| Arrowhead High School | |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Something for Everyone" |
| Established | 1956 |
| Type | Public high school |
| Principal | Bonnie Laugerman (North Campus) & Gregg Wieczorek (South Campus) |
| Students | 2235 (2009–2010) |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | 800 North Avenue, Hartland, Wisconsin, USA |
| District | Arrowhead School District |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Scarlet, Columbia Blue, & White |
| Mascot | Wally the Warhawk |
| Newspaper | The Arrowhead |
| Website | http://www.arrowheadschools.org/ |
Arrowhead High School is a high school located in Hartland, Wisconsin. Sitting on 117 acres (0.47 km2) of land, the school has two campuses, a North Campus and a South Campus. Juniors and Seniors attend the North Campus, while Freshmen and Sophomores attend the South Campus.
Approximately 2300 students are currently enrolled at Arrowhead, which employs about 200 faculty members. [1] Students from the unincorporated communities of North Lake, Monches, Colgate, and Stone Bank, the villages of Hartland, Chenequa, Merton and Nashotah, the towns of Merton, Lisbon, Delafield, and Oconomowoc and the cities of Delafield, and Pewaukee attend Arrowhead High School.
Arrowhead offers about 126 extracurricular activities for students. Its athletic nickname is the Warhawks, and its mascot, Wally, is a hawk.
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Arrowhead High School was established in 1956 in Hartland, Wisconsin. The original high school was what is today known as South Campus. Arrowhead has since added a North Campus as the student body has grown.
In 2010, Newsweek ranked Arrowhead 889th in the nation out of more than 27,000 public high schools in the United States.[2]
Arrowhead offers nearly 200 academic courses. There are honors sequences in English, mathematics, social studies, science, and art, and 17 advanced placement courses in which over 475 students take over 1087 advanced placement tests. Opportunities are offered in "transcripted credit" agreements with Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC), in which students earn technical school credit for high school courses in areas such as engineering, automotive mechanics, technical and architectural drafting, fashion merchandising, child care, commercial art, and computer technology. In addition, students can participate in manufacturing and health apprenticeships through WCTC.
The "Something for Everyone" theme is achieved through a 10-period day in which students take a minimum of six and a half classes. Classes consist of 40-minute daily classes, alternate-day classes for 84 minutes (typically in laboratory courses), 60-minute advanced placement classes (which count for 1.5 credits), and block classes in which year-long courses are taught for a double period for one semester. Of the 50 credits required for graduation, 18 are electives. The flexible schedule is taught by 151 teachers with an average of over 15 years of experience. 59% of the faculty have master's degrees or above.
The school is also equipped with technology and laboratory facilities. The high school also serves as a community center by providing concerts, lectures, athletic facilities and events, seminars, and evening classes to residents of the Lake Country area.
In late 2004 the school considered banning Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower from the curriculum.[3] Although the book was not banned, the board voted to impose a number of restrictions on the use of the book in the curriculum.
In Fall 2007, Arrowhead High School's Broadway Company presented a production of the hit musical Cats, which took first place in USA Weekend's nationwide competition for best American high school production, and was featured in the magazine's October 4, 2008 issue.
Arrowhead is a member of the Classic 8 Conference. In 2004, it became the first non-professional venue in Wisconsin to use FieldTurf on its football field when it was installed at Pfeiffer Memorial Stadium. In 2007, the school renovated its East Gym in the North Campus to include a new wooden floor with the school's "A" logo at half court. The school has its own on campus ice rink, the Howard G. Mullett Ice Center, which was donated by the Mullett family and opened in 1998.
In 2005, Arrowhead was named the best athletic high school in the state by Sports Illustrated, which stated, "This suburban Milwaukee school is incredible in swimming and football and has won 13 state titles over the last 10 years." It was also named the best athletic high school in Wisconsin in 2006 and 2007. The school has won 25 WIAA state championships since 1993, including six in boys' swimming, six in girls' swimming, and four in football.
The 2007–2008 school season saw Arrowhead advance multiple teams to state tournaments and claim state titles. Arrowhead's girls' cross country team won its first-ever WIAA state championship by defeating Whitefish Bay by 3 points. 2007 also saw the Arrowhead girls' field hockey team win its second consecutive Wisconsin State Field Hockey Association (WSFHA) championship by defeating University School of Milwaukee 4–3. The football team took home its fourth state title in the fall with a win over Homestead. The boys' swimming team took the state title in 2007, its fourth in seven years. They had been runners-up to Madison Memorial in the previous three years. The wrestling season ended with wrestler Nick Hucke winning his third straight WIAA individual wrestling championship. The wrestling team also includes Ben Askren, a recent U.S. Olympian. In Spring 2008 the Arrowhead boys' golf team won the Division 1 state team championship by defeating Madison Memorial by 4 strokes. The gymnastics team took home a 2nd place finish in its third state appearance.
In the 2008–2009 school year the football team advanced to its third consecutive Division 1 state championship game against Homestead (its 9th in 16 years) and the girls' swimming team took home its sixth Division 1 state title in seven years by edging Madison East. The girls' golf team also advanced to the state tournament, finishing with a fifth place performance.
In the winter sports season, the boys' hockey team took home their first state championship by defeating Fond du Lac, 5–1,[4] finishing the season 21–5 led by captain David Clark, who also holds the record for most consecutive points scored in Wisconsin. The campus is home to one of the only high schools in the state with an ice rink on site, The Mullet Ice Center.
The Boy's Basketball team, now led by coach Craig Haase, has turned around the program to where it is competitive every year. His predecessor, Andy Cerroni, did not field competitive teams, and was named by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as the 192nd best coach in the state (Out of 192). The 2009–2010 team advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2006 in dramatic fashion by defeating Menomonee Falls. Once at state, they beat Verona 64–34 in the first round, defeated Marquette 60–58 in a close game on a buzzer beater in the second round, and finally took on defending state champion Madison Memorial for the state championship. After a slow start in the first half, the Warhawks went on a 26–7 run in the third quarter en route to a stunning 72–51 victory. It was the first time Arrowhead made it to the state finals and their first basketball state title ever. It is also Waukesha County's first Division 1 basketball title since rival Waukesha South won it in 1944.
Arrowhead's girls' gymnastics team won their first state championship, after having been runner-up the previous year. The boys track and field team took home their 3rd state championship, defeating runner-up Menominee Falls by a whopping 15 points. On the same day, the boys golf team also won the state championship. In all, Arrowhead took home six state championships in the 2008–2009 school year, making it one of the most successful athletic years in its history.
In 2004, the boys' soccer team was ranked seventh in the nation according to polls by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas. In 2008, the boys' soccer team was ranked 24th in the nation according to polls by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas. In 2009, the soccer team advanced to the state tournament and defeated traditional powerhouse Marquette by a score of 1–0 in double overtime in the quarterfinals.
The boys' and girls' lacrosse teams took state titles in 2007, and in 2006, the boys' first year, the team was state runner-up. The school also offers girls' ice hockey and girls' field hockey. Arrowhead was the first public school in Wisconsin to offer field hockey, and claimed state titles in 2006 and 2007. The boys' track team won the state title in 2004 for the first time since 1965. Arrowhead's boys cross country team won the state title in 2010.
The high school also has the winningest summer baseball coach in Wisconsin high school history, Tim O'Driscoll.[5] Through the 2009 summer season, he had compiled a 742–234 record, a .767 winning percentage. In 2006, Arrowhead's baseball team was the WIAA state runner-up after losing to Marquette 5–3. On May 25, 2007, before Arrowhead's game against Kettle Moraine, the school's baseball field was renamed O'Driscoll Field in honor of the coach. Arrowhead's summer baseball team advanced to the state tournament in 1973, 1975, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2006, and 2009, with title game appearances in 1973, 1975, 1979, 2006, and 2009. O'Driscoll's Warhawks won the state title in 1979 by defeating West Bend East, 4–3. They finally repeated that feat in the summer of 2009 by defeating defending 2008 champion Marquette, 5–4 in a rematch of the 2006 title game on a walk off single in the bottom of the 7th inning.
In 2006 the Arrowhead Cheer & Stunt team won the WACPC (Wisconsin Association of Cheer/Pom Coaches) State Championship in the Small Co-ed Division.
The Arrowhead Warhawks football team has appeared in 9 of the last 16 WIAA State Division 1 football finals. The 9 state appearances are a state record in any division. Arrowhead has been led by coach Tom Taraska for the last 27 years. As of the end of the 2008 season, Coach Taraska ranked 8th in all-time wins among Wisconsin high school football coaches, with a record of 246-92 and a winning percentage of .728.[5] On September 4, 2009 against Roosevelt, Indiana, Arrowhead dedicated the stadium to Coach Taraska. The official stadium name is Pfeiffer Field at Taraska Stadium.
| Year | Winning team | Losing team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Arrowhead | 21 | Appleton West | 7 |
| 1994 | Arrowhead | 19 | Muskego | 16 |
| 1996 | Arrowhead | 24 | D.C. Everest | 21 |
| 2000 | Oshkosh North | 28 | Arrowhead | 0 |
| 2002 | Marshfield | 20 | Arrowhead | 14 |
| 2003 | D.C. Everest | 42 | Arrowhead | 7 |
| 2006 | Homestead | 35 | Arrowhead | 0 |
| 2007 | Arrowhead | 31 | Homestead | 7 |
| 2008 | Homestead | 13 | Arrowhead | 11 |
The Warhawks won the 2007 WIAA Division 1 championship with a 31-7 win over Homestead, finishing the season with a perfect record of 14-0. The only close game all season was a double overtime playoff game at Arrowhead against Marquette University High School, which Arrowhead won, 44-41. Most spectators from both teams agree that it was one of the best high school football games in Wisconsin state history. They finished the season ranked #27 in the nation by MaxPreps.com.[6]
The swimming and diving teams have won more state championships than any other team at the school. Year after year, Arrowhead likely contends at every State Championships, ranking in the top 5 every single year since the beginning of the State Championships. Most of the swimmers swimming for this team have gotten Scholarships to many schools around the country including Auburn University, and Stanford University.
Girls' State Championships. The girls won the championships every single year for 5 years in a row, 2002-2006, a State Record for the number of years in a row won by a single team. The 2007 year was the only year the team that got less than 1st since 2002.
Arrowhead hosts teams such as the Lake Country Phoenix youth swim team and the Lake Country Cyclones semi-professional football team. The Lake Country Chiefs youth football team of the Wisconsin Youth Football League also participate in football on Pfeiffer Field at Taraska Stadium.
Arrowhead also houses a chapter of the Key Club, the biggest Key Club in the Country, as well as an active chapter of the National Honor Society. Members of these clubs perform volunteer activities for the local community.