Mill Valley High School

Mill Valley High School
Address
5900 Monticello Road Shawnee, Kansas, 66226 United States
Information
School type	Public high school
Established	2000
School district	Unified School District 232
Principal	Tobie Waldeck
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1500
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Blue and Silver
Mascot	Jaguar
Rival	Bonner Springs High School
Newspaper	The JagWire
Yearbook	The JAG
Website	School Website

Mill Valley High School is a high school located in Shawnee, Kansas, and is part of the De Soto School District (USD 232). The school began classes in 2000-2001. As of the 2008-2009 school year, its attendance was roughly 1050 and growing. The school is much smaller than nearby Shawnee Mission Northwest High School and Olathe Northwest High School, due to De Soto's original intent to keep class sizes small. However, due to ongoing increases in attendance, the school district unsuccessfully proposed two bond issues and finally passed one on Nov. 4th, 2008. Construction on Mill Valley began in February, 2009, and is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year with a final capacity of 1450 students. The construction was finished in the summer of 2010. This is the second expansion of the school building, and follows a prior extension of the "A" hallway including the construction of a dedicated art wing.

Mill Valley is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 5A division and are known as the "Jaguars". Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

History

Extracurricular activities

Academics

Quiz Bowl

The Quiz Bowl Team has competed at the state level numerous times, including 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, and also participated in the U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C. in 2007 and 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Robotics

The Jaguar Robotics Team, founded during the 2005-2006 school year, held the Midwest FIRST Robotics Competition Winner title in 2006 and won the St. Louis Xerox Creativity Award in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Science Olympiad

The Science Olympiad team, also founded during the 2005-2006 school year, competed at the state level in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Athletics

The Jaguars are classified as a 5A school, the second-largest classification in Kansas according to the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Throughout its history, Mill Valley has not won a single state championship, although the 2006 varsity boys' soccer team placed 3rd in the 5A State Championship. Additionally, the softball team placed runner-up in the 4A State Championship in 2001.^{[citation needed]} The other sports that Mill Valley Has to offer are the following: Baseball, Boys Basketball, Boys Golf, Boys Soccer, Boys Tennis, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Football, Girls Basketball, Girls Golf, Girls Soccer, Girls Tennis, Silver Stars Dance Team, Softball, Track & Field, Volleyball, and Wrestling.^{[citation needed]}

Publications

Both of Mill Valley's publications, the 2006 JAG yearbook and the JagWire newspaper, won second place at the National High School Journalism convention, for best of show.^{[citation needed]} At the 2009 National High School Journalism Convention in Washington, D.C., the 2009 JAG ("Words") received the "Best of Show" award, and the JagWire received tenth place in said category for News magazine. The 2009 JAG is a recipient of the National Pacemaker Award, widely considered to be the "Pulitzer Prize of student journalism."^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Mill Valley High School website
• De Soto USD232 2008 Bond Issue