Wilsonville High School

Infobox Education in the United States
name=Wilsonville High School


imagesize=250px
motto=
motto_translation=
streetaddress=
city=Wilsonville, Oregon
state=OR
zipcode=97070
url= [http://www.wvhs.wlwv.k12.or.us/ www.wvhs.wlwv.k12.or.us/]
schoolnumber=
district=West Linn-Wilsonville School District
superintendent=
principal=Andy Sommer
viceprincipal=
administrator=
fundingtype= Public
schooltype=high school
grades=9-12
language=English
area=
campus=Suburban
mascot=Wildcats
teamname=
colors=Blue and Grey
founded=1995
enrollment=1063
enrollment_as_of=2006-2007

Wilsonville High School is a high school in the city of Wilsonville, Oregon. Part of the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, Wilsonville opened in 1995 and has recently been remodeled thanks to a $25 million bond. Prior to opening, Wilsonville students had to travel 25 minutes each way to West Linn High School. As of 2005, the school had an enrollment of approximately 1000 students. In 2007, the school was ranked as the 526th best high school in the United States by "Newsweek". [Kulla, Josh. [http://www.wilsonvillespokesman.com/ArcStoryPage.asp?Database=Story&StoryID=3906 Newsweek honors WHS in top 1,200.] "Wilsonville Spokesman", May 30 2007.]

The new design of the high school contains an open library connected to the rest of the school, and contains more stairwells to ease the traffic problem that having only one set of stairs had created. The design, while aesthetically pleasing, has created an enormous amount of controversy amongst the students and faculty. The primary complaint is that the library is no longer quiet because it is connected to the rest of the school--there are no walls separating the library from the hallways and cafeteria area. In addition, through a miscommunication, the entire inside of the school was painted in forms of oranges, yellows, and greens, rather than blue and grey - the school's colors.

Sports

Wilsonville High School teams, known as "The Wildcats", were one of the better 3A schools in the state of Oregon for athletics (the classification system has since been changed; see below). In the ten years of its existence, the school has collected at least 25 state trophies: many of which were won by the cross country team and track and field teams (a combined 8 state championships). Wilsonville has also won state championships in men's football, women's swimming, women's dance team, women's basketball (2001 and 2002) and men's basketball.

Over the last 7 years, the Wilsonville High School Cross Country team has won 4 of the cross country state championships. The head coach of the cross country program, and as of the 2006 season, track and field, is David Barkley, who also teaches math and economics. The 2005 season was his 5th year as coach, and his 3rd state championship team.

Wilsonville has been reclassified as a 5A team as of the 2006-2007 school year as a result of the OSAA's reclassification schema, in which the largest schools in the state are given the title "6A" and the smallest schools are labeled 1A. The previous classification scheme only went as high as 4A. Teams compete in the Northwest Oregon Conference. [Tam, Alex. [http://www.wilsonvillespokesman.com/ArcStoryPage.asp?Database=Story&StoryID=3801 Roller coaster ride continues for Wilsonville.] "Wilsonville Spokesman", April 18 2007.]

Schedules and classes

The high school's class schedule is divided into semesters and allots time for 6 classes, not including "0 period" classes. On Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, each class is allotted 56 minutes. On Wednesday, periods 1, 3, and 5 are each offered for 110 minutes. On Thursday periods 2, 4, and 6 are each offered for 110 minutes. Wednesdays and Thursdays, due to the doubled class length, are known as "block days." This schedule allows classes to work on larger projects, such as science labs, during block days. In addition, some choir and strings classes take place during a before school "0 period" that helps keep scheduling problems to a minimum.

Wilsonville High School offers Advanced Placement (AP) classes, which are college-level courses, in twenty-two subjects ranging from Chemistry to Music Theory. A majority of the students at Wilsonville High School will take at least one AP class before graduation, and the percentage of students that pass the AP National Examination is well above the national average. The AP Calculus classes are particularly successful--of those who take the class, over 97% pass the National Exam. Some courses such as AP Biology, however, are underfunded and as a result can only be offered every other year.

In addition, the high school offers a wide variety of technical classes such as Web Design and AutoCAD (computer-aided drafting). However, at this time no vocational classes such as woodshop, home economics, personal finance, or metalworking have been offered.

Lunch: there used to be two lunches on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, and one lunch on Wednesday and Thursday, but starting in 2007 it was cut back to one lunch per day, each lasting half an hour, with block-day lunches extended to 35 minutes.

Technology

Wilsonville was called “high tech” when it opened in 1995. It was praised for providing network computers in each classroom-- much of which was donated by local computer companies-- and internet access for all students. Currently, Dell Dimension 2400 and 3000 computers are the standard for computer accessible terminals, with more specialized computer systems around the school for other tasks.

Since then, Wilsonville High School has continued to work closely with major technologically-oriented companies in the area, such as Xerox, which often donates equipment and sends its scientists to the high school to be guest speakers. Amid a large science department budget cut in 2005, Xerox was able to donate an electron microscope and other scientific equipment. However, the increase of students moving into the area has put a strain on the science department. Though teaching posts have been added in a number of other departments, new positions have not been added in the science department, leaving classes crowded and understaffed.

Since 2004, Wilsonville High School has offered a "Technical Assistance" course, in which students learn about and maintenance the school's computer labs, digital display boards, and audio/video equipment. As a result, the students in the class are prepared for industrial IT work, and the "high tech" equipment in the school is kept up to date and under maintenance.

External links

References

* Laura Trujillo, "New Wilsonville High Will Be High-Tech", "The Oregonian", February 10, 1995.
* David Stabler, "High-Tech High", The Oregonian, September 5, 1995.