Taunton High School (often abbreviated THS) located within a large, three-floor, interconnected, multi-block complex in the eastern section of the city of Taunton, Massachusetts. It is a five-year urban public high school with an estimated average student enrollment of 3,000. It offers many student-oriented services, specialty academic programs, extra-curricular clubs, various after-school programs and a wide array of scholastic sports. THS is one of the largest high schools in the state, and is the fourth largest in Southeastern Massachusetts, behind Brockton, New Bedford, and Durfee.
The main building complex once contained a public middle school, John F. Parker Middle School, until 2009 where, during a total renovation of the school, a fifth, exterior wing was added to the front of the school. The high school section of the building is divided into four different "houses" in which different classes are held, along with an associate headmaster’s office in each, and the main headmaster’s office in the middle. On the side of the building is also the high school's auditorium, Robert H. Park Auditorium, which currently holds seating capacities up to 1,500 people, and beneath that the music rooms and storage. The school also has a two-leveled gymnasium, where most of the indoor sports teams perform and several "pep rallies" are held throughout the year, as well as a now unused indoor swimming pool. The school's field house is one the largest gymnasiums in New England, capable of holding both indoor track meets and basketball tournaments simultaneously.
Students at Taunton High School are assigned eight 84-minute classes for the year, with one or two classes being electives (i.e. Business, CAD, or Chorus) depending on which grade the individual student is enrolled in. The eight classes are then separated, four coming in the first semester, the other four in the following semester. Each class is called a "block" (named A-Block through D-Block according to their allotted times throughout the school day). The 3rd class of the day is divided into four lunch periods of about 24 minutes each. Unlike many high schools across the state, Taunton High's class schedule does not rotate the time of day each class is held; rather, the schedule is stationary. This allows consistency for internships.
As of 2011, Taunton High School will also house the city's eighth graders, making the school a grades 8–12 school, rather than the grades 9–12 school it has been since its relocation to Williams Street in 1975. In addition to this change, Mulcahey Middle School in Taunton will be switching from a grades 5–8 school to a grades K–4 elementary school, the city's other middle schools, Martin, Friedman, and Parker Schools, will house grades 5–7, and two of the city's elementary schools, Walker and Maxham Schools, will be closed.
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