Braxton County High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Braxton County High School (BCHS) is a high school located in Sutton, West Virginia, United States. However visitors might not realize that its address is officially Sutton, since it is directly off the Flatwoods exit on I-79. The school offers grades 9-12, and serves all of Braxton County.
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[edit] School History/Enhancements
BCHS has undergone many changes in its long history. It was first founded as a replacement for a number of smaller high schools in the county. It consisted then of three 'wings' known as A, B, and C. A wing was the academic wing, two stories tall, and hosted all the classrooms for academic classes such as Chemistry, Math, & English. B wing was the vocational wing, also two stories, and hosted various vocational skill classes, such as Typing, Cooking, & Welding. C wing was the gymnasium, also two stories tall to contain a higher level of bleachers, including a training area behind that second level.
All of these wings were connected only by a ground floor central area, that included the main offices, cafeteria, library, band room, and drama room. In the summer of 1991 a wooden covered bridge was built that connected the 2nd floors of A and B wing to help students transition from classes quicker.
In the 90's, the open area where the bridge had previously been built, was closed in to create more classrooms and to fully connect A & B wings.
In the Summer of 2006 the entire front area of the school was expanded, filling in the previous 'open walkway' up to the school entrance, and closing the gap between the B wing, and the Gymnasium. Students are now retained within the school and visitors often have to be buzzed in my the wonderful secretary, Nancy. A ribbon cutting ceremony for these changes was held on August 15, 2006. [1]
[edit] School Grounds
The school grounds include a large parking lot, and large amounts of open hillside on 3 sides as it sits on top of a hill. There is a road that runs along the edge of the hill, circling the school.
There is a football field with various athletic buildings nearby. Also in the late 90's a new Braxton County Middle School was created on the other side of the parking lot, placing both these schools within walking distance of each other. This new middle school replaced 4 other middle schools that had previously existed, therefore making only 1 high school and 1 middle school in the county.
Also in the late 90's a covered walkway was built going down the hill from the high school towards the main road. This allows students easy access to the few fast food restaurants that exist in that area.
It should also be noted that the county's State Police office is on the same hillside as the school, and shares the same driveway. Driver's tests are conducted often using the school's drivers education vehicles, and in the school's parking lot. There are often two orange barrels left on one edge of the parking lot for parallel parking tests.
[edit] Mascot and colors
The school's mascot is the Eagle and the school colors are green and gold (Although traditionally the gold is always displayed as a dark yellow).
[edit] Statistics
As of the 2006-2007 school year [2] [3] : (although these statistics are very typical and have not varied much)
- 737 students are in attendance
- 9th & 10th grades have class sizes around 200
- 11th & 12th grades have class sizes around 160
- This is due to having an approximately 20% dropout rate when students turn 16.
- The students are 99% White (Non-Hispanic).
- The student-teacher ratio ranges from 1:14 to 1:15
- Up to 45% of students are from low-income homes, and eligible for Free or Reduced lunches.
[edit] Interesting Facts
- Home of "THE BENCH PRESERVATION SOCIETY"
- The school does have a mascot costume, but it generally goes unused.
- The School is known for its successful Speech Team, that generally places high in the various speech team competitions.
- It is ranked a AA team in sports, and participates in Golf, Football, Basketball, Women's Basketball, Baseball, Women's Softball, Track and Wrestling. It previosuly had a successful Cross Country team(in 2003 it was ranked 3rd in the state at the "AA" level) but it was disbanded due to lack of interest in the student body.
- It doesn't offer a special 'GPA Ranking System' for advanced/honors/AP classes. Therefore it often has multiple people tying for valedictorian and salutatorian. For example in the 1992 graduating class, there were 6 valedictorians with straight A averages, and 2 salutatorians who had both received straight A's with one B.
