Clay High School (Portsmouth, Ohio)

File:Clayhighschoolresized.jpg Clay Junior-Senior High School (built 1955)

The Clay Local School District (CLSD) is located just north of Portsmouth, Ohio, in Clay Township in Scioto County--which is approximately 85 miles south of Columbus, Ohio; 50 miles west of Huntington, West Virginia; and 100 miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio. The district has three seperate academic buidlings. Clay Junior-Senior High School (7-12) is located on U.S. 23 approximately 3 miles north of the Portsmouth city limits. Rubyville Elementary (4-6) is on Maple Benner Road at the intersection of State Route 139. Rosemount Elementary (K-3) is on Rose Valley Road just off Rosemount Road in Rosemount, Ohio. The district has plans to place a bond issue on the November 2007 ballot to build a new K-12 facility. Ohio School Facilities Commission

History & Quick Facts

Mr. Anthony Mantell is the current superintendent while Mr. Todd Warnock is the principal at the high school and Mr. Tony Piguet is the principal at the elementary buildings. The school colors are blue and gold and the school mascot is the Panther. District Website

Academically, Clay has a reputation in the area as one of the "best" schools in Southern Ohio. While class sizes are small, Clay offers many unique opportunities for its students including both curricular and extracurricular activities, including AP courses, Chemistry II, economics, engineering courses, physics, and webpage design. Recent graduates have attended/graduated from such universities/colleges as Berea College, Eastern Kentucky University, Marietta College,Marshall University, Miami University, Morehead State University, Ohio University, Ohio Northern University, Purdue University, Shawnee State University, The Ohio State University, Transylvania University, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, University of Rio Grande,Valparaiso University, West Point, Wittenberg University, and Wright State University. The staff members have also attended/graduated from many of these same institutions. Clay's graduating classes, which average 35 students, have received in excess of $300,000 each year in scholarship money.

The Clay Local School District is a "small division" school in every Ohio High School Athletic Association sports' division. The school participates in nine OHSAA sanctioned sports--baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, cross country, boys' golf, boys' soccer, fast pitch softball, boys' tennis, and girls' volleyball. The district also fields boys' and girls' basketball, golf, and volleyball teams in our junior high. Clay's enrollment, grades 7-12, is around 300 strong with approximately 170 students in grades nine through twelve.

There are ten school districts and eleven high schools in Scioto County along with one parochial school as well several private and community schools. The school's athletic affiliation is with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and the Southern Ohio Conference (S.O.C.), which has sixteen member schools and is divided into two divisions (SOC I & SOC II) based on the schools' enrollment. The S.O.C. includes teams from four different Ohio counties--Jackson County (Oak Hill High School), Lawrence County (Symmes Valley High School), Pike County (Waverly High School, Eastern High School, and Western High School), and Scioto County (Clay High School, Green High School, Glenwood High School, Sciotoville Community School, Valley High School, Northwest High School, Minford High School, Portsmouth West High School, Notre Dame High School, South Webster High School, and Wheelersburg High School).

In athletics, the Clay softball team has won three OHSAA State Championships--1980, 1981, & 1983. They were 79-1 in those three years under the direction of Carol Vice, a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame. In 1979 and 1988, they were runner-up. The softball team has won 22 league titles, 27 sectional titles, 19 district titles, and 8 regional titles along with their state championship banners. The softball team is the only team from Scioto County to ever win a state championship. In fact, the team was in the Final Four eight out of the 11 years from 1978 to 1988. Carol and Clay Vice have their names/stars on the Portsmouth Wall of Fame in honor of their success and contributions to the Portsmouth area.

The girls' basketball team went to the OHSAA Final Four in 1980. They are still the only girls' Scioto County team and one of only two in the S.O.C. (Oak Hill being the other one) to reach that level. Terri Boldman, a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame and current high school assistant principal, guided the girls to the OHSAA Final Four. They have won 3 league titles (1980, 2005, & 2005-06), 12 sectional titles, 2 district titles, and 1 regional title.

The boys' basketball team made it that far in 1969 under the direction of Arch Justus, who is also a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame, the Ohio Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, and the Naismith High School Hall of Fame. They have also won 14 league titles (most recently in 2004-5), 23 sectional titles, 3 district titles, and one regional title.

While these three sports may have garnered the spotlight in years past, Clay teams have won numerous league, sectional, district, regional, and state titles. The boys' baseball team won the Regional in 1944. The volleyball team has won 6 league titles, 13 sectional titles, 3 district titles, and went to the regional as recently as 2000. Most recently, the golf team won its sixth straight league title and qualified for the state championships for the third straight year (2004, 2005, & 2006). In addition, the tennis team captured its first SOC title in 2005. [1]

Buildings in the Clay Local School District

Clay Junior-Senior High School

44 Clay High Street, Portsmouth, OH 45662 ... 740-354-6644 / 740-354-5746 (fax)

Rubyville Elementary

3019 Maple Benner Road, Portsmouth, OH 45662 ... 740-353-0272 / 740-353-6620 (fax)

Rosemount Primary

4484 Rose Valley Road, Portsmouth, OH 45662 ... 740-353-0428 / 740-354-3822 (fax)

File:MVC-911S.jpg Rubyville Elementary (built 1939)

File:MVC-913S.jpg Rosemount Elementary

Clay Local Board of Education Members (2007)

Kevin Craft, President
William "Bill" Warnock, Vice President
Donnie Caseman
Craig Gilliland
Mark Harris

Administration in the Clay Local School District (2007)

Superintendent - Anthony Mantell

Clay Junior-Senior High School Principal - Todd Warnock
Clay Jr.-Sr. HS Asst. Principal - Terri Boldman
Elementary Principal - Tony Piguet
Rosemount Head Teacher - Charlotte Green

District Treasurer - Betty Applegate
Asst. Treasurer - Brandi Dillow

District Nurse - Beth Shaffer, RN

Athletic Director(s) - Richard McCleese & Mark Rose

Staff Directory

Facilities

Demographics

Extracurricular Activities

Athletic: Baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, cross country, boys' golf, boys' soccer, fast pitch softball, boys' tennis, and girls' volleyball.

Other Activities: Acadmeic competition team (quiz bowl), band, Bible Club, cheerleading, Encore (show choir), CHS National Honor Society, the Clay Pep Club, student council, the venturing club, and the WCHS news team.

Community & School-related Service Activities: American Red Cross blood drives, CF (cystic fibrosis) walks, health fairs, Sierra's Haven, and other acts of volunteerism.

Notable Alumni

Terri Boldman - She was a member of the 1968 CHS graduating class. She has degrees from Ohio University and the University of Dayton. Ms. Boldman is a member of the Clay Coaches’ Hall of Fame. During the years from 1974-1981 and from 1983-1985, she coached basketball, volleyball, and track at Clay. Before beginning her coaching career at Clay, she began the basketball and volleyball programs at both Rock Hill Senior High School in 1972 and began the same programs at Clay in 1974. Her volleyball teams won the league in 1979 and 1980; and won the sectional championship and the District Championship in 1978 and 1979. Her basketball teams won the SOC in 1980; won the sectional championship in 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1983; won the District in 1980 and 1981; and won the Regional in 1980. Her team in 1980 had the most wins in school history (24) and still holds the best record for a season by any team (24-2). She is still the only girls’ basketball coach in Scioto County and one of only two in the Southern Ohio Conference to advance her team to the state Final Four. She is currently the assistant principal at Clay Jr.-Sr. High School, her 35th year in education.

Marc Cottle - Mark was a member of the 198? CHS graduating class. After completing his degree at Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was a member of their baseball team, he returned to Portsmouth, Ohio. He is currently a financial advisor with American Express.

The Justus Family: Jeff Justus - He is a member of the 1974 CHS graduating class. He is a 1978 graduate of Rose-Hulman, where he was a member of two mean's basketball teams that won 20 games, three conference championships, and two national tournament berths. He later earned a Doctor of Osteopathy degree from Ohio University. As of 2007, he was in his ninth season as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Earlham College. John Justus - Sports Information Director at Wake Forest University. They are the sons of Arch Justus, former Panther coach and administrator.

Jay Prosch - He was a member of the 198? CHS graduating class. After completing his degree at Muskingum College, where he was a member of their baseball team, he returned to Portsmouth, Ohio. He currently works for Fifth Third Bank as a loan officer.

Teresa Ruby - Teresa was a 1980 graduate of Clay HS. She currently holds the overall scoring record for both the girls and boys basketball teams (1,846 points). She was a member of the 1980 girls' basketball team that made it to the OHSAA Final Four. Her basketball number (#14) was retired by the school. She currently holds four (4) girls' basketball records at Clay: Most Points - 1,846, Highest Free Throw Percentage - 70%, Highest Field Goal Percentage - 50%, and Highest Per Game Average - 21.2. She is the director of the Southern Ohio Medical Center Hospice and is the current Clay softball coach.

The Shaffer Family: Christopher Shaffer - He was a member of the 1998 graduating class of CHS and a 2002 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy--West Point. He is currently a captain in the U.S. Army. He has one tour of duty in Iraq. Sarah Shaffer - Sarah is a 2005 graduate and valedictorian of Clay High School. She was a Top 10 Female Finalist (Ohio) for the Wendy's High School Heisman Scholar-Athlete Scholarship. She is currently attending Miami University. Tim Shaffer - He is a 2002 graduate of CHS and a 2006 graduate of St. Bonaventure University. He is currently working on his post-graduate degree at the University of Dayton.

Cameron Thoroughman - He was a member of the 2006 CHS graduating class. While at Clay he was a member of two Southern Ohio Conference Division I golf championship teams. These teams made two trips to the OHSAA Division III state tournament (2004 & 2005). He was also on the 2005 Southern Ohio Conference Division I basketball championship team. He received a scholarship to play basketball at West Virginia University. He is currently redshirted.

Carol Vice - Mrs. Vice is a member of the Clay Coaches’ Hall of Fame. During the years of 1978-1988 she coached volleyball, basketball, and softball. During her 11 years as a softball coach, her teams never lost a league title (9), never lost a sectional title (11), and never lost a district title (11). The teams also won 8 Regional titles; won 2 State Runner-up Titles (1979 and 1988); and 3 State Softball Titles (1980, 1981, and 1983). In 1980 and 1981 her teams were undefeated going 55-0 and her teams were 79-1 during those three state championship years. Under her guidance, Clay’s softball team was in the state final four 8 out of 11 years from 1978-1988. Clay’s softball team is still the only team from Scioto County and the Southern Ohio Conference to win a state softball title. Carol Vice is still the only coach from Scioto County and the Southern Ohio Conference to win a state softball title. Her overall record in softball was 261-20, never losing more than 4 games in any of her 11 years. She was also honored with a "star" on the Portsmouth area Floodwall of Stars, which highlights area people who have given to the Portsmouth community or who have made important contributions to our society. In addition, the school named its softball invitational the Carol Vice Classic to honor her contributions and efforts on behalf of the Clay softball program.