Fairview High School (Boulder)
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Fairview High School is one of three public high schools in Boulder, Colorado. Its interior is unique: only one room in the whole school contains four right angles. Mostly windowless, the rooms are all fragments of hexagons. The entire school sits on a slant, so halls are on levels, with stairs in between. In the center of the school, a student center holds all the lockers of the underclassmen and juniors, with a balcony overlooking it for the seniors. The academic halls branll as the foothills and flatirons. On clear days, one can see all the way to Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.
About 2,000 students attend Fairview, putting it in the 5A class for Colorado sports. Fairview is well known for its successful academic programs., and is locally famous. Fairview has a total of seven choirs that are directed by Ron Revier, Jim Keller and Janice Vlachos. They include Voices of the Knight (the freshmen choir), Broadway (the show choir), Enchantment (the advanced women's choir), Festival (the senior choir), Madrigals (an extracurricular choir made up mostly of juniors), and Excalibur (the senior jazz choir) Including Fairview's instrumental music program focuses onorchestra and jazz. With four jazz bands and nine smaller jazz combos under the direction of Dr. Steve Christopher, Fairview sports the biggest jazz education program in Colorado. Most, if not all of the jazz bands receive superior ratings at regional jazz festivals. Fairview also has a concert and marching band. The Fairview Marching Knights, under the direction of Travis Keller, placed fourth at the Colorado Bandmasters Association state finals in October of 2006. Fairview's theater program produces a musical in the fall, and a play in the spring. During Februrary, students put on a production called "Cupid's Comedy Caberet", a collection of student written and directed comedy skits. In March, all three departments come together to put on the Pops Festival, a non-stop show of music and dance. All music is performed live, with no taped accompaniments. Alumni come back to Fairview for years to see Pops and other concerts. And finally, Fairview is also home to one of the most prestigious orchestras in the state of Colorado. The Fairview Classic Knights Orchestra has been asked time and time again to perform at the Colorado Music Eduactors Association gathering in Colorado Springs. This has ranked them as one of the best orchestras in the state. Each year, the Classic Knights Orchestra sends at least 8 students to the Western States Honor Orchestra and Colorado All-State Orchestra. Fairview's excellent theatre program, coupled with its renowned orchestra, marching band, jazz bands, and choirs, gives Fairview one of the most impressive fine and performing art programs in Colorado.
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[edit] International Baccalaureate Program
Fairview is one of many schools in the United States to offer the International Baccalaureate diploma program. The program requires no application to attend, and is composed of two years of an internationally standardized curriculum. These classes are usually taught during a student's junior and senior years. In addition to the rigorous coursework, a participant must also write a lengthy Extended Essay (EE) and participate in 150 CAS hours within the community before the full IB Diploma is rewarded. Because of the rigorous nature of the program, Fairview also offers a Pre-IB program composed of two years of preparatory honors classes. These are taken during a student's freshman and sophomore years. This is not a requirement for the IB Diploma, but is often recommended. The IB class of 2005 had 46 recipients of the diploma. IB is now headed by the Mr. Bessett formerly of the History Department!
[edit] Athletics
Fairview has had great success with its athletic programs, boasting multiple state championships in cross country and swimming, as well as reaching state tournaments in Football and Basketball.
[edit] School Theme
Fairview's mascot is the knight and its school colors are red and white. The lobby, at the South end of the school, contains a knight's armor on display. The entire school follows the "medieval" theme, occasionally referring to the school as "The Castle" (although it is rumored that it was designed by a prison architect, due to the lack of windows). The gym is called the dungeon, and the cafeteria the "Round Table Café." The well-known choir program, headed by Ron Revier and Jim Keller, continues this theme with choirs named: Voices of the Knight, Enchantment, Madrigals, Court of Charlemagnes, Chivalry, Festival, and Excalibur. Dance themes at Fairview always include the word knight (for example, "A Knight In Las Vegas"). The school's yearbook is called "The Lance" and the newspaper "The Royal Banner".
Fairview's theme song goes "Fight on, you knights, for victory / Fight on, you knights, for fame / The red and the white will never say die 'cause spirit always wins the game! / Shout a cheer for old Fairview High / Let the world know why (Why?) / We're proud of our school and praise it high, so fight! fight! fight fight fight!"
[edit] Students
Former American Idol contestant Ace Young graduated in the class of 1999. He participated in sports and choir. Jesse Crain also graduated in the class of 1999. He played baseball, basketball and football and was named 1999 All-State and Colorado High School Player of the Year. Former Major League Baseball player Jay Howell graduated from Fairview High in the 1970s. Actress Sheryl Lee was born in Germany but grew up in Boulder, went on to appear as the dead Laura Palmer in the television show Twin Peaks. Although Jessica Biel never actually went to Fairview because she was privately taught, she went to a middle school that feeds into Fairview and made visits often and lived in the area. Former NBA player Tom Chambers played at Fairview in the 70's. Former NFL All-Pro offensive lineman Tony Boselli graduated in the early 90s. Reality television star Preston Mercer from For Love or Money graduated in the late 90s.
neighboring middle school, Southern Hills. About 900 students, or roughly half the student body was absent the next day. Nothing happened after the threat was issued, but security has been noiticably tightened at Fairview and Southern Hills. Eventhough there is a high loser to student ratio, Fairview is still a popular choice over it's rival Boulder High.
[edit] External links
Eventhough there is a high loser to student ratio, many people believe that Fairview is still a better choice over Boulders High.
