West High School (Knoxville, Tennessee)

West High School is a Professional Development school in the Knox County school district located at 3300 Sutherland Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee 37919. The school's enrollment of about 1350 continues to grow every year with feeder schools such as Bearden Middle, Northwest Middle, and West Valley Middle. With the school colors of red and blue, the West High Rebels and mascot Running Rebel "Rowdy" compete in various sports competitions in their district. One of the most recent accomplishments of West High is being ranked among the nation's top schools in Newsweek magazine; West High School has also received the "Keep Knoxville Beautiful" award from Knoxville's mayor in 2007.

History

West High School opened in 1951, along with East (now known as Austin-East), South, and Fulton after the closing of Knoxville High School. Since its opening, West has had many renovations and additions. The most recent occurred in 2008.

Knoxville West High School (West High School) is one of the fifteen area public high schools in the Knox County School District. The school opened its doors in 1951 on the original site of the McGhee Tyson Airport. West was one of four high schools (East now Austin-East, South and Fulton) that opened when Knoxville High School closed. Built to accommodate 850 students, West has undergone two major renovations and presently accommodates 1,300 students. The school is situated in the midtown area within a five-mile radius of the University of Tennessee.

West is unique in large part by the communities that surround its campus. This location provides a climate in which students from different countries, races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds interact and work together on a daily basis. In the 1860s, the Mechanicsville’s neighborhood was established to the north of the school. At the turn of the 20th century, the demographics of this neighborhood changed drastically from an urban white community to an urban black community. The other side of West encompasses the Sequoyah Hills Community. Sequoyah Hills is noted as one of the most affluent communities in the city and one of the first suburban areas established in Knoxville. With this rich mixture of students, West’s population includes: 65% Caucasian, 26% African American, 5% Hispanic, 2% multiracial, 1% Asian, and .08% Pacific Islander.

Along with the great academic program the school offers to its students, West High has restructured the comprehensive model to Small Learning Communities (SLC). The need for the SLC structure was evident in meeting graduation rate accountability measures as determined by the Tennessee Department of Education. During the 2012-2013 school year, West HS launched a Freshmen Academy (FRAC). The initial result of the SLC structure proved successful with a 93% passage rate in core content classes. As a result, West transformed the remaining grade level into the SLC structure. The school is now organized with three Small Learning Communities: Freshmen Academy (FRAC), West Institute Sophomore Education (WISE), and Upper House for juniors and seniors. Each SLC has an administrative staff consisting of a principal, guidance counselor, and dean of students. Additionally, the teaching staff consists of twelve core content teachers and community teacher who teach electives classes. This structure affords the SLC to progress monitor student achievement as a cohort and apply the appropriate interventions to improve deficit areas. Moreover, the structure allows teachers to collaborate on behavior issues and administrators to avoid potential behavior issues through class scheduling. The structure also provides greater opportunities for family engagement and recognition of student achievement.

The administration, faculty, students, and parents have adopted a mission statement that encompassed the true character and culture of the school. The statement reads: West High School provides a safe, orderly, and respectful learning environment that fosters open-minded and caring young people. Students are provided a diverse and international curriculum, a student-centered schedule, and an environment of accountability where instruction and assessments are research-based and data driven. This statement conveys the administration’s efforts to improve student achievement. Moreover, the mission statement helps align resources and set priorities in planning for sustaining initiatives.

West is assisted in its mission of providing opportunities for students by the West High School Foundation and PTSO. The school’s foundation was established in 1996 to generate financial support for educational opportunities and technological equipment. The foundation focuses its efforts on faculty support through professional development, technological resources, and teacher retention. In addition, the foundation assists with facility improvements that are not covered by the school district. The PTSO is actively involved in the school and surrounding community. Its theme involves making West High an “ever better” school for children. The PTSO reiterates this theme in its monthly newsletter to parents and community supporters. Through the monthly newsletter, parents are informed of school highlights such as student-teacher recognitions and upcoming events. Opportunities for volunteering in school activities and engaging to assist their students’ academic success are emphasized as well. During the 2012-2013 school year, the joint efforts of the WHS Foundation and PTSO raised $60,000 in a single-event to support the school’s mission.

Sports and clubs

West High has a proud tradition of success in many different sports and club competitions. Currently, WHS students have the opportunity to participate in the following sports: Soccer, basketball, softball, football, rugby, track, cross country, cheer-leading, dance, wrestling, swim and dive, and golf.

Knoxville West's track and cross country teams are traditionally among the best in the state, and have won several state titles. The Dance Team won 22nd Place at the 2007 National Dance Team Competition in the Hip Hop division.

Knoxville West also offers the following clubs/organizations: Academic Team, Art Club, Aspire, Band, DECA, Ecology Club, FCCLA, FCA, Film Club, Foreign Language Club, FBLA, GSA Gay Straight Alliance, Junior Classical League, Key Club, Mock Trial, Model UN, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, NJROTC Drill Team, PLUS, Student Council, Technology Student Association, Young Life, Youth Legislature, Y-Teens.

Notable alumni

• Henry Cho - comedian^[1]
• Isaac "Don" Everly - Grammy Award-winning singer with the 1960s duo The Everly Brothers, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame^[2]
• Phillip "Phil" Everly - Grammy Award-winning singer with the 1960s duo The Everly Brothers, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame^[2]
• Lowell "Chuck" Ramsey - former punter for the West High Rebels, Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the New York Jets from 1977 to 1984^[3]
• Jami Rogers-Anderson - opera singer^[4]
• Benjamin "Coach" Wade - three-time Survivor contestant, Survivor: South Pacific runner-up in 2011

References

Sources

• West High's webpage
• The West High School 2007-2008 Handbook