Juanita High School

Infobox School | name = Juanita High School


motto =
established =
type = Public
enrollment = approx. 1010 [http://www.lkwash.wednet.edu/lwsd/html/schools/findDetail.asp?schoolTypeKey=high]
principal = Gary Moed
free_label = Colors
Mascot
free_text = Red, White, and Blue
Rebels
location =
information = [phone]
website = http://schools.lwsd.org/jhs/

Juanita High School (JHS), the home of the Rebels, is a high school in King County, Washington, administered by Lake Washington School District. It was opened on September 4, 1971 as a result of a campaign driven by an education theory known as the "Juanita Concept", developed by John Strauss, who became the school's first principal.

History

The Juanita Concept called for a large warehouse-like open architecture. When JHS opened it had a large open area surrounded by a music area, art and industrial arts areas, and an auditorium, the KIVA, science room and main office, and photographic and business rooms. The Juanita Concept also included some at the time unorthodox principles of education, with individualized instruction intended mainly to nurture lifelong learning skills.

Juanita officially opened on September 4, 1971, but because the building was not ready for occupancy until November 13, the first nine weeks were spent double shifting at Redmond High School. The curriculum for math, science, social studies, and language arts was contracted with the Westinghouse Learning Corporation for the first two years of Juanita’s existence.

The schedule that was used the first two years was quite controversial. It consisted of seventeen 20-minute periods, called “mods” which allowed both large and small group instruction. The purpose was to encourage individualization and accommodate partial credit. Most classes were small—12 to 16 students—and student schedules were flexible, with about 60% of their time in class and about 40% unstructured. Students were expected to work on homework assignments and testing during that time. The free time and small class size allowed a strong camaraderie to blossom between staff and students. Classes in the open area met at seminar tables scattered throughout. In 1973 the mod schedule was replaced by a seven-period schedule, and that schedule was replaced in 1981 with the six period schedule, the one Juanita uses today along with occasional block scheduled daysFact|date=November 2007.

Many factors affected Juanita’s inability to maintain the “Juanita Concept”. One of the biggest was the Basic Education Law passed by the Washington legislature in the mid-1970’s, which based school district funding on students being “in class” 55-minutes for six periods a dayFact|date=November 2007. The 12-16 student classes swelled to 30-33 students and the open area was transformed into a collection of ordinary classrooms partially separated by small wooden student lockers and cupboards. It was not long until talk of “remodel” was heard;1984 saw the beginning of a two year remodeling project which partitioned the “open area” into classrooms and hallways. Juanita took on the look that it has today. The library of Juanita is home to Nancy Kuta (Librarian).

ports

* AAA State Football Champions 1984, 1985, 1986 (2nd place)Fact|date=November 2007
* AAA State Girls' Basketball Champions, 1981, 1986Fact|date=November 2007
* AAA State Boys' Basketball Champions,1984Fact|date=November 2007
* AAA State Baseball Champions, 1985, 1987, 1992Fact|date=November 2007
* AAA State Softball Champions, 1989, 1990Fact|date=November 2007
* AAAA Kingco Soccer Champions, 2008

Notable Athletes:

Raul Silva - Class of 2010 - Kenenisa Bekele's second cousin; holds school record for 2000m (5:31:71)

References

* [http://schools.lwsd.org/JHS/ A Brief History of Juanita High School] by Dave Vannet, teachers at the school from 1972 to the present day.

External links

* [http://schools.lwsd.org/JHS/ Juanita High School website]