Durant High School (Iowa)

Coordinates: 41°36′11″N 90°54′47″W / 41.603°N 90.913°W / 41.603; -90.913

Durant High School
Established	c. 1910s
Type	Public Secondary
Principal	Tony Neumann
Grades	9–12
Location	408 Seventh Street, Durant, Iowa, USA
Oversight	Durant Community School District
Colors	Blue and Gold
Mascot	Wildcats
Website	DHS Web site

Durant High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Durant, Iowa. The school is part of the Durant Community School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 300 students in grades nine through 12.

Located at 408 Seventh Street in Durant (approximately two miles south of Interstate 80), Durant High School draws students from areas of southeastern Cedar County, northeastern Muscatine County and western Scott County, plus the community of Stockton.

History

The current Durant High School was completed in 1957, the same year the school fielded its first competitive football team. There have been many additions and renovations to the buildings in the years since.

Durant High School is a participant in a whole-grade sharing agreement with the nearby Bennett Community School District.[3] Each district is responsible for its own elementary school, while Bennett sends its junior high and high school students to Durant. This agreement has been in place since the 2005-2006 school year.

In the fall of 2009, Durant High School principal Monica Rouse was placed on administrative leave, beginning months of turmoil in the Durant community. Durant school officials cited a failure on Rouse's part to maintain accurate student records, a lack of professional judgement and inability to be a positive leader or role model, and the school board agreed to consider firing Rouse. ^[1] Rouse had the case appealed to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, and in March 2010 an administrative law judge issued an 86-page decision declaring Rouse should keep her job.^[2] On March 30, the school board agreed to terminate high school principal Monica Rouse's contract; Iowa law allows entities such as school boards to reject administrative law judges' rulings, since they non-binding.^[1]

Athletics

Durant (and more recently, Durant-Bennett) sports teams are known as the Wildcats; their uniforms display the school's colors of blue and gold.

The school fields athletic teams in 13 sports, including:

• Summer: Baseball and softball.
• Fall: Football, volleyball, and boys' and girls' cross country.
• Winter: Boys' and girls' basketball and wrestling.
• Spring: Boys' and girls' track and field; and boys' and girls' golf.

Durant-Bennett is classified as a 2A school (Iowa's second-smallest tier schools), according to the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union; in sports where there are fewer divisions, the Wildcats are always in the smallest class (e.g., Class 1A for wrestling). The school is a member of the eight-team Cedar Valley Conference (CVC), which comprises similar-sized schools from communities in eastern Iowa, spanning roughly the Iowa City area to the west, to Durant on the east. Prior to joining the CVC in 2008, Durant-Bennett was a member of the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference (EIHC), a league that dated to the 1950s.

Durant enjoys its biggest rivalries with neighboring school Wilton.

Successes

Throughout the school's history, Durant-Bennett has enjoyed great success in many of its sports, earning many EIHC and CVC conference titles and producing all-state athletes that have enjoyed success at the collegiate level and in their careers.

In recent years, volleyball has been the most successful sport for Durant-Bennett, with the Wildcats winning 35 consecutive games to date in the EIHC and CVC. The Wildcats qualified for state tournaments in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and the 2007 team posted a perfect 35-0 regular season record prior to the state tournament.

While the Wildcats have traditionally struggled in football, the 2006 team posted a 6-3 regular season record and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time in school history. Jake Soy, a member of that team, went on to a successful collegiate career at Northwest Missouri State University, and as a wide receiver was instrumental in helping the Bearcats win the 2009 NCAA Division II National Football Championship game en route to an all-American season. Also qualified for state playoffs a second time in 2010 with a 5-4 regular season record.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Beaudette, Cynthia, "Durant School Board upholds firing of Rouse," Muscatine Journal, March 30, 2010. Accessed 04-22-2010.[1]
2. ^ "Durant H.S. principal ruling," Wilton-Durant Advocate News. Accessed 04-22-2010 [2]

External links

• Durant High School Webpage – The Web page for Durant High School.
• Durant School District Web site