Marysville Pilchuck High School

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Marysville-Pilchuck High School has the second largest campus and the largest student body in the state. MPHS's mascot is a tomahawk and the school colors are red, white, and gold. School days are organized into six periods. MPHS boasts the largest indoor pool in Snohomish County, and is a popular destination for high school indoor water sports fans. Mp is also known as cow pie high and nobody really cares.

MPHS is a combination of two local schools. The first high school in Marysville was called Marysville High School and it occupied the current Marysville Junior High School building (which is now Totem Middle School). Pilchuck high school was built in 1971 and later the two schools combined to make one large high school called Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

[edit] Current Events

Currently construction is under way for a second high school in Marysville.

MPHS still offers many classes that have been canceled by other schools, such as welding and auto tech. In the 2007-2008 school year MPHS split into six Smaller Learning Communities (SLC):

• The Bio-med Academy
• The International School of Communications[1]
• Pathways of Choice
• School for the Entrepreneur
• The School of Global Connections
• The Tomahawk Tech and Teaching Academy.

Each student will register for one SLC, which they will remain in for the entire school year. Each SLC has a set number of teachers and classes, with the Pathways of Choice being the largest (it has forty teachers compared to the others' twelve). The decision to move to SLCs remains highly controversial, with many students complaining that it restricts their options and the administrators insisting that it will result in a better focus on students' individual interests. Extracurriculars such as band and yearbook will be reconfigured to meet the requirements of the new SLCs.

[edit] The International School of Communications

The International School of Communications [2] (ISC) is a self-directed school at Marysville-Pilchuck. Many of the teachers there believe in the enGauge 21st century skills [3] method. Some of the most importing lessons in life you can learn in this school. Instead of your typical sit down, read the chapter, do a worksheet, do a review, and then take a test method you would use in a normal school, the ISC teachers let you do it on your own. This is a very effective way of learning. ISC also has many elective choices, like Writing for Publication, Latin, TV3 (video production), and choir. There are four house in the ISC, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. With these houses we have heads, prefects, and new found friends.

[edit] Bio-Med

Is a SLC at MPHS it is a SLC that is based on the sciences of music and life.

[edit] Music

The school band has taken trips all over the west coast for jazz and marching band festivals. There are currently five bands at MPHS which include:

• Marching/Pep band, which performs in field shows and parades and is responsible for performing at football/basketball games
• Jazz Band, a zero hour class that meets at 6 a.m.
• Symphonic Band, which meets every day before school.
• Wind Ensemble, which is an upper-level, audition-only band
• Percussion Ensemble which provides percussion for the other bands and meets as a separate class. Marysville-Pilchuck High school has a reputation of having an outstanding drum line.

Chris Wall, a senior trombone player, received the outstanding soloist award from all three judges when the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Jazz Ensemble recently performed at the Northshore Jazz Festival.

Last year, a woodwind ensemble consisting of 16 players made the WMEA State Solo and Ensemble Competition.

Choir has also taken trips to Victoria, California and Idaho.

Section Leaders in the school year of 2007-2008:

• Nicklaus Young - Senior Drum Major
• Shelby Mundt - Assistant Drum Major
• Krislynn Odviar - Drum line Captain
• Tayna Dehnhoff - Color Guard Captain
• Rebecca Miller - Flutes
• Jordan Alexander - Trumpets
• Christopher Wall - Trombones
• Kyle Taylor - Clarinets
• Martin Pittis - Tubas
• Michael Doronio - Saxophones

[edit] External links

• MPHS Website
• MPHS Band Website
• MPHS Class of 2008 Website
• Chris Wall wins solo award
• MPHS in solo and ensemble
• International School of Communications Homepage

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