Southeast Polk Community School District

Coordinates: 41°36′N 93°26′W / 41.60°N 93.44°W

Southeast Polk Senior High
Address
7945 NE University Av.
Pleasant Hill, Iowa
USA
Information
Type Public Secondary
Established 1961
Superintendent Craig W. Menozzi
Principal Steve Pettit
Grades 9–12
Enrollment Approx. 2000
Campus Suburban
Color(s) Black and Gold          
Athletics conference Central Iowa Metro League
Mascot Rams
Website

High School website

SEP Sports Website

Southeast Polk Community School District, or often shortened to SEP or SE Polk[1] is a school district located in suburban Des Moines and rural Polk County, Iowa. The high school and junior high are located in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. The district includes Runnells, Altoona, Mitchellville, parts of Pleasant Hill, Bondurant, Des Moines and surrounding rural areas. The district also stretches into small portions of Jasper and Marion Counties.

The district was formed by a consolidation of several districts (most notably Runnells, Altoona, and Mitchellville; several smaller districts also merged) in 1962. The district operates a high school, a junior high school, a sixth grade center, and eight elementary schools.

The district's current enrollment is 6,735 (2013). The current trend in enrollment should have Southeast Polk reaching 7,000 by 2015-2016.

Famous alumni of Southeast Polk include Buffalo Bills quarterback Kyle Orton and Chris Pirillo.

District's mission

The district's mission is "to be an innovative, educational organization committed to providing learning experiences of superior quality which enable ALL students to successfully meet challenges now and in the future."

Throughout the K-12 experience, students are guided to become:

Seniors are required to give a presentation to fellow students before they graduate to show they meet these 8 outcomes.

Awards and recognitions

Board of education

The district is overseen by a seven-member Board of Education.

The current members of the board are:

Current information

The superintendent of the school district is Craig Menozzi. The high school principal is Steve Pettit.

Southeast Polk's grade schools consist of eight elementary schools: Altoona, Centennial, Delaware, Four Mile, Mitchellville, Runnells, Willowbrook and Clay Elementary.

Southeast Polk's secondary schools consist of Spring Creek 6th Grade Center, Southeast Polk Junior High, and Southeast Polk High School.[2]

Southeast Polk is the 13th-largest school district in Iowa.

Mascot

The school mascot, the Rams, is an acronym for Runnells, Altoona, Mitchellville, and surrounding areas. Later, the district modified the "s" to represent the word " schools," but the original intent was for the mascot to represent the entire area covered by the school district. The school colors are black and gold. The district prides itself on its large amount of school spirit, including both "Ram Pride" and "The Southeast Polk Way."

High school activities

Athletics

Southeast Polk is a member of the Central Iowa Metro League. The league is divided into two conferences, the Metro Conference and the Central Iowa Conference (CIC), with the CIC being further subdvided into Northern, Eastern, and Western Divisions:

Football

Southeast Polk's most successful football season was 2006, when they finished as state runners-up after a 21-6 defeat to Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Southeast Polk's most recent trips to the semifinals in the UNI-Dome were in 2006 and 2012.

Winter sports

The boys basketball team finished 2nd in the state in 2010. They also appeared in the State Tournament in 2014.

The girls basketball team was crowned state champions in 1977,[3] the school's first title, and again in 2013. The girls basketball team was also the state runner-up in 1987, 1988, and 2014.

The wrestling program won both the state dual and traditional meet titles in 2013, marking the school's first title by a boys program. In 2014, the wrestling team was announced as #10 in the nation in the pre-season rankings in WIN Magazine. [4] Southeast Polk wrestling also won the state dual and traditional meet titles in 2015.

Spring/summer sports

Track, tennis, soccer, and girls' Golf are spring sports, with Baseball and Softball occurring in the summer. The Baseball team won their 1st state championship in 2014 while the Softball team got 2nd in 2014.

Arts

Theatre

The Southeast Polk Senior High presents two full-length productions each year in November and March or April. Every other spring (odd-numbered years), a musical is performed.

Instrumental music

The Southeast Polk band program has three bands: Concert Band, Symphonic Band (marching band), and the Wind Ensemble. The symphnic band is unique in the fact it does not require its members to participate in marching band, although most choose to do so.

The Marching Rams at Southeast Polk High School have won many awards at State Championships and separate competitions.

Vocal music

The vocal music program's advanced choir is Chamber Singers, a mixed voice choir. Entrance is only granted through audition. Chorale is the advanced, auditioned women's choir, although open without audition to any junior or senior women. Bass Clef Choir (men) and Treble Clef Choir (women) are open to all interested students.

Southeast Polk has two show choirs: RAMification and Vocal Gold. RAMification is the varsity mixed show choir and selection is done by audition. Vocal Gold is a show choir prep group open only to women by audition. Vocal Gold recently finished 2nd place at the Muscatine and Keokuk competition, where they also qualified for finals.

Notable Graduates

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.southeastpolk.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/District%7CLogo%20Library
  2. ↑ http://www.southeastpolk.org
  3. ↑ http://www.ighsau.org/hoops/records/bbresults.html
  4. ↑ (2014 U.S. High School Pre-Season Rankings)