Dakota Ridge High School

Coordinates: 39°36′15.07″N 105°8′58.71″W / 39.6041861°N 105.1496417°W / 39.6041861; -105.1496417

Dakota Ridge Senior High School is a public school located in Dakota Ridge, Colorado. The School has the old wing from the main terminal of Stapleton International Airport as the school was built after the airport was demolished.

History

In 1991, Stanley Ferguson immigrated from Scotland. Stanley purchased a plot of land relatively close to the Rocky Mountains. Several years after his acquisition, the Jefferson County School Board purchased Ferguson's plot of land for 1.4 million dollars on June 13, 1994.^[4] Dakota Ridge High School soon opened in August 1996.

Campus

Dakota Ridge operates on a Closed Campus for Freshmen and an Open Campus for Sophomores (as of 2011), Juniors, and Seniors.

It sits atop a hill on Coal Mine Avenue overlooking Foothills Golf Course to the south.

A new wing was added roughly ten years after its original opening. There are also temporary buildings.

Notable alumni

• Todd Dunivant - Professional Soccer Player, Los Angeles Galaxy

Extracurricular activities

Student groups and activities at Dakota Ridge include BASIC, chess club, choir, DECA, Eagle Productions, Eagleaires, FBLA, FCCLA, German club, International Thespian Troupe 5837, Key Club, knitting club, math club, mock trial, National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, newspaper, extensive engineering club, science club, snow riders club, student government, and yearbook among many others.

The school's athletic teams, known as the Dakota Ridge Eagles, compete in CHSAA class 5A in the Jefferson County League. Teams are fielded in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, poms, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. In 2007, the men's cross country team won the State Championship. The women took their turn in 2008, setting a state record for dominance with the fewest team points scored in 5A state history leading them to the State Championship. The 2012-13 Cheerleading squad also brought home the League Championship for both Varsity & JV in the Small Co-Ed division. The most recent Dakota Ridge State Championship was won in December 2012 at the CHSAA 4A/5A Co-Ed Division for Cheerleading. Later on, the cheer squad went on to the USA Nationals Cheerleading & Dance Competition in Anaheim, California. They place 3rd in the nation for both pre-lims & finals. 2012-13 Cheerleading Squad proved to be the most successful year in Dakota Ridge High School history for cheerleading.

Instrumental Music and Performance

Marching Band

The Dakota Ridge "Screamin' Eagles" Marching Band and Colorguard had its inaugural competitive season in 1998 and has since competed in the Colorado Bandmasters Association unit (CBA) in class 4A. The band has been a constant state championship qualifier for the 11 years of its existence including seven state finals finishes. The 2009 band improved an almost unheard of nine places from a 16th place quarter-finals in 2008, and with only a little over 60 people, was the smallest band at state championships, but managed to place 7th out of 8 total finalist 4A bands, and for the first time in school history managed to place higher than longtime trend-setting band and powerhouse Green Mountain High School, who finished 8th in finals competition.

Marching Band finishes in CBA state championship competition

1999-7th place, 4A State Finalist

2000-6th place, 4A State Finalist

2001-6th place, 4A State Finalist

2002-16th place,5A State Quarter-Finalist

2003-18th place,5A State Quarter-Finalist

2004-8th place, 4A State Finalist

2005-5th place, 4A State Finalist

2006-5th place, 4A State Finalist

2007-11th place,4A State Semi-Finalist

2008-16th place,4A State Quarter-Finalist

2009-7th place, 4A State Finalist

2010-7th place, 4A State Finalist

2011-5th place, 4A State Finalist

2012-8th place, 4A State Finalist

2013-7th place, 4A State Finalist

Winter Guard

The Dakota Ridge Winter Guard has competed in the Rocky Mountain Color Guard Association (RMCGA) as well as Winter Guard International (WGI),and has managed to receive a state championship title as well as other medalist finishes in the RMCGA unit, most recently a bronze medal state championship finish in 2006. The winter guard is competing with the percussion ensemble for the 2010 season, and not competing in RMCGA.

Percussion Ensemble

The Dakota Ridge Percussion Ensemble, has been a constant competitor in the Rocky Mountain Percussion Association (RMPA). The ensemble has managed to have several finalist finishes.

Recent championship finishes 2004=4th Place, Percussion Scholastic Concert Open Class (PSCO).

2005=7th Place, Percussion Scholastic A (PSA).

2006=8th Place, Percussion Scholastic Open (PSO).

2007=1st Place, Element Percussion Ensemble(made mostly of Dakota Ridge students) Percussion Independent A (PIA).

2008=4th Place, Percussion Scholastic Open (PSO).

2009=4th Place, Scholastic Concert Open (PSCO)(highest school score to date).

2010=3rd place, Percussion Scholastic A (PSA).

For the 2010 season, the percussion ensemble was the RMPA Bronze medalist in PSA class, the school's best placement to date.The ensemble will be attending the WGI 2010 world championships in Dayton Ohio.

8-1-5 Jazz

The only jazz band at Dakota Ridge, manages to always have strong finishes at competitive festivals. The peculiar name is not, in fact, a musical reference but a punctuated version of the time 8:15, which is the time seminar begins at Dakota Ridge. Before the jazz band was a dedicated class, students had to meet during seminar.

Symphonic Orchestra

The sole orchestra at Dakota Ridge. The ensemble has managed to become a musical force within the last couple of years, having strong competitive finishes in festivals, including a 2nd-place finish in a festival competition in San Diego, CA.

Symphonic Band

The only concert band in the school, the band has been a strong performer for many years, always delivering strong performance and musically strong pieces, the band always manages to have strong festival competition finishes.

All County and All State

In 2012, Dakota Ridge has the best Bass section in the All county Orchestra. This includes first chair Jessica Cable, and Freshman, Aaron Cadayong

References

External links

• Dakota Ridge High School