- Mount Rainier High School
-
Mount Rainier High School Address 22450 19th Avenue South
Des Moines, Washington, 98198
United StatesCoordinates 47°24′00″N 122°18′28″W / 47.400125°N 122.307916°WCoordinates: 47°24′00″N 122°18′28″W / 47.400125°N 122.307916°W Information Type Public High School Established 1957 Status Active School district Highline Public Schools Superintendent John Welch Principal Julie Hunter Vice principal Derek Powell Vice principal Mike O'Donnell Chief custodian Jack Brady Staff About 90 Teaching staff 71 Grades 9-12 Number of students 1572 Color(s) Columbia Blue , Navy and White Athletics conference Class 4A - SPSL South Mascot Ajax the Ram Nickname Rams Newspaper The Rams Horn Yearbook Tor Website School Website Mount Rainier's 2007 Facility Mount Rainier High School is a secondary school in Des Moines, Washington, United States; named for Mount Rainier which can be seen quite well from the school on a clear day, Mount Rainier serves approximately 1572 students and has been active since 1957.[1] It was created to handle the overflow from nearby Highline High School,[1] the district's first High School located in Burien, Washington. The original, aging facility was replaced with a new building at the same location; it opened in September 2007.
With the 2009/10 academic year came three new administrators: Principal Julie Hunter, Assistant Principal Derek Powell, and Assistant Principal Mike O'Donnell.
Contents
Demographics
Mount Rainier is home to a somewhat ethnically diverse population as the school's number of minorities exceeds Washington state averages. 37.6% of students currently qualify for free or reduced price lunch.[2]
Ethnicity White Asian/Pacific Islander Black Hispanic American Indian or Alaskan Native Other/Refused to Answer Mount Rainier 51.5% 18.2% 13.7% 15.1% 1.6% 0% Washington State Average[3] 65% 9% 5% 15% 3% 3% Academics
Mount Rainier is an IB World School and since July 1987 has offered an International Baccalaureate program.[4] The IB coordinator is currently Mr. Christopher Wilder.
Athletics
Mount Rainier has been recently successful in boys' basketball, boys and girls soccer, girls volleyball, tennis, baseball, drill team, boys wrestling,boys swimming and girls basketball.[5]
The boys' swim team has won 6 state AAA titles since 1991, most recently with three straight from 2003-05. They were runners up in 1992 and 2009.[6]
The drill team has won six 1st place state championship titles, consecutively in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2011 being undefeated during the 2005 season.[7]
The boys' soccer team won 3 straight AAA titles from 1987–89 and again in 1991, winning 13 straight games in that stretch. Most recently the team finished second in 2004, and made the state tournament 5 straight years, 2001-05. The 2009 boys soccer team had great success going undefeated to win the Seamount league title and only allowed 2 goals for the entirety of the season and their stretch into the 3A state tournament. The girls' team finished second in 1984 and 1999. The team made the state tournament seven of eight years from 1997-2004.[6]
The baseball team made the state AAA tournament four out of the five years, from 2003-2009.
The softball team finished 4th in the state in 2004.[6]
In addition, its track and field team has excelled in the past, winning eight straight North Puget Sound League boys' championships in the 1970s and a state AAA championship in 1972 under coach Jim Kennett, and led by record-setting high jumper Lee Braach. There have been several recent individual champions in the distance events, notably Ryan Prentice, who went on to Oklahoma State University.[8]
The co-ed tennis team dominated the Seamount League in the 1980s and 1990s, winning 83 straight matches[9] and one state title in boys' tennis. In 1995, Mt. Rainier girls finished first and second in state, with Courtney Perkins defeating Lara Botts in the State Championship.[10] Top tennis player Lynn Johnson graduated in 1992 with a full ride scholarship to play on the offensive line for the Washington Huskies football team.[11]
The boys' basketball team finished third in the state AAA championship in 1971, losing to Pasco in a record quadruple overtime semi-final. The team has regained a measure of success, returning to the state tourney in 2004, 2006, 2007, and finishing 4th in 2008.[6]
The volleyball team made the state tournament four times from 1997 to 2002.[6]
The football team made the state AAA championship in 1990, losing to Tumwater. The program has had very limited success since 2005, and from 2006-2008 won fewer than 3 games per season. But when Chris paulson took over as head coach for the 2008-09 season they made it to the playoffs eventually losing to Eastside Catholic.
The girls basketball team made it to state last school year (2011), finishing 5th place.
The wrestling team has been dominant in the Seamount League from 2004 to 2010, placing first in the league every year.[6]
New facility
Highline Public Schools' "Capital Facilities Improvement Bond" which passed in March 2002 included allocation of funds to rebuild the aging Mount Rainier.[12] The old building complex was demolished in the summer of 2005, with new construction appearing in the late fall of 2005. The project was completed in time for the beginning of the 2007-08 school year on September 5, 2007. The Port of Seattle, operators of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, near the school, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the State of Washington provided funding for noise insulation, generally regarded as a virtual necessity[13] for an efficient learning environment so near to a major airport. During the construction students attended classes at the Highline Public Schools owned Olympic site in the North Hill neighborhood of Des Moines. This arrangement was concluded in June 2007, and the new facility opened with the beginning of the 2007/2008 academic year.
Notable alumni
- Rusty Humphries - Nationally syndicated radio talk show host (1983)
- Mark Andrew Smith - Graphic Novelist (1993)
- Scott Peterson - Author, Me Against My Brother; Writer for Christian Science Monitor (1984)
- Kevin "Al" Pelton - Author, Pro Basketball Prospectus 2009-2010;[14] Writer for Basketballprospectus.com (2000)
- Alex Burg-Minor League Baseball player in the San Francisco Giants Organization. (2005)
References
- ^ a b c http://hsd401.org/pdf/2007%20HPS%20PR.pdf
- ^ http://www.hsd401.org/ourschools/highschools/mtrainier/pdf/MRHS_pr'09.pdf
- ^ Source: WA OSPI, 2008-2009
- ^ IB Organization. Retrieved 2010-10-20
- ^ http://www.wiaa.com/history/school.aspx , http://www.wiaa.com/history/champs.aspx
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=473
- ^ http://www.wiaa.com/subcontent.aspx?SecID=325
- ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2003982445_ringer30.html
- ^ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940413&slug=1905262
- ^ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950530&slug=2123756
- ^ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920119&slug=1470972
- ^ Highline Public Schools: Completed Projects
- ^ Construction Projects: Mount Rainier High School
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/1449546854
External links
High schools Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment · Arts & Academics Academy · Aviation High School · Global Connections High School · Health Science & Human Services High School · Highline Big Picture · Highline High School · Mount Rainier High School · Odyssey – The Essential School · Technology, Engineering, & Communications SchoolMiddle schools Cascade Middle School · Chinook Middle School · Pacific Middle School · Sylvester Middle SchoolElementary schools Beverly Park Elementary · Bow Lake Elementary · Cedarhurst Elementary · Des Moines Elementary · Gregory Heights Elementary · Hazel Valley Elementary · Hilltop Elementary · Madrona Elementary · Marvista Elementary · McMicken Heights Elementary · Midway Elementary · Mount View Elementary · North Hill Elementary · Parkside Elementary · Seahurst Elementary · Shorewood Elementary · Southern Heights Elementary · White Center Heights ElementaryEvergreen Campus · Puget Sound Skills Center · Tyee Educational Complex A, B, Independent Classifications 1A Conferences Nisqually: Cascade Christian Cougars
Cedar Park Christian (FOOTBALL ONLY) • Charles Wright • Chimacum • Life Christian • Orting Cardinals • Port Townsend Redskins (FOOTBALL ONLY) • Seattle Christian • Vashon Island Pirates1B Conferences North Olympic: Clallam Bay • Crescent • Neah BayIndependent Categories:- Highline School District
- High schools in King County, Washington
- International Baccalaureate schools in Washington (state)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.