Clackamas High School

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Clackamas High School
Location
14486 S. E. 122nd Ave.
Clackamas, OR
Information
School district North Clackamas School District
Principal Jan Miner
Enrollment

2026
Faculty 159
Type Public
Grades 9-12
Mascot Cavaliers
Color(s) Scarlet and black
Established 1957
Information (503) 353-5800
Homepage clackhi.nclack.k12.or.us

Clackamas High School (CHS) is a public high school located in Clackamas, Oregon on the corner of 122nd Avenue and Summers Lane.

It serves over 2000 9-12th graders in the Clackamas, Happy Valley, and Damascus areas. The school itself was built in 2002 and replaced an older, cramped building (built in 1957).

Clackamas is one of 3 high schools in the North Clackamas School District and one of 7 members of the 6A Three Rivers League. It gets students from 6 elementary schools through Sunrise Middle School, which is located adjacent to CHS. The housing market in the area has created a huge growth in the student population, leading to its current overcrowding problems.

Contents

[edit] Building and Campus

[edit] Building

The new Clackamas High School currently lies on 42 acres with a small wetland nearby. The building itself has 265,355 square feet (24,652.3 m²) of floor space and is much larger than the older school. The school is divided into four main regions: the academic wings, the commons area, the fine arts wing, and the physical education area.

This building has served as a model for other high schools and has been designated a green building. It was built by Boora Architects with civil engineering done by Compass Engineering. Clackamas High has also been deemed one of the first "solar schools" in Oregon with the installation of 2 kW solar panels on the roof in 2003.[1] The School was also a winner of the DesignShare Recognized Value Award in 2003.

One unexpected problem with Clackamas High has been population increases resulting in space limitations. The new building, as of 2006, has exceeded maximum comfortable capacity and is using eighteen prefabricated buildings, which extend from the rear courtyard to the soccer fields, to compensate.

[edit] The Academic Wing

The academic wing consists of two, two story halls with four teacher work spaces and the library in the center. In each wing are two specially designed science classrooms along with many all-purpose classrooms used for teaching. Each classroom is well lit due to large windows that includes state of the art glare shields to prevent the natural light from becoming obtrusive. Each classroom in this wing is also equipped with a television, as many people had originally toyed with the idea of making announcements over the television. This idea was realized in 2005, where every Wednesday announcements were broadcast on the television. However, this was discontinued following the 2005-2006 school year.

[edit] Commons

The commons area is located in the center of the building and can seat up to 750 people. It is built with a very "open" feeling and utilizes natural light with the plethora of windows. This area also includes a counseling area, administration area, and food service area.

Hallway in Clackamas High
Hallway in Clackamas High

[edit] Fine Arts Wing

The fine arts wing was created with a centrally located auditorium with specialized fine arts classrooms located around it. The auditorium has 620 seats and a full fly-loft stage for concerts or theatrical productions. Around this auditorium are specially designed choir, band, theatre, shop, art, and home economics rooms.

[edit] Physical Education Area

The physical education area features a 39,000-square-foot (3,600 m²) main gym containing two full basketball courts and can seat up to 2,000 people on telescoping bleachers. Also in this area are an upper gym, a wrestling room, locker rooms, a weight room, a concession stand, and a training facility.

[edit] Campus

The rest of the campus lies on 24.4 acres. The main feature is a lighted main football field surrounded by an 8-lane track. Around all of this is a 1200 covered bleacher set along with many other uncovered bleachers. Other areas include two baseball fields, two softball fields, two soccer fields, five tennis courts, a football practice field, and a cross country course. The campus also features a 650 vehicle parking lot and a 150 bike parking area.

The total cost of the campus and building totaled about 30 million dollars and was supported by a 1998 bond measure approved by 62% of local voters.

Students can earn college credit at Clackamas through Advanced Placement Classes and through class partnerships with local colleges and universities, such as Portland State University or Clackamas Community College.

Clackamas High is also known nationally as a Small Learning Communities School (SLC) with the implementation of "Team" learning for freshman and sophomore students. These students are grouped into teams of 90 students with three teachers, one counselor, and one administrator.

The emphasis Clackamas places on academics can be seen with the Academic Hall of Fame located on the main wall near the entrance to the school. This wall features some of the most academically distinguished students from each year selected based on GPA, test Scores, advanced credits, club participation, and overall merit. Normally about 6 students a year are chosen for the wall.

[edit] Statistics

As of 2005, 72.5% of 10th grade students at Clackamas High School meet or exceeded overall state standards for learning, compared to 53.5% of the rest of the state. [2] In addition, 6.4% of the students are ESL (English Second Language) and 33% are minorities. For more information on school demographics, see the External links.

[edit] Academic Support Services

CAV Center logo
CAV Center logo

Clackamas High has always been a proponent of continuing education after high school and has a very involved College And Vocation (CAV) Center. This center provides information on local job opportunities, colleges, scholarships, and admissions testing. The CAV Center also schedules for representatives from colleges across the nation to come and speak at Clackamas High. The CAV Center is managed in part by parent volunteers. As part of its program to help students, it advertises itself at the school with the motto "The CAV Center is your friend."

[edit] Student Publications

Clackamas High School encourages the active participation in school publications and has a monthly newspaper called "The Shield." This paper contains student written articles, photographs, opinions, and outside advertising. It is also available by subscription outside the high school. Additionally, students write the yearbook "The Lance" which comes out each October.

Often during sporting events and rallies, the Clackamas High School fight song is played by the pep band or sung by the student body. This fight song is set to the tune of The Washington and Lee Swing. Often the pep band will play at sporting events where there is an attendance of over 1000 people such as at Football and Basketball Games. The marching band, which is made up of all the pep band members, also plays the fight song as one of their pieces in the Starlight Parade every year.

School Fight Song:

The mighty Cavaliers will fight again
And on her name we're striving to defend
We're going to shake that thunder from the sky
And on the red and black we'll fight, fight, fight, fight, fight
We'll never let that old school spirit die
We're going to win this ball game if we try
We're going to raise that score up to the sky, to the sky
And win this game
HEY!

Clackamas High also has an Athletic Hall of Fame featuring the best athletes and teams since the creation of the school. Each year, about four or five more additions are made to the Hall of Fame which stretches down the physical education wing of the school. This wing also features numerous displays of both recent and old athletic awards won by the school.

[edit] Major Events at Clackamas High

Clackamas Teacher Wins Teacher of the Year (1997)

Clackamas High biology teacher Ford Morishita won in 1997 the coveted Oregon Teacher of the Year award, a national award, for his innovative approach to teaching biology and the performance of his students. Morishita has been teaching for over 25 years and enjoys breaking out of the traditional "cookbook" approach to biology. Morishita is also the head boys track coach and teaches at Portland State University.[3]

Student Dies After Being Hit by a Car Near Campus (October 21, 2002)

The Junior Charles Loftus-Cole was struck by a passing truck while walking home (just a couple blocks away from school) from theater practice. He died a little after midnight on Wednesday, October 23. His death prompted mourning all around the Portland Metro area and the erection of numerous memorials around the Clackamas area. In addition, a scholarship was made in remembrance of Charles.

Clackamas Student Complains about Sheep Slaughter (September 28, 2004)

The Clackamas High freshman Krista Brandtner filed a complaint with the school district after witnessing the slaughter of sheep in an animal science class. The class focused also on the birthing and raising of livestock but it was the breaking of the neck and slitting of the throat of sheep that made Brandtner complain. The school district defended itself saying that this was part of the normal curriculum. PETA eventually got involved in trying to remove the practice from the high school.

Clackamas Parents Attempt to Ban Book (January 6, 2005)

During the winter of 2005 the novel Ricochet River survived an attempt to be banned from the schools list of sanctioned reading material. The novel was originally chosen for its historical references, local geographic ties, and writing style, but became controversial due to sexual content and profanities. The novel incited a debate that raged across Oregon and drew considerable media attention. The debate also launched the formation of a parent group called New Excellence [1] as well as a formidable opposition group consisting of mostly student and teacher activists. A hearing featuring teachers, students, parents, community members and the novel's author helped the North Clackamas School Board the decision to keep Ricochet River in the curriculum, with a mandatory notification of parents that the book was being read.

The author of the book, Robin Cody, has since rewritten the offensive scene and released an edited version.

[edit] Awards and honors

In October 2005, Clackamas High was named KATU's "Super School of the Month." (News clip)

[edit] References

  1. ^ NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES. "Schools could spark green building boom", The Oregonian, September 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-06-28. 
  2. ^ Detail Report For: - Oregon Department of Education
  3. ^ LISA DANIELS. "TEACHER'S LATEST HONOR: $25,000", The Oregonian, October 6, 1997. Retrieved on 2007-06-28. 

[edit] External links

[edit] School Sites

[edit] Information Sites

[edit] Club Sites