Sammamish High School

Infobox_School | name=Sammamish High School


imagesize=150px
established=1959
type=Public High School
principal=Thomas C. Duenwald
enrollment=1030 (October 2007)
faculty =116 (November 2006)
assistant principals=Michelle Renee
Jose Rodriguez
free_label=Nickname
free_text=Totems
mascot=Thunderbird
colors=Red, Black, & White color box|red color box|black color box|white
location=100 140th Ave. SE Bellevue
flagicon|Washington|size=20px Washington
flagicon|USA|size=20px USA
website= [http://curriculum.bsd405.org/sites/schools/Sammamish/default.aspx Sammamish High School Home Page] [http://www.bsd405.org/default.aspx?tabid=131 District Home Page for Sammamish] [http://sammamishtotems.org/ Sammamishtotems.org]
information=[phone]

Sammamish High School is one of four regular 9-12 grade schools in Bellevue School District (Bellevue, WA). The school is known as the Totems, and the mascot is the Thunderbird. Its colors are red, black, and white. The current principal is Tom Duenwald, with Michelle Renee and Jose Rodriguez serving as Assistant Principals. Previous principals Laura Bang-Knudsen departed in 2008 and as of that time is the principal of Spiritridge Elementary and Spencer Welch departed after the 2005-06 school year to become Director of Human Resources for the school district.

Sammamish generally serves students from the east zone of the district, but students from outside its attendance area can enroll at the school through its open enrollment policy. Sammamish High's feeder elementary schools are Cherry Crest, Stevenson, Lake Hills, Phantom Lake, and Spiritridge. Its feeder middle schools are Odle and Tillicum.

Demographics

In the 2007-2008 school year, the total student enrollment was 1030. The racial demographics are: 4% black, 19% Asian, 12% Hispanic, 5% multiracial and 60% white. 33% of students speak another first language besides English. 27% qualify for free or reduced lunches.cite web |url=http://www.bsd405.org/portals/0/aboutBSD/0708demographics_oct07.pdf |title=2007-08 Demographics At A Glance |accessdate=2008-02-08 |format=html |work=bsd405.org ]

Academics

Sammamish is well known for its magnet programs (Sammamish Visual and Performing Arts Center), solid and challenging Advanced Placement classes, strong career and technical programs. Sammamish was named the Washington state recipient of 2006-07 Siemens Awards of Advanced Placement. [http://www.siemens-foundation.org/documents/2006_07%20AP%20Award%20Winners.pdf] This award recognizes the excellence of Sammamish's Advanced Placement instructions and student performances. [http://www.siemens-foundation.org/documents/SAAPRelease2007.pdf]

Under the decision of Program Delivery Council on Dec. 13, 2006, Sammamish switched to a modified 7-period schedule starting 2007-08 school year from the previous block schedule. Then-principal Bang-Knudsen and PDC Facilitator George Westergaard cited two main reasons to switch back to a regular schedule.

Advanced Placement

Sammamish offers Advanced Placement classes. From 2002 through 2006, Sammamish students' scores have counted for over 50% of all the passing exams in AP Calculus BC for the entire state. [cite news |first=|last=|title=Sammamish Senior High |url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/schoolguide/profile.php?results=&building_id=3282&search= |work=seattletimes.com |publisher=The Seattle Times |date=2006-08-26 |accessdate=2008-02-07 ]

Sammamish was ranked as #168 in 2008, #108 in 2007, #193 in 2006, #225 in 2005, and #141 in 2003America's Top Public High Schools [http://www.newsweek.com/highschools/?s=sammamish] ] out of all the high schools in United States by Newsweek Magazine. The ranking is based on the number of Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate tests taken divided by number of graduating seniors. All five high schoolsBellevue High School (Washington), Newport High School, and Interlake High School, International School] in the district are consistently ranked as the top five high schools in the Washington state since the inception of the Newsweek ranking. The validity of these rankings is disputed for various reasons, such as that Sammamish's lack of an IB program deflates its rating as compared to its neighbor Interlake High School [http://www.educationsector.org/analysis/analysis_show.htm?doc_id=358299 Education Sector: Analysis and Perspectives: Challenged Index ] ] .

Athletics

. 22 sports are played over the course of three seasons at Sammamish, with Cheer and Drill active year-round. Past statistics can be found at the WIAA website. [http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/SSS/ WIAA Schedules ] ]

Activities

's Vocal Jazz Invitational with its award-winning vocal jazz ensemble "Celebration!". In February of 2007, Sammamish won 1st Runner-up in the most competitive Multi-Mic Division at Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. [ [http://www.today.uidaho.edu/details.aspx?id=3758 Today@Idaho - News Article ] ]

Notable Alumni

*Rob McKenna, Washington State Attorney General
*Ann Wilson, co-founder of Heartcitation | last = Peterson | first = Matt | title = Spotlight: Sammamish High School | newspaper=The Seattle Times | year=2002 |date = September 17, 2002 | url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020917&slug=school17e]
*Nancy Wilson, co-founder of Heart
*Kevin Seal, MTV VJ
*Gregg Olsen, true crime author
*Scott Vanderpool, KZOK 102.5 Disc Jockey
*Chris Boyd, Comcast Sports Broadcaster
*Megan Hilty, actress "Wicked"
*Tri Pham, participant "The Pick-up Artist (TV series)"
*Andrew Eicher, finalist at Jr. Olympics in weightlifting 2005
*Kenneth Stein, Hollywood film script producer

Notes & References

External links

* [http://www.bsd405.org/ Bellevue School District]
* [http://www.bsd405.org/shs/ Sammamish High School]
* [http://curriculum.bsd405.org/Document%20Library/BSD%20HS%20Catalog%2007-08.pdf/ Course Catalog 2007-08]
* [http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?schoolId=1348&OrgType=4&reportLevel=School/ School Report Card]
* [http://www.wiaa.com/ Washington Interscholastic Activities Association]
* [http://www.bsd405.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1246 BSD AP&IB Tests 2005-06]
* [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/schoolguide/profile.php?results=search&building_id=3282&search=school_name&school_name=Sammamish/ Seattle Times School Profile]
* [http://www.sammamishtotems.org/documents/Principle%20transition%201-29-08.pdf Letter: Principle transition 1-29-08]