Oshkosh West High School

For schools of a similar name, see West High School (disambiguation).

Oshkosh West High School
Location
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Information
Type	Public secondary
Oversight	Oshkosh Area School District
Principal	Ann Schultz
Grades	9–12
Number of students	1,932 [as of 2009]
Color(s)	Royal blue and white
Mascot	Wildcat
Newspaper	Index
Website	Oshkosh West High School

Oshkosh West High School is a public high school in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and part of the Oshkosh Area School District. As of 2009, the school had 1,934 students in grades 9 through 12, in a building consisting of 51 rooms. Originally known as Oshkosh High School when it began in 1869, its name was changed when Oshkosh North High School opened in 1972.^[1][2]

Restructuring

In 2003, Oshkosh West High School restructured its classes to create "Smaller Learning Communities" (SLC), where students learn within a smaller set of the school population. In achieving SLC, West phased in "freshman core teams", where freshman students are assigned to classes within groups so that all the students in a core team have the same teachers for their core subjects. The core system has cut the freshman failure rate (the percentage of students who fail at least one class) from 28% to 14%.^{[citation needed]} How core teams will be implemented in the upper classes is not known.^{[citation needed]}

Extracurricular activities

In the 2008–2009 school year, Oshkosh West had 38 student clubs and 22 sports,^[3] 11 for males and 11 for females, all participating in the Fox Valley Association.

Miscellaneous

• The school mascot is the Wildcat, as depicted in the school logo, in which a feline paw slashes through the capital letter "W". The school song is "On Wisconsin".

• Prior to 2000, the school mascot was the Indian. However, because of controversy about Native American mascots, OWHS changed its mascot to the Wildcat, which was selected in a student vote.

• Oshkosh West Boys Basketball Team was the 2006 and 2007 undefeated state basketball champions.

• Former West basketball coach Stephen Randall was featured in a Sports Illustrated article honoring his son for filling his empty shoes.

• The Oshkosh West Band program is among the largest in the state of Wisconsin with over three hundred members.

References

1. ^ Oshkosh Firsts & Facts: Oshkosh (West) High School - Oshkosh Public Library.
2. ^ Oshkosh Firsts & Facts: Oshkosh High School - Oshkosh Public Library.
3. ^ Oshkosh West High School website

External links

• Oshkosh Area School District School website