James Madison Memorial High School

James Madison Memorial High School
Established 1966
Type Public secondary
Principal Jay Affeldt
Students 1,700- 2,100
Grades 9–12
Location Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Oversight Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD)
Colors Green and White
Mascot Bruce the Spartan
Yearbook The Olympian
Newspaper The Sword and Shield
Website http://memorialweb.madison.k12.wi.us

James Madison Memorial High School is a public school located at 201 South Gammon Road, Madison, Wisconsin, 53717, serving students in grades 9 through 12. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan School District. One of four Madison public high schools, it is commonly referred to as "Memorial" or "JMM".

Academics

Due to Memorial's large student base of approximately 2000,[1] the school can offer a wide variety of classes covering a vast number of topics.

Memorial offers Chinese, German, French and Spanish language classes.[2]

The Memorial Art Department offers a wide variety of courses engaging a comprehensive array of media. The department also offers opportunities for portfolio development, artistic skill development and membership in art-based clubs (The Art Klub, Animation Club). Memorial student-artists compete in many visual competitions. The Art Department has supported the installation of art throughout the school, including ceramic murals, professional art, and student-created artwork found in the Memorial Art Garden.

The Memorial Science Department offers a wide variety of science courses. Integrated Science is the introductory ninth grade course. The Science Department offers several different AP courses including AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, and AP Physics. Courses in the Biological Sciences include Biology, AP Biology, Fundamentals of Biology, Conservation Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Forensics Science, and Molecular Biology. Chemistry courses are available at three different levels: AP Chemistry, Chemistry Honors, and Chemistry. Physics courses include AP Physics, Math Physics, and General Physics. The school also offers courses in Earth Science, including Earth Science 1, Earth Science 2, Astronomy, and AP Environmental Science. Other courses include Aerospace engineering and Mechanical World.

The school also hosts a planetarium and offers an Astronomy class.

Administration

The school principal is Jay Affeldt. Lori Wesolek, Pete Hartman, Matt Hendrickson and Ben Radloff are assistant principals. [3]

Small Learning Communities grant

In 2001, Memorial received a U.S. Department of Education Small Learning Communities federal grant to support a "neighborhood" reorganization.[4] Students would be assigned to "backyards" consisting of approximately 20 students and a staff member, Backyards are grouped together to form "blocks", which are grouped to form "neighborhoods".[4] In total there would be 100 backyards which combine to form five blocks which combine to form four neighborhoods. The four neighborhoods are Rock, Wolf, Fox, and Wisconsin .[4] Begun during the 2002-03 school year, the goal was to create a smaller environment where students would feel connected to each other and staff members. Different from a traditional homeroom concept, students are assigned to "backyards" consisting of approximately 20 students and 2 staff members (teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors, etc.) Students may not remain in the same backyard with the same students and teachers for their entire high school career, as some were broken up in order to form Freshman Backyards. Freshman Backyards are Freshman only, and are led by two non-freshman student leaders. Freshman Backyards were implemented at the start of the 2013-2014 school year. Backyard is currently receiving mostly negative reviews from students, and is under debate for improvement. Each neighborhood is assigned a vice principal to help ensure consistency in administration as students matriculate.

School newspapers

The official school newspaper is The Sword and Shield and since 2009 has all issues on line located at https://memorialweb.madison.k12.wi.us/node/1652. Independent newspapers, The Spartacus and Aficionado existed at one time, but have all ceased distribution.

The Independent was created after the 1990-91 school year by The Sword and Shield staff in response to censorship of the school's paper by then principal Carolyn Taylor. The Independent had a tradition of printing annual April Fool's editions, which were published under names such as The Inebriated, The Insolent, and The Indyan. Controversy over the April Fool's editions led to The Independent being temporarily banned, sparking the creation of The Spartacus in 2003.

Extracurricular activities

Memorial offers 23 interscholastic sports[5] and 55 extramural activities. The Spartans have won 64 state championships across all sports, ranking third in the state of Wisconsin.

Athletics

Baseball

Basketball (Boys)

Cross Country (Boys)

Cross Country (Girls)

Golf (Boys)

Golf (Girls)

Hockey (Boys)

Soccer (Boys)

Soccer (Girls)

Swimming & Diving (Boys)

Swimming & Diving (Girls)

Tennis (Girls)

Track & Field (Boys)

Track & Field (Girls)

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "James Madison Memorial High School website". Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "School profile". Archived from the original on February 1, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  3. ↑ "Administration Contact". Archived from the original on 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lackney, Jeffrey (2001-07-06). "Forming Small Learning Communities: Implementing Neighborhoods in Existing High Schools". Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  5. ↑ https://jmm.madison.k12.wi.us/spartan-athletics
  6. ↑ "Bill Foster". NNDB. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Borzi, Pat (2010-01-25). "The U.S. Women's Hockey Team Is Not as Battle-Tested as It Intended". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  8. ↑ "Wesley Matthews". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  9. ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/jay-norvell--fired-from-oklahoma--becomes-new-wr-coach-at-texas-032630802.html

External links