often dramatic shows.

Alumni
HHS is proud of all of our alumni. One of the many things that makes HHS a special place is the high number of legacy students at HHS. So many of our students have had parents, and in many cases grandparents, that have graduated from Hempfield. We view this as a strength and testament to our academic, athletic, and artistic programs that so many alumni choose to raise their families in our community. Furthermore, we also have many HHS alumni on staff that work hard to carry on and maintain our tradition of excellence. HHS has a strong tradition of including our alumni in our commencement ceremony, athletic hall of fame, and musical performances. We love to see our alumni at our sporting events, musical performances, and homecoming celebrations.

Hempfield High School serves as an important focal point for our community, uniting families from East Petersburg to Mountville, Farmdale to Rohrerstown, and everywhere in between.

Our vision for HHS is to create a school that people are excited to be a part of. We work hard to listen to our students and to find ways empower them to create a school they are proud of and to get excited about their high school experience. The mission for HHS is to help make others better. As educators, our primary role is to help others be better. This will look different for every student in our building. Everyone can get better at something, and everyone has new things to learn. We want to help.

Our theme this year is HHS: ALL IN. Last year we worked to Raise The Bar for HHS. Our students looked for ways to improve and get better at everything they did. This year is going to be about being ALL IN with everything we do. Last January our HHS student council and Varsity club hosted guest speaker Gian Paul Gonzalez who shared his positive message on an ALL IN approach to life. Everyday we need to be asking ourselves, did I give it my all? We are looking for our students, staff, and community to hold nothing back in pursuit of achieving their goals at HHS, and to help build a positive school environment that comes when everyone is ALL IN for HHS. We look forward to seeing what our students can achieve when they go ALL IN for HHS and continue to build on our tradition of excellence.

As we work with our students to go ALL IN for HHS, we will continue to reinforce our Hempfield PRIDE.

Perseverance – Never give up, even when things get tough.
Respect – Treat others how you would like to be treated, in person and online.
Involvement – Contribute to a positive school climate and be an active participant in all aspects of school.
Discipline – Manage your time and your behavior well.
Excellence – Do your Best. No regrets.

Being the parent of a teenager can be difficult. Many parents struggle to find the right balance of allowing their teen enough room to grow and take risks, while also supporting them without being overbearing.  \As we work with your students, we will reference and use Hempfield P.R.I.D.E. as a framework to correct student behavior and help students make better decisions. Please feel free to adopt similar language at home to encourage and redirect your teen.

Finally, HHS is a big place. Many parents ask me how their child can be successful in such a big school. My recommendation is for students to get involved. Get involved in a club, sport, or activity. By getting involved, it helps students connect with a smaller group of people. It also gives students a chance to build strong relationships with the adults involved in the activity. As students find their niche, HHS will begin to feel less big.

We are excited to have you as part of our HHS community. We wish you nothing but the best for a successful school year.

Dr. Bill Brossman
Hempfield High School Principal