West Chester East High School

West Chester East High School
Location
West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Information
Type High School
Established 1973[1]
Principal Dr. Richard Dunlap
Grades 9-12
Number of students about 1300[2]
School Color(s) Red, Yellow, and Black               
Athletics Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
Mascot Viking
Website

West Chester East High School (colloquially referred to simply as East or WC East) is a public four-year high school located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA.

Established in 1969 as the second high school in the West Chester Area School District (along with Henderson High School), East is one of three high schools currently operating in the West Chester area (the third being Rustin High School, which opened in 2006).

In 2009, West Chester East had a student body of approximately 1470 students. Students who attend J.R. Fugett Middle School attend East. Fugett draws its student body from East Goshen Elementary, Exton Elementary, Glen Acres Elementary, and part of Fern Hill Elementary.

East’s athletic teams compete as the Vikings in the Ches-Mont League, a District One affiliate of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Contents

Location

West Chester East High School is located at the corner of Ellis Lane and Paoli Pike, on the border of West Goshen Township and East Goshen Township, just east of the borough of West Chester. The building itself (which is connected directly to Fugett Middle School) is located in West Goshen, as are the school's numerous athletic fields, which include the football Stadium. The baseball and softball fields compete across Ellis Lane on Price Fields at West Chester East, located in East Goshen Township, which were constructed in 2003.

History

West Chester East High School was established as the second high school in the West Chester Area School District in 1969, splitting the district’s population with B. Reed Henderson High School in the borough. All students from Fugett and some students from Stetson Middle School would attend W.C. East until 2006, with the opening of Rustin High School.

The district began a large renovation project in the 1990s, with East’s project beginning in 2003 and ending in 2006. This included renovations to the existing building and athletic fields, as well as construction of new baseball fields, a new science wing for the school, and a new basketball gymnasium.

Extra Curricular Activities

Among East's extra curricular offerings, athletics is the most popular. West Chester East, along with Henderson and Rustin, competes in the Ches-Mont League, a fourteen high school sports league primarily located in Chester County.

Some state achievements for the Vikings include:

The school's Theatre Company is also quite popular. They begin the year with a fall play, present a musical in late February, and a student written and directed One Act Festival in the spring.[3] The also participate in the Critics and Awards Program for High School Students (Cappies) in which the critic team has been nominated as well as many others in the fields of performance and technical theatre.

East has also had great success in other activities. The student run organization K.A.R.E., a community service group is quite popular. As is the GSA (gay straight allience). However the largest group in school is the international business competition DECA, which boasts two international first place winners, one in 2006 and one in 2008, as well as state leaders including the state president from 2007 to 2009. East DECA maintains the largest chapter in Pennsylvania.[4] East has also had success with its Academic Team which has been to nationals for the past sixteen years.

Beginning competition in the American Computer Science League in 2009, the school's programming team earned an impressive 3rd place in their division in the 09-10 season.[5]

Mission statement

At East High School, we continue our journey toward increased cultural awareness. Our goal is to learn and to become more aware of the larger world which brings traditions and customs to our school family—students, teachers, staff, and administrators.We do our best to do our best at any cost. Through continued cultural awareness, we will respect and appreciate our diversity and recognize that each heritage makes an important contribution to our community.[6]

Notable alumni

References

External links