Wayzata High School
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| Wayzata High School | |
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| Established | 1903 |
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| School type | Public |
| Principal | Dr. Craig Paul |
| Location | Plymouth, Minnesota, United States of America |
| Students | 3,237 (06-07) |
| Mascot | Trojans |
| Colors | Royal Blue and Gold |
| Website | www.wayzata.k12.mn.us/whs |
Wayzata High School is a high school in Plymouth, Minnesota, a first tier suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The high school, operated by the Wayzata School District, has about 3,200 students, from grades 9 to 12. The current principal as of 2007 is Dr. Craig Paul. Despite being named Wayzata high school after the city of Wayzata, Wayzata high is not located there and only named so because of the school district.
Wayzata High School is one of the largest public high schools in Minnesota and also one of the largest in the country. Its interior measures 487,000 square feet and cost $58 million to build.[1] Construction was completed in August 1997.
Wayzata High School is part of the Classic Lake Conference, an athletic conference that also includes Minnetonka High School, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School, Edina High School, and Hopkins High School, and formerly St. Louis Park High School and Robbinsdale Cooper High School before they changed to the North Suburban due to a lower enrollment than other conference schools.
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[edit] Academics
Classes are run on a block schedule of four periods of approximately 86 minutes each, starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 2:20 p.m. The majority of students have the same four classes every day during a semester, though many may have some changes between terms due to one-term courses or three-term courses. Some exceptions to this are students in some band, orchestra, and choir classes, who alternate one class with their respective music class every other day.
Wayzata High School offers a large number of Advanced Placement classes. In 2005, twenty-five AP classes were offered, which is the most out of any school, public or private, in Minnesota. An advantage to using the block schedule is the ability to take essay tests in class that are composed of questions from past Advanced Placement exams, giving a feel for what the actual tests will be like.
Wayzata is highly competitive academically. The average grade during the first semester of the 2005-2006 school year was an A-. Due to this highly completive atmosphere and grade inflation, class rank was dropped in the 05-06 school year. Students with B+ averages were in the bottom half of their class.
[edit] Extra-curricular Activities
Academic extra-curricular activities of notable mention include Debate (Policy), Math Team, DECA, BPA, Knowledge Masters Open, and Quiz Bowl. All of these teams have high rankings in state leagues. The Wayzata Math Team won championships in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League in 1996, 2003, 2004, and 2005 and was runner-up in 1999 and 2007. In 2006, the Wayzata Math Team placed third in state. It has also won the conference for the past 16 years. Also, in 2007, the Wayzata Debate Team won the Varsity, JV, and Novice State Debate Tournaments.
[edit] Athletics
In 2005, the Wayzata Trojans won their first ever state football title 28-24 over Cretin-Derham Hall High School[2]. The team reached the title game the year before in 2004, but lost a close game to Minnetonka, 23-14.
Wayzata is part of the Classic Lake Conference in the Minnesota State High School League.
[edit] State Championships
| State Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Sport | Number of Championships | Year |
| Fall | Football | 1 | 2005 |
| Soccer, Boys | 2 | 85, 05 | |
| Cross Country, Boys | 3 | 92, 93, 00 | |
| Soccer, Girls | 4 | 91, 96, 00, 02 | |
| Winter | Basketball, Boys | 1 | 1959 |
| Wrestling | 3 | 41, 51, 52 | |
| Dance Team J/F | 2 | 05, 06 | |
| Skiing, Nordic Girls | 1 | 1980 | |
| Spring | Golf, Boys | 2 | 94, 98 |
| Tennis, Boys | 2 | 1993, 1999 | |
| Track and Field, Boys | 4 | 77, 80, 84, 95 | |
| Track and Field, Girls | 1 | 1979 | |
| Total | 27 | ||
[edit] Notable alumni
- Marion Barber III, running back for the Dallas Cowboys[3]
- Dick Beardsley, marathon runner, 2nd place in 1982 Boston Marathon
- Shawn Daivari, professional wrestler
- David Gaither, former Minnesota State Senator, and currently Governor Tim Pawlenty's Chief of Staff
- Ben Hamilton, offensive lineman for the Denver Broncos [4]
- Tim Herron, professional golfer
- Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator (DFL) representing Minnesota
- James Laurinaitis, current linebacker for Ohio State[5]
- Benjamin Salisbury, former child actor [6]
- Jim Kieley, Senior Managing Architect, Microsoft Corporation, [7]
- Kimberly Elise, actress (John Q, The Manchurian Candidate)
- Danny Kent, Founder of Tech Brigade
- Bob Kruschev, Former child actor
[edit] References
- ^ Wayzata High School Construction, [1]
- ^ Minnesota State High School League, 2005 State Football Tournament
- ^ Marion Barber reference,[2]
- ^ Ben Hamilton reference,[3]
- ^ Player Bio: James Laurinaitis. Ohio State Buckeyes Football. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
- ^ Benjamin Salisbury,[4]
- ^ Microsoft, [5]
