Williamsville East High School
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| Established | 1975 |
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| Type | Public Coeducational Secondary |
| Principal | Mr. Neal Miller |
| Students | 1,000 |
| Grades | 9 - 12 |
| Location | 151 Paradise Road, East Amherst, New York, United States |
| District | Williamsville Central School District |
| Colors | Red and Gold |
| Mascot | Flames |
| Yearbook | 'Spark' |
| Newspaper | 'The East Side' |
| Website | Williamsville East school profile |
Williamsville East High School is one of the three Williamsville high schools located in the Williamsville Central School District in Williamsville, New York. The other two high schools in the district are Williamsville North High School and Williamsville South High School. It was most recently listed as one of the top 1,000 U.S. schools by Newsweek at the 624th spot in the 2007 rankings[1] , and moved up to the 528th spot in the 2008 rankings. [2]
Of the three, Williamsville East is unique for having open classrooms, being constructed without any interior walls on the upper two floors of the three-story building. For the 2004-2005 school year, there was an enrollment of 1,048 students[3].
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[edit] Education
Williamsville East has a wide range of Advanced Placement courses in many areas of study. All students are required to take the New York State Regents exams as required by the state for graduation. Williamsville East offers two different New York State certified diplomas: the Regents diploma and the Advanced Regents Diploma. The Advanced Regents diploma has more requirements in the math and sciences than the Regents diploma. Williamsville East does have a Foreign Language requirement, and every student must fulfill it by passing the regents exam in that language, usually in the end of the sophomore or junior years.
[edit] English/Language Arts
The English Department offers four levels of full-year English courses, as well as half-year courses (called "Fifth Credit Courses") such as Creative Writing, Journalism, Theatre, Media Literacy, Speech and Communication, and Film Study. Most students -- including accelerated 9th graders and 10th, 11th, and 12th graders -- are enrolled in English (10-12), which has a set curriculum. There is a standard summer reading assignment where students are allowed to choose from a list of books and then must take notes and write responses. When the school year begins, all students are allowed to choose themed courses taught by specific teachers. These first two marking periods are spent reading at least one work of fiction. Towards the end of the first semester, a large midterm research project is assigned with a theme and final project. Past themes have included historical fiction (required a short fictional account of a period in history), biography (required a creative project included hypothetical letters and memoirs written by a specific person), and debate (required research on a controversy and a final in-class presentation). For the second semester, each student is given the option to choose a new teacher. The third marking period is a more creative project, where each student must keep a writer's notebook and write a few entries a week. The fourth and last marking period is a Shakespeare unit where every class reads a specific Shakespeare play and then is given a portion of the play to perform. Recenty, as of 2007, in order to address LGBTQ issues, the English Department has required all students to take a queer studies class, focusing on homosexuality in literature and the performing arts. This was started with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation and generated much controversy, but much support as well.
The Advanced Placement courses that Williamsville East offers include English Language and English Literature. The first is an addendum to the regular English (10-12) course taken in junior year, which includes weekly meetings, extra reading, and extra assignments. The latter is a separate course taught only in senior year. The curriculum changes from year to year and is in preparation for the final AP exam in May.
Juniors are also required for extra in-class sessions to prepare for the New York State Regents Examinations at the end of the school year.
[edit] Mathematics
The highly-regarded Math Department includes both Regents and Honors level courses, Statistics, and Advanced Placement Calculus at both the AB and BC levels. There is also a non-AP level of Calculus which offers a more simplified curriculum than that of the Advanced Placement courses. This course is adequate preparation for college-level calculus courses, as it covers many of the same material, but at not the same depth as the AP Calculus AB and BC courses. The Math department offers various course tracks. Most students take Math 1R in freshman year, Math 2R in the sophomore year (and the Math A Regents exam), Math 3R in the junior year, and Math 4R in the senior year (with the Math B Regents exam). There is also a class in the fundamentals of algebra offered as a preparation for Math 1R for students that require it. For students who have taken accelerated math courses in middle school (Math 1R or 1A), in the freshman year they place into Math 2R or Math 2A (which takes the Math A Regents exam in lieu of a midterm), Math 3R of 3A (which takes the Math B exam in lieu of a final) as a sophomore, Math 4R or 4A as a junior, and then AP Calculus AB/BC or Math/Calculus 5, the non AP-calculus class.
[edit] Social Studies
The graduation requirement includes four years of Social Studies. The typical track for students is to take Global Studies I in the freshman year and Global Studies II in the sophomore year, ending with the New York State Regents exam at the end of the sophomore year. In the junior year, most students take either Regents-level or AP United States History. In the senior year, most students take one semester of Government and one semester of Economics. However, as an alternative students may take the AP Government and Politics and AP Macroeconomics on alternating days for both semesters, culminating in the AP exam in early May. The Social Studies department also offers AP European History for interested students, as well as a Regents level and AP Psychology.
The Government courses at Williamsville East have a final project which requires a minimum of 20 hours of civic service, as well as attending school board and town board meetings, to be performed over the course of the semester for Regents-level or the year for AP-level. Students must write a final paper in the end explaining the role that they played in their community through their volunteer hours.
[edit] Sciences
The typical track for sciences at Williamsville East is as follows: Regents-level Earth Science in the freshman year, Biology (either Advanced or Regents-level) in the sophomore year, Chemistry (either Advanced or Regents-level) in the junior year, and Regents Physics or Environmental Studies in the senior year. As well, the science departments offer courses in AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics which have as prerequisites the associated regents courses. Many accelerated students who have taken Regents Earth Science in high school opt to take one or two of the AP sciences in their four years (resulting in either summer regents courses in order to fulfill prerequisites or taking two sciences courses in one year). For advanced students, the track of science courses usually is, with some deviation: Advanced Biology in the freshman year, Advanced Chemistry and/or AP Biology in the Sophomore year, AP Chemistry, AP Biology or Regents Physics in the Junior Year, and AP Physics, Regents Physics or Environmental Studies in the Senior year. It is important to note that there is no specified order that the regents-level earth science, biology, chemistry, physics and environmental studies courses must be taken, but they are usually taken in this order out of tradition and ease.
[edit] Foreign Language
East offers three foreign languages for study; French, Spanish, and Latin. Typically students continue the language they began in middle school (French or Spanish), or switch and start anew with the Latin Program. For all languages, the regents exam in that language is usually taken at the end of the junior year, unless in the accelerated track, where the language regents exam is taken at the end of the sophomore year. East offers four years of study in all three languages, as well as an AP course in French Language, Spanish Language, and Latin: Virgil. Study in the other foreign language APs can be achieved through the "independent study" program, where a teacher is chosen as an adviser who guides the student's work in learning the material. Students may also attend German classes by taking a bus to Williamsville North High School
"Independent studies" can be done through any department, and in any field, as long as there is a teacher who consents to advise the student. An alternative to independent studies is to take a class at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY AB, or UB for short). This is usually done when the school no longer has a class at the level of study of the student.
[edit] Music
Over half of the students in the school are involved in the music program.[citation needed]
Williamsville East currently has the following ensembles: a Full Orchestra (under the direction Mr. Wayne Moose), a Wind Ensemble (audition required for entry), a Concert Band, a Jazz Ensemble (audition required for entry), a Chorale (audition required for entry), a Mixed Chorus and a Women's Chorus. There is also a Jazz Band (under the direction of Mr. Carl Mazzio) and a Vocal Jazz group that practice before school on a weekly basis. The band groups are under the direction of Dr. Stephen Shewan, and the choral groups are under the direction of Ms. Maureen Reilley. The Jazz Ensemble is under the co-direction of Mr. Moose and Dr. Shewan.
The music department also offers courses in Music Theory, AP Music Theory (tought by Ms. Reilley), and Jazz Improvisation (co-taught by Dr. Shewan and Mr. Moose).
The Bands/Chorale and Orchestra alternate yearly trips in the Spring in order to tour and compete nationally, and have won multiple awards for their performances. Most notably, the Williamsville East Jazz Ensemble was a finalist in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Competition in 2007. Many music students go on to top music schools after East such as the Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Berklee College of Music.
Winterfest, the winter concert for the music department, is known for the diversity of musical talents presented as it displays the prowess of all the major ensembles as well as small ensembles created by East students. The concert is run in the prism-concert style that exists at Eastman, where there is no time for applause between performances by groups but rather the spotlight highlights another group in another part of the auditorium that begins playing as soon as the previous group has finished. Winterfest is a two-day event the week before the winter holiday vacation on a Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Most recently, the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors donated a $70,000 grant to assist the Williamsville Poetry Music Dance Celebration, begun at Williamsville East in 2000 by band director Dr. Stephen Shewan and English teacher John Kryder.[4]
[edit] Drama Club Musical
Since the production of Guys and Dolls in 2005 with American Idol finalist John Stevens as Sky Masterson, the Williansmville East Drama Club has been gaining popularity in their yearly spring musical. The musical is performed over a weekend in early February, including four separate shows on Thursday, Friday, Saturday matinée, and Saturday evening.
Other musicals that the Drama club has recently presented are: Oliver (2004), Oklahoma! (2006), The Wiz (2007), and Beauty and the Beast (2008).
[edit] Athletics
Williamsville East has a locally known athletic department.
Established in 1990, East's hockey team went on to win their first state championship in 2004 as part of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association League for hockey. [5]
During the 2006 season, the Girls Varsity Soccer Team won the Section VI Class A title, and were ranked as high as 6th nationally.[citation needed]
The Williamsville East Men's Gymnastics team under the Coaching of Alwin Day, was the top ranked high school gymnastics team in New York State from 1977-1987. On November 6, 1985 the men's gymnastics team set the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Men's Gymnastics Team competition record, scoring 158.4 points. That record stands unbroken today. In 1985 the Williamsville East Men's Gymnastics also set another record, 99 wins and 0 losses. The team at the time was captained by junior Craig O. Johnson, senior Ronald Farkash, and senior Robert Lurz.
The Williamsville East Wrestling team from the current 07-08 season is 7-1 and placed first among thirteen schools at the Maplegrove Tournament and first among 13 teams at the Akron Holiday Tournament and second among 14 teams at the Williamsville North Varsity Invitational. Captains are; Sean Trabert and Max Cohen. The team ended up finishing forth overall in the section with a record of 9-3. They placed eighth overall in the large school category of section six, and are honorable mention in the state. The only person to go to states was Max Cohen. He failed to place with a record of 1-2.
[edit] Clubs
Williamsville East has a variety of clubs and teams open to students after school. These include traditional things such as newspaper club, Science Olympiad, drama club and yearbook, but Williamsville East also offers a few unorthodox clubs. One such example is "Shakespeariment," a club dedicated to performing the works of William Shakespeare.
Williamsville East also has a locally known Masterminds (also known as Quiz Bowl) team. The Masterminds team has placed very well in the Buffalo area region, and recently won the 2008 State Championships, playing against Fairport High School from Rochester and Guilderland High School from Albany.
[edit] Famous alumni
Most recently, alum John Stevens IV appeared as a finalist on American Idol in Season 3. The high school appeared as part of a short video taped by FOX to include on an episode of the show.
Todd Marchant, NHL hockey player currently with the Anaheim Ducks, graduated from Williamsville East in 1990 before being drafted by the Rangers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in the seventh round, 164th overall. He was recently inducted into the Williamsville East Wall of Fame in 2005.
Corey Smith is an assistant coach of the Buffalo Sabres.
Author and professor Siva Vaidhyanathan graduated from Williamsville East in 1984. He has appeared in a segment of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart concerning social network service.
Food safety advocate and lawyer Joseph Mendelson III graduated from Williamsville East in 1984. He has appeared in a segment of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart concerning genetically engineered pigs.
Author and consultant Seth Godin graduated from Williamsville East in 1978.
John Willcock - McGill Nobel Prize Winner.
Journalist David Wright graduated from East in 1982.
Hockey writer and broadcaster Josh Brewster graduated from Williamsville East in 1984. He hosts the postgame radio show, "Duck Calls" after Anaheim Ducks road games. He has also filled in for the Ducks' radio color commentator.
[edit] References
- ^ Newsweek's "The Complete List: 1,300 Top U.S. Schools"
- ^ [http://<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380?g=1 America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li> <li id="cite_note-2">'''[[#cite_ref-2|^]]''' [http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/repcrd2005/overview-analysis/140203060013.pdf New York State Education Department Report Card]</li> <li id="cite_note-3">'''[[#cite_ref-3|^]]''' [http://www.williamsvillek12.org/news.cfm?story=218 "Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Announce Grant to Support Buffalo/Williamsville Poetry Music Dance Celebration"]</li> <li id="cite_note-4">'''[[#cite_ref-4|^]]''' [http://www.eteamz.com/willeasthockey/news/index.cfm?cat=256080 Williamsville East Hockey: 03-04 Season News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li></ol></ref>
