Traverse City West Senior High

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West Senior High
Type Public secondary
Principal Joseph Tibaldi
Location Traverse City, Michigan
District Traverse City Area Public Schools
Enrollment 1947 students (2006)
MHSAA Class A, Division 1
Conference Big North
Colors Forest Green and Gold
Nickname Titans
Homepage TC West Senior High

Traverse City West Senior High School is a public high school in Traverse City, Michigan, located at 5376 N. Long Lake Road. The principal is Joseph Tibaldi, who has been the principal since the school's opening in 1997. The school was originally built as a solution to the overcrowding at Traverse City Senior High School, which was Michigan's largest high school prior to the split. Traverse City Senior High School is now known as Traverse City Central High School, and the school district border now divided by Division St. Traverse City West is one of three high schools in Traverse City, with nearly 2,000 students each year. It is several times larger than most of the schools in its surrounding area and is the single largest high school outside of the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas in the entire state of Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula. West is located in the Traverse City Area Public Schools school district, which is part of the larger Traverse Bay Area intermediate school district. West offers classes for students in grades 10–12, although starting in the 2008/09 school year, it will consist of grades 9-12. Additionally, students are given the option to dual enroll and attend classes at Northwestern Michigan College. In addition to the dual enrollment program, a wide variety of honors and AP classes are offered.

[edit] Arts & Music

Traverse City West has an active music program, with multiple choirs, bands, and orchestras. In addition to the larger groups, there are also numerous small ensembles, including a jazz band, small vocal groups (Choral Aires, Bella Voce and Westmen), and some student-led chamber ensembles. Every three years the Chorale goes on a tour throughout Europe. The first time the Euro-Chorale went to Europe they won 3rd place in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Two years later the Chorale went again and was awarded 2nd place.

The school puts on an annual musical which involves students from all fields. Musicals performed at West since it opened include such classics as Patience, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "Pirates of Penzance", "Music Man", "Ruddigore", "Les Miserables" (1st time), "West Side Story", "Aida", "Mikado", Les Miserables (2nd time), "Me and My Girl".

The Theater Arts classes put on several different shows for the public each year; in addition, the Thespian club puts on a performance and competes at drama festivals.

[edit] Sports

Traverse City West's most intense sports rival is with cross-town Traverse City Central High School. West competes in baseball, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, cross-country skiing, figure skating, dance, downhill skiing, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, Juggling Club, lacrosse, chess, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, rugby, track and field, and wrestling. West's boys' soccer and girls' downhill skiing teams have each won a state championship. Their football team has also been particularly successful, sending multiple athletes to major college football programs and winning more Big North Conference titles than any other school in their conference. They are also annual playoff qualifiers and have never had a losing record in their school's history. They have played powerhouse programs such as Detroit Catholic Central, Birmingham Brother Rice, Rockford, Grandville, and Midland Dow. Their annual game with rival Traverse City Central High School brings in yearly crowds between 10,000 and 15,000 people. West also competes with their conference opponents Petoskey, Cadillac, Alpena, Traverse City Central High School, and Gaylord High Schools, the six largest high schools in Northern Michigan, as a member of the Big North Conference.

[edit] Business and Technology

Traverse City West has an extensive amount of technology-related classes, including:

  • Web Publishing
  • Computer Aided Drafting and Design
  • Business