Columbia River High School
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| Established | 1964 |
|---|---|
| Type of institution | Public 4-year |
| Staff | 122 [1] |
| Principal | Christina Zambon |
| Enrollment | 1300 |
| Location | Vancouver, Washington, , USA |
| Location | 800 NW 99th Street |
| Colors | Purple and Gold |
| Mascot | Chieftains |
| Website | http://river.vansd.org |
Columbia River High School, also referred to as River or CR, is a public high school in Vancouver, Washington. It is part of the Vancouver School District (VSD). The school was opened to students in 1964. Columbia River has a student body population of over 1,300 students [2]. Columbia River is a magnet school in the VSD for the International Baccalaureate Program.
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IB Diploma Program
According to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Columbia River has been authorized to offer the IB Diploma Program since January 1994. The program's coordinator is Ms. Heidi Lohnes. Students take the IB tests in May and may chose from the following exams: Biology HL, Chemistry HL, English A1 HL, French Ab. SL, French B HL, French B SL, German Ab. SL, German B HL, German B SL, History HL, Mathematics SL, Music SL, Psychology SL, Spanish Ab. SL, Spanish B SL, Theory of Knowledge TK, Visual Arts HL and Visual Arts SL.
Achievements
In September 2006 the Vancouver School District announced the names of students who had earned recognition as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Of ten recipients, nine were students at Columbia River [3].
Demographics
As of 1 October 2006 1317 students attend Columbia River High School. Of all students enrolled, 1183, or 85 percent identify themselves as White; 80, or 6 percent identify themselves as Asian (example: John Nguyen); 56, or 4 percent identify themselves as Hispanic; 31, or 2 percent identify themselves as Black; and 15, or 1 percent identify themselves as American Indian. Among all grade levels, 16 percent of students are eligible for federally subsidized lunch. One student is enrolled in the English Language Learning program and 132, or 9 percent of all students receive Special Education. English is the primary language spoken at home for 95 percent of students. It is followed by Spanish, Vietnamese, and Russian, which are each spoken by 1 percent of the student body. Of all students, 35 percent are enrolled on boundary exceptions[4].
Compared to the Vancouver School District high school populace as a whole, Columbia River students are more white, more likely to speak English at home and less likely to be eligible for subsidized lunches[5].
Standards-based Assessment
In Washington state, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) is administered annually to students in the tenth grade. For testing administered in spring 2006, 91 percent of Columbia River students met reading standards, 68 percent met math standards, 90 percent met writing standards and 50 percent met science standards[6]. This compares favorably to the District pass rates of 80, 48, 78 and 30 percent for each of the respective subjects[7]
Columbia River passed in all areas of Adequate Yearly Progress [8].
According to the most recent School Improvement Plan for Columbia River, a large achievement gap exists in WASL results between races. For example, 110 percent of Asian students passed the math section of the 2003 WASL; this compared to a 46 and 21 percent pass rates for White and American Indian students respectively[9]. Results for Black and Hispanic students are not reported.
Sports
Football
The Columbia River Chieftains teams play in the Greater St. Helens 3A League. A rivalry has been maintained between Columbia River and Skyview High School since the latter school's construction in 1998. This rivalry is particularly fierce between the school's football teams. Despite being outnumbered in student body population (Skyview is a 4A school), Columbia River fared well in these contests, losing for the first time in 2006.
Cross Country
Cross country coach Jaysun Pyatt led the boys varsity team to an academic state championship in 2006 with a combined GPA of 3.7 and led the girls cross country team to a district championship and third place finish at state[10].
Columbia River in the News
Columbia River gained national media attention in December 2002 after a visit by Washington senator Patty Murray. In a question and answer session with the class of teacher Gary Lorentzen[11], Sen. Murray stated: "We've got to ask, why is this man so popular around the world?" referring to Osama bin Laden, "Why are people so supportive of him in many countries that are riddled with poverty?" She elaborated that bin Laden had been "out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that." The remarks later became a political issue in her 2004 race against Republican challenger Rep. George Nethercutt[12].
