| Brookfield East High School | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Gravitas - Dignity, Seriousness, Duty |
| Established | 1962 |
| Type | Public Secondary |
| Principal | Dan Pavletich |
| Faculty | 92 (2008-2009) |
| Students | 1,344 (2008-2009) |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA |
| Oversight | Elmbrook School District |
| Colors | White and Navy Blue (with red trim) |
| Mascot | Spartans ("Sparty") |
| Yearbook | 'Echo' |
| Newspaper | Spartan Banner |
| Website | behs.elmbrookschools.org |
Brookfield East High School is a comprehensive four-year public secondary school located in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The school is part of the Elmbrook School District, and is accredited by the North Central Association. Its rival is Brookfield Central High School, also located in Brookfield.
The school is rectangular two-story building with a white brick exterior. It underwent major renovations, with the completely remodeled building opening in 2010. There are two courtyards, one of which contains a statue of Icarus. There are six science labs. A small blackbox theater doubles as a drama classroom. A new fieldhouse was completed in the fall of 2009. The classrooms have SMARTBoards and access to broadband internet. Brookfield East and Brookfield Central High Schools are the only schools in their conference without auditoriums. As a result, they perform at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts or the Shattuck Auditorium on the Carroll University campus.
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In 2008, voters in the Elmbrook District passed a referendum approving $62.2 million dollars for renovating both Brookfield East and Brookfield Central High Schools. The referendum passed on a 7,557 "yes" to 6,923 "no" vote. The renovation involved extensive remodeling of both schools, repair and replacement of HVAC systems, and additional construction. East now has air conditioning installed throughout the building - previously, only East's primary offices, certain computer labs, and faculty lounges had air conditioning.
Brookfield East once had a mulit-use facility known as the "Cafetorium," with a stage built into the north end of the cafeteria. Musicals and other concerts were performed in the Cafetorium. In the spring of 2002, upon completion of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, the stage was demolished to make way for the Senior Lounge. The former stage area housed recreational activities for students. In 2009, the cafeteria was remodeled and expanded, and the Senior Lounge and Spartan Market (a school store run by FBLA members) were demolished. The Senior Lounge was not reopened, and the Spartan Market was never relocated.
Originally, the school celebrated graduation in the BEHS gymnasium.[1] Beginning in 2002, the graduation ceremony was held in the Worship Center at Elmbrook Church. As a result of controversy surrounding the Class of 2009's graduation, and the need for larger facilities, starting with the Class of 2010, graduation ceremonies for both Brookfield East and Brookfield Central are held in the Field House, as Brookfield Central's is considerably smaller than East's.
The school has a full nature center with access to acres of protected land and natural habitat, including a pond.
Brookfield East offers courses in art, business management and technology, English, foreign language (French, German, Latin, and Spanish), family and consumer education, applied technology and engineering, mathematics, music, physical education, science, and social studies. Honors, advanced, and advanced placement classes are available in many subjects.
The Brookfield East Spartans compete in the Greater Metro Conference, which includes most athletics and other competitive extra-curricular activities, including forensics, debate, and the "mathletes" organization. Clubs and activities include:
| National Honor Society | Bridging Brookfield* | Science Club |
| Television Production (Announcements/AV Club) | Debate | LEAP |
| ECHO (Yearbook) | FBLA-PBL | French Club |
| Forensics | Music Club | Jazz Ensemble |
| Interact Club | Key Club | Student Council |
| Asian Club | Anime Club | Link Crew |
| Best Buddies | Project K.I.D.S. | Recycling Club |
| Rock Climbing* | SADD | Spanish Honor Society |
| Spartan Banner (Newspaper) | Stand Proud (GSA) | First Robotics |
| Model UN | Mock Trial | Club Lotus (Yoga) |
| PEACE (Cultural) | DOUBT (Secular Philosophy) | Fellowship of Christian Athletes |
Brookfield East has a Forensics team, Debate team, and Mock Trial team. All three groups are highly regarded as some of the best within their conferences.
Brookfield East received an award of excellence at the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament in Boston, Massachusetts in 2004 season. In addition to the NCFL, the team participates in the National Forensic League and Wisconsin Forensic Coaches Association tournaments. The Forensics team won its first WFCA Division I State Championship in the 2006-2007 season.
In addition to state finalists and champions, students have competed in the final rounds of the national tournaments. Since 2003, the Forensics team has been reigning Conference Champions, including the vast majority of individual conference championships.
The Brookfield East Mock Trial team placed 2nd in a three-way tie in the 2010-2011 season at the regional competition, held at Marquette University.
Brookfield East's music department is best known for its reception of the Grammy "Signature Gold" award in the spring of 1999. Brookfield East was one of only 16 schools selected of more than 1200 nationwide. The school also received a $5,000 grant,[2] which was used to commission an original work for the school.
In the summer of 2001, the world premiere of "American Reflections" was performed. Written by Wisconsin composer Rick Kirby, the work employed the band, all four choirs, and orchestra. The composition features three movements, "Legacy, "Peace", and "Celebrations", performed without pauses. Because of the massive size of the ensemble, it was premiered at the Elmbrook Church Auditorium.
Money raised from a raffle at the concert helped fund a new arts center in the city of Brookfield, the Wilson Center for the Arts, the new home for Brookfield East and Brookfield Central concert performances since 2002. Because of limited capacity, larger performances are often presented elsewhere, such as the Shattuck Auditorium at Carroll University.
In April 2005, the band marched in the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C., performing a concert in front of the World War II Memorial. In late January 2003 and January 2007, the band traveled to Florida to perform in the annual parade at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World.
Brookfield East's choral program features an audition-only chamber choir. East has four separate choral ensembles, two of which (Women's and Chamber) require an audition to enter. In 1998, the chamber choir competed at the National Invitational Choral Festival of Gold in Washington, D.C. and placed second out of 22 ensembles. It was the only choir from Wisconsin invited to the festival that year. In recent years, the entire department has performed in the Heritage Music Festivals held in various cities throughout the United States.
The Brookfield East Orchestra has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York on several occasions, most recently in 2008. They performed there again in 2010.
The campus athletic facilities include a swimming pool, a four-station Field House with an 1/8 mile track, two baseball diamonds, a soccer stadium, tennis courts, a weight room, a trainer's room, and a recently renovated football stadium with an 8-lane 1/4 mile rubberized track. It has movable bleachers on each side and 21 basketball hoops. The gym has electronic walls that can move back & forth to separate the building into different gyms.
The school's boys' varsity soccer team placed second in 2006. The 2008 girls varsity soccer won the Greater Metro Conference and qualified for state. The 1995 boys' team finished 29-0-0, won the school's first ever state soccer championship, and completed the season ranked as the number 1 team in the United States according to USA Today's NSCAA rankings.
In the fall of 2009, a controversy arose surrounding the use of proceeds from homecoming. Brookfield East had been charging higher ticket prices for homecoming than other schools in the area.[3] When the Class of 2011 president asked for a budget report to determine the reason, he was denied, and he appealed that decision to school authorities, who released the report. It showed that of the $20,000 profit from homecoming, $5,000 had gone to the executive members of the student council as scholarships.[4] Questions were raised about whether volunteers should be paid in scholarships for their duty. Concerns were also expressed about the fact that the scholarships were not made known to students.[5] The scholarships were discontinued, and the student council's budget was suspended pending further investigation.[6] The school and student council issued an apology and partially refunded the cost of homecoming tickets, with unclaimed refunds donated to the Hunger Task Force of Wisconsin. Later that year, the student council adviser stepped down from her position.[7]