Empire High School
| Empire High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
10701 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way, Rita Ranch Tucson, Arizona United States | |
| Coordinates | 32°05′17″N 110°45′49″W / 32.088166°N 110.763737°WCoordinates: 32°05′17″N 110°45′49″W / 32.088166°N 110.763737°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public High school |
| Motto | Culture-Rich, Innovative, Challenging |
| Established | 2005 |
| School district | Vail Unified School District |
| Principal | Matt Donaldson |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,042 students (1 Oct. 2010)[1] |
| Color(s) | Black and Red |
| Mascot | Raven |
| Website | Empire High School |
Empire High School, also known as EHS, is a public high school in the Vail Unified School District in Rita Ranch, Tucson, Arizona. It is the first public high school in the United States to use all-wireless laptop technology and fully digital (no textbooks) curriculum resources.[2]
History
Empire opened to students in August 2005 as the first one-to-one laptop, textbook free, comprehensive high school in the nation.[3] Empire graduated its first class in 2007.
Technology
Use of laptops
When the school opened in 2005, the school used Apple iBook G4's. In 2007 Apple discontinued the G4's and freshman received MacBook's. In 2010, they switched to HP netbook computers. In 2011, they discontinued using HP netbooks and switched back to Apple MacBooks. In 2013, the freshman class received Google Chromebooks.
Filtering software
When the school opened, iPrism filtering software was installed to protect for district liability. However, in 2013, there was a flaw found in the filtering system and the district switched to using Bloxx filtering software.
Wireless internet
On the school grounds, the entire campus has been furnished with wireless internet to allow students to access the internet during class. The teachers have a separate Wi-Fi network that allows them to access sites such as YouTube for class use. There is also guest Wi-Fi available for visitors to the school.
Teacher blogs
Teachers have a blog that they use to communicated with students and their parents to keep them up to date with what is going on in the classroom.
TurnItIn
Empire High School uses a service called Turnitin to check for plagiarism. This service can be used also by the teacher for grading.
Awards
Empire High School was named an "Apple Distinguished School" for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years. In 2011 it was distinguished as an A+ school.
Athletics
Empire hosts a wide variety of athletics, including football, track and field, baseball, softball and cross country. In the 2009-2010 school year, Empire's baseball team went on to the state finals. The baseball team was also able to go again to the state finals during the 2012-2013 school year. Empire's mascot is the Raven. Starting in the 2012-2013 school year, students from the new Andrada Polytechnic High School will compete in athletics as members of Empire's teams.
References
- ↑ Arizona Interscholastic Association conference placement
- ↑ "Look, Ma, No Schoolbooks!". Wired. 2005-08-18. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ↑ "About EHS." Ehs.vail.k12.az.us. Empire High School, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. <http://ehs.vail.k12.az.us/index.php?option=com_content>.