Plano East Senior High School

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Plano East Senior High School
Motto Winning With Class
Established 1979
School type Public
Grade levels 11th and 12th
Principal Karen McDonald
Location

tyle="padding-right: 1em;" | 2,618
Faculty 239
Mascot Panther
Colors Gold and Black
Homepage http://k-12.pisd.edu/schools/planoeast/

Plano East Senior High School (commonly East, Plano East, or PESH) is a secondary school serving high school juniors and seniors located in Plano, Texas. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District. Plano East is the only senior high school in Plano ISD to offer an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. [1] Plano East's graduating classes are among the largest for high schools in the United States. Plano East's Class of 2005, with 1220 graduates, was the largest high school graduating class in the U.S. that year. [2] The school colors are black and gold, and the school mascot is the Panther. Plano East has been awarded the U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, Best High School in Texas designation by Redbook magazine, Texas Education Agency Blue Ribbon School, and State and National Academic Decathlon Championships.

Contents

[edit] History

To meet the demand of the growing population in Plano, Plano East Senior High School opened in 1979 as the second Senior High School in the city. The school opened with 3 academic buildings connected by second floor walkways, a fine arts building, and a gymnasium. Later a addition to the athletics complex was added as a result of Title IX laws which require equal space for male and female athletics. In 2002, a new student activity center was constructed for indoor athletic practice. The school has a fierce rivalry with the oldest High School in Plano, Plano Senior High School.

[edit] Athletics

The school's football team won an ESPY award in 1995 for showstopper of the year: High school football: Incredible comeback/letdown, Plano East vs. Tyler [1] [2]

[edit] Academics

Plano East Senior High School operates on an 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes eight periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch. Traditionally, students attend from 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., but the school offers a program where students may elect to attend a "Zero Hour" class before 1st period at 8:00 a.m. This allows students the option of taking an additional class or leaving early at 3:19 p.m.

Plano East offers International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Honors, Regular Level, Special Education and Remedial classes. The school offers 6 foreign languages including American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish. There are ROTC programs, English as a Second Language classes, as well as vocational and career track programs.

[edit] The Fine Arts and Performing Arts

[edit] Band

The Plano East Band consists of three concert bands (The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band), The Marching Panthers marching band, and a jazz ensemble.

The Bands are directed by Evelio Villarreal, Director of Bands, Jana Harvey, Associate Director of Bands, and John Brennan, Associate Director of Bands. Under the guidance of the directors, the band has become one of the most decorated bands in Texas. In 2000, the band was named the winner of the Dale C. Harris Exemplary Band Program Award by the American School Band Directors Association. This distinction is annually awarded to the top band program in the United States. In addition the band has 25 consecutive years of Superior Ratings and Sweepstakes Awards in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) for marching, concert and sightreading competetions. In 2006 the wind ensemble was named the first runner-up at the State UIL Honor Band competition.

[edit] Orchestra

The Plano East Orchestra is also among the top programs in the state. The orchestra under direction of Betsy Thomas was as recently as the 2002-2003 school year, named as the High School String Orchestra Honor Orchestra for the state. The orchestra also received the award for the best orchestra in the state from the Texas Music Educators Association in 2000-2001 school year. TMEA restrictions allow the school to participate in the honor orchestra contest only every other year.

[edit] Theatre

Plano East offers various theatre-related classes. Not only does Plano East provide acting/performance classes, but also tech theatre and theatre major studies. (TMS)

Students are under the direction of theatre veteran Lisa Hale. Lisa Hale has been the theatre director at Plano East since 1984 and has directed over 60 plays. She has a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and a masters from the University of North Texas.

Students in the theatre program are able to take advantage of experts that are brought in for workshops. In the past, students have learned about Kabuki, Laban, Sanskrit, Chinese Opera, stage combat, theatre dance, acting for the camera and auditioning techniques. The theatre department also takes adavantage of the professionals at neighboring Southern Methodist University, UT Dallas and Collin County Community College.

The theatre department produces four major productions each school year. A theatre major studies show (one where only students involved in the TMS program are allowed to audition), an open audition show, senior-directed one act plays, and the open audition one act.

Plano East theatre competes in the state UIL one act play competition each spring. In 2006, Plano East received the state championship for their production of The Marraige of Bette and Boo. [3] The theatre department operates its own website which can be found here.

[edit] Recognition

[edit] Notable persons

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Notable staff

[edit] Feeder Schools

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ International Baccalaureate: Plano ISD. Plano Independent School District. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  2. ^ Some Numbers from NEWSWEEK's Best High Schools List - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com. Newsweek. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.

[edit] External links

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