Waubonsie Valley High School

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 Nickname = Warriors 

Waubonsie Valley High School, or WVHS, is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Eola Road in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Its rival counterpart is Neuqua Valley High School of Indian Prairie School District 204.

[edit] History

Ground was broken for Waubonsie Valley High School in the spring of 1973, at a cost of $8.2 million. The school officially opened its doors in 1975 for 293 students. The school was considered futuristic with a swimming pool, greenhouse, and planetarium [1]. The school used to be the Red Campus with the stairs, railings, and the campus painted tomato soup style red with white walls until 1999 when it was changed to today's Green Campus.

Major construction projects have added three classroom wings, a field house and an auditorium. During the summer of 2006, the school was renovated and various improvements were made. The atrium received a "face lift" in the form of a new style around the pillars and floor tile. In the hallways, the school was repainted with different shades of green and a wooden oak trim. The school also repaved the 12 tennis courts and rebuilt the rubber track. This renovation cost approximately $7.5 million.

The campus officially consists of two buildings: a "Gold Campus" building (in the converted Francis Granger Middle School) for Freshmen (Grade 9) which opened in 2003. And a "Green Campus" building (the original WVHS main building) for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors (Grades 10-12). During the 2000s, the Indian Prairie School District converted middle schools for both Waubonsie Valley and its sister schools, Neuqua Valley High School and Metea Valley High School. These have become "Gold Campus" buildings, for freshmen, due to high enrollment numbers and classroom overcrowding. As of 2008, there are 3,625 students enrolled at Waubonsie.

In May 2008 a bomb threat was found on a girl's bathroom wall. Security was increased and students were only allowed in through the Administration entrance and the Auditorium entrance where the Deans and the School Police Officer were awaiting out in front of the Main entrance. The day the threat reference, May 14, was an excused absence day. Only about half the students (around 1,300) came to school. Shortly afterwards, two Female students (One a Sophomore, and the other a Junior) were taken into custody by Aurora Police for their part in the incident.

Waubonsie Valley's inaugural principal was Tom Gibbs who worked from 1974-1987.

[edit] Parking

Only Seniors, Staff, and Faculty are allowed to park at the School's Parking Lot. Juniors and Sophomores can only park at the "Our Lady of Mercy" Church and must have proper Parking Permits and Stickers. Cars without the parking permits will be towed without notice. Seniors pay $120.00 for parking and Sophomores and Juniors pay $150.00. The high cost and Seniors-only parking is due to so many students, there are not enough parking spaces. There is also something known as a lottery where a student puts his/her name in and the office staff will do a drawing, if that student's name comes up, that student gets a parking space.

[edit] Academics

In 2006, Waubonsie Valley had an average composite ACT score of 22.6, and graduated 89.5% of its senior class. Waubonsie Valley has not made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The school is on the Academic Watch list from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for the 2006-2007 academic year.^[1]

Students at Waubonsie Valley have the opportunity to participate in the High School Human Genome Project run for several years by Elaine Modine. Waubonsie Valley is currently the only school in the state of Illinois contributing to this historic project. ^[2]

The average class size is 28.3.

[edit] Athletics

Waubonie Valley's athletic teams compete in the Upstate Eight Conference. Waubonsie Valley's mascot is the Warrior.

In the spring of 2007, the Girls soccer team took home the Illinois State Championship. They were ranked #1 in the country. The Girls Soccer team took home the championship trophy again on May 31, 2008.

Also at WVHS, Special Olympics is another highly valued and appreciated athletic program. Allowing students with special needs to participate in sports such as basketball, swimming, track & field, as well as bowling, Special Olympics is another important aspect of the athletics department.

The WVHS marching band participated in a New Year's Day parade in London on 1 January 1997 and 1 January 2006. There are 2 longstanding a cappella groups, one male and one female that are student led, Cloud 9 and Pink Notes respectively. The WVHS Marching Warriors took fifth place overall at the Illinois State University High School Marching Band Championships in 2006 and placed third in their class. In 2007 at the University of Illinois Marching Band Festival the Marching Warriors took 3rd in their class. Also, their Drum Majors took third place and their colorguard took second.
Amnesty International Club (AI)
Anime Club
Art Club

Aviation Club

Baker's Dozen improv.
BDC (Ballroom Dance Club)
Best Buddies
Business Professionals of America (BPA)
Chamber Singers
Cheerleading
Chess Team
Cloud Nine
DECA
Dance Dance Revolution! Club
FCCLA
FEA
Fellowship of Christian Students
Flags
French Club
German Club
Identity (originally Gay/Straight Alliance)
Indian Student Association (ISA)
Key Club
Marching Band
Model United Nations
Multi-Cultural Club
Muslim Student Association (MSA)
Steppers
Waubonsie Valley Symphony Orchestra
Waubonsie Valley Jazz Bands
Operation Snowball
Orchesis
Pep Band
Pep Club
Photography Club
Pink Notes
PomPoms
REACH
Running Club
Scholastic Bowl
Show Choir "Soundcheck"
Newspaper
Spanish Club
Spanish Honor Society
Speech Team
Star Raiders
Student Council
TV Production Club
Yearbook
Youth & Government

[edit] Music Program

WVHS has been recognized as having one of the premiere music programs in the United States, through recognition by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. WVHS was named a GRAMMY Association's Signature School in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2007, WVHS was one of two schools in the nation to receive the honor of the GRAMMY Association's Signature GOLD School.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Michael Bowden, 2005, professional baseball player, Boston Red Sox^[3] (Salty Dogs, Seattle. AA)
• Paul Konrad, 1983, WGN Morning News Reporter
• Fabian Bowens, A special teams and wide receiver for the Chicago Bears in the late 90's

[edit] References

1. ^ 2006 Illinois School Report Card
2. ^ High School Human Genome Project page at the University of Washington
3. ^ Michael Bowden | SoxProspects.com

[edit] External links

• Waubonsie Valley High School website
• Indian Prairie School District 204 website