Plano East Senior High School

Coordinates: 33°02′20″N 96°38′42″W / 33.0388°N 96.6450°W / 33.0388; -96.6450

Plano East Senior High School
Outlook of Plano East Senior High School Still Winning With Class
Location
3000 Los Rios Boulevard Plano, Texas, 75074 United States
Information
School type	Public High School
Established	1981
School district	Plano Independent School District
Principal	Karen McDonald
Faculty	239
Grades	11-12
Enrollment	2,807
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Black and gold
Mascot	Panther
Information	469-752-9000
Website	k-12.pisd.edu/schools/planoeast/

Plano East Senior High School (commonly East, Plano East, or PESH) is a secondary school in Plano, Texas (USA) serving high school juniors and seniors. It is part of the Plano Independent School District.

The school colors are black and gold, and the school mascot is the panther. Plano East has been awarded the U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, Best High School in Texas designation by Redbook magazine,^{[citation needed]} Texas Education Agency Blue Ribbon School, and State and National Academic Decathlon Championships.^{[citation needed]}

Plano East's graduating classes are among the largest for high schools in the United States. Plano East's Class of 2005, with 1220 graduates, was the largest high school graduating class in the U.S. that year.^[1]

Plano East is the only senior high school in Plano ISD to offer an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.^[2] As such, students who would normally attend either Plano or Plano West are allowed to transfer to Plano East to participate in the IB Programme.

History

Buildings B2, B3, and B4 as seen from the bridge

To meet the demand of the growing population in Plano, Plano East Senior High School opened in 1981 as the second senior high school in the city. The school opened with 3 academic buildings connected by second floor walkways, a fine arts building, and a gymnasium. The athletics complex was added as a result of Title IX laws which require equal space for male and female athletics.^{[citation needed]} In 1987, a new student activity center was constructed for indoor athletic practice. Eventually, fourth and fifth buildings were also added. The construction project for building five (the science wing) concluded the fall of 2010, preceding the 2010-2011 academic school year.

The school has had a fierce rivalry with the oldest high school in Plano, Plano Senior High School as well as a growing rivalry with Plano West Senior High School. Their rivalry with Allen High School to the north is very intense as both schools generally have had strong football programs.

Athletics

Football

District Champs: 1985 12-5A, 1988 12-5A, 1994 11-5A, 1998 9-5A, 1999 9-5A, 2000 9-5A

In 1994, Plano East was on the losing end of a wild and memorable regional semi final game against John Tyler High School.

Bowling

The Plano East bowling team began in 2001, winning the state title in 2006 and 2010. In the 2005-06 season, Plano East qualified fourth (behind Allen, Plano Senior and McKinney) during district play to qualify for regionals. At the Region II playoffs, East finished second to Allen and qualified for the state playoffs in Houston, Texas. In Houston, Plano East swept Sachse (2-0), Killeen (2-0), Ellison (2-0) and, finally, defeated the defending champions Garland Lakeview 2-1. This was Plano East's first team state title since its creation in 1979. Members of the team include: Kevin Bresson, Brandon Brown, Ryan Darley, Jonathan Kim, Thomas Dollin, Hunter Hooper, Peter Josephs, Andrew Smith and Kody Woods. Coaches include: Hieu Du and David Smith. Bowling is not an officially recognized sport by the Texas University Interscholastic League. In 2009 the girls team won 2nd in state. In 2010 the Plano East boys varsity bowling team won the state championship for the second time, defeating defending champion San Antonio Madison in San Antonio. Members of the team include Kevin Blake, Tommy Davis, James Dean, Brad Rodda, Tyler Samsell, Adam Smith, and Brandon and Corey Wesley. They have also won the title of the most winning games of all high schools. In 2011, the girls team won the state championship, defeating Katy High School in the final round. The team consisted of Kelsey Potts, Torrey Brown, Kelly McEvoy, Allison Blakley, Sabrynna Gibson, Jac Burchell, Sarah Pillars, and Katie Leslie.

Hockey

Plano East Hockey won the AT&T Silver Division championship in 2006-2007 defeating Plano West 3-1 in the championship. Hockey is also not an officially recognized sport by the Texas University Interscholastic League.

Wrestling

1998-1999 Muhammed Lawal won the 171 weight class state championship. 1999-2000 Lucas McElyea won the 140 weight class state championship. 2004-2005 Andre Taylor won the 112 weight class state championship.[1]

Orienteering

Plano East is home to PISD's only orienteering team. Hosted by the ROTC program, the orienteering team won the North Texas Orienteering Association championship for the competitive year of 2005-2006 as well as the 2006-2007 school year. Members of the team also represented the city of Plano at the National competition both years, in North Carolina and in Maryland where they ranked 4th in the nation on the varsity, and junior varsity level. The Plano East Panther Battalion JROTC Orienteering Team earned a spot at the 2010 United States Interscholastic Orienteering Championships in Batavia, Ohio. The Freshman and Junior Varsity Teams took first place in their respective divisions while the Varsity Team placed 4th overall.

Academics

Plano East Senior High School operates on an 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes seven periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch. Traditionally, students attend from 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., but the school offers a program where students may elect to attend a "Zero Hour" class before 1st period at 8:00 a.m. This allows students the option of taking an additional class or leaving early at 3:19 p.m.

Plano East offers International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Honors, Regular Level, Special Education and Remedial classes. The school offers 6 foreign languages including American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish. There are JROTC programs, English as a Second Language classes, and vocational and career track programs.

Plano East ranked 461st in Newsweek's "America's Best High Schools"^[3]

JROTC Program

Plano East Senior High has a JROTC program that currently holds the Honor Unit with Distinction (HUD). It has held the HUD for more than 17 years. It is currently headed by LTC Bernard Aikens (Ret.) and had MSG Darrell Crews (Ret.) teaching the 9th grade and CSM Michael Franklin (Ret.) teaching the 10th graders. The various extracurricular teams consist of Rifle Team, Orienteering, Drill, Color Guard, Academic Team, and PT (Physical Training) team.

Health Science Education

Plano East offers a CNA and Pharmacy Tech. program.

The Fine Arts and Performing Arts

PESH Building "A" houses its fine arts department.

Band

The Plano East Band consists of four concert bands (The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and Varsity Band), The Plano East Marching Band, and a jazz ensemble.

The Bands are directed by Evelio Villarreal, Director of Bands, Jana Harvey, Associate Director of Bands, and John Brennan, Associate Director of Bands. Under the guidance of the directors, the band is one of the most decorated bands in Texas. In 2000, the band was named the winner of the Dale C. Harris Exemplary Band Program Award by the American School Band Directors Association. This distinction is annually awarded to the top band program in the United States. In addition, the band has 28 consecutive years of Superior Ratings and Sweepstakes Awards in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) for marching, concert and sightreading competitions. In 2006, the Wind Ensemble was named honor band runner up at the State TMEA Honor Band competition.^[4] The Plano East Senior High Marching band has been a finalist in the Duncanville Marching Ivitational six times since 1999, and was named Grand Champions in 2001.

Orchestra

The Plano East Orchestra is also among the top programs in the state.^{[citation needed]} The orchestra under direction of Betsy Thomas was as recently as the 2010-2011 school year, named as the High School String Orchestra Honor Orchestra for the state. The orchestra has received the award of Honor Orchestra from the Texas Music Educators Association 6 times in the last 12 years, more than any other school in Texas. TMEA restrictions allow the school to participate in the honor orchestra contest only every other year after if they win. The PESH orchestra also won a national competition in 2003 and 2005. Starting in the 2008-2009 school year, the orchestra was no longer allowed by the school district to compete in both the state and a national competition.

Choir

The Choir Program consists of two main choirs, Mixed Choir and Women's Chorus and also has two audition-only groups called Sound Invention and Treblemakers. The choirs are under the direction of Daniel Knight and have received many honors over the past few years such as achieving sweepstakes at local UIL competitions and being recognized and performing in prestigious locations on tour in New York. The choirs put on both a fall and a spring show during the academic year, and Sound Invention and Treblemakers also put on their own themed fall and spring shows.

Theater

Plano East offers various theater-related classes. Not only does it provide acting/performance classes, but it also features Technical Theater as well as an elite^{[citation needed]} Theater Major Studies (TMS) program.

Theater students are under the direction of Gavin Mundy. Mundy previously taught at Vines High School and Carpenter Middle School, both Plano ISD schools. Theater veteran Lisa Hale was the former director of the Theater program at Plano East from 1984-2011, and directed over 60 plays.

Students in the theater program are able to take advantage of experts that are brought in for workshops. The theater department also takes advantage of the professionals at neighboring Southern Methodist University, UT Dallas and Collin College.

The theater department produces four major productions each school year. A Theater Major Studies show (one where only students involved in the TMS program are allowed to audition), an open audition show, senior-directed one act plays, and the open audition one act.

Plano East theater competes in the state UIL one act play competition each spring. In 2006, Plano East received the state championship for their production of The Marriage of Bette and Boo. [2]

Recognition

• U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1992-1993 and 1997-98 ^[5]
• Texas State and U.S. National Academic Decathlon Champions^{[citation needed]}
• Redbook magazine Award for the "Best High School in Texas", 1994, 1996^{[citation needed]}
• Texas Education Agency Blue Ribbon School, 1997

Notable alumni

• Lance Armstrong, Tour de France champion
• Jake Arrieta, starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles
• Wes Bankston, first baseman for the Oakland A's
• Justin Blalock, offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons and the 2005 national champion Texas Longhorns
• Shafayet Faraizi, actor, rapper. First Plano East Alumni to perform on Shakespeare's Globe and was featured on Christina Aguilera's 1999 remix of Genie in a Bottle as "TJ Dilenquent."
• TC Fleming, columnist for Quick (newspaper)
• Jimmy King, University of Michigan basketball star and part of the "Fab Five"
• Muhammed Lawal, Oklahoma State University, Mixed Martial Arts fighter, Former Strikeforce LHW Champion
• John Leake, linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons.
• Adrianna Lynn, Adult actress, Pornstar
• Lee Nguyen, 2005 Gatorade High School Soccer Player of the Year and current Randers FC midfielder
• Charlie Peprah, defensive back for the Green Bay Packers
• Amanda Swafford, third place on America's Next Top Model Cycle 3
• Terrence Wheatley, defensive back for the New England Patriots
• Dave Williams, lead singer of Drowning Pool
• David Wiseman, Drummer of Bowling for Soup
• Matt Young, outfielder for the Atlanta Braves

See also

• Plano Senior High School
• Plano West Senior High School
• List of high schools in Texas

Notes

1. ^ "Some Numbers from NEWSWEEK's Best High Schools List - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2006-06-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20060626122114/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12535986/site/newsweek/page/2/. Retrieved 2006-07-10. 
2. ^ "International Baccalaureate: Plano ISD". Plano Independent School District. http://www.pisd.edu/students/ib/index.shtml. Retrieved 2006-07-10. 
3. ^ "America's Best High Schools". Newsweek. 19 June 2011. http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2011/americas-best-high-schools.html. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
4. ^ http://www.tmea.org/060_band/hbresults.html 2006-2007 Honor Band Results
5. ^ Archived: Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)

External links

• http://pisd.edu/schools/secondary/pesh/index.shtml
• http://k-12.pisd.edu/wpaw/