Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School

Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School

Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School as seen from Evans Avenue.
"To be, rather than to seem."
Address
630 Evans Avenue
Wyomissing, PA, Berks County, 19610
United States
Coordinates 40°19′27″N 75°58′18″W / 40.3243°N 75.9716°W / 40.3243; -75.9716
Information
Funding type Public
Established 1908
School district Wyomissing Area School District
Principal Dr. Cory Jones
Grades 7-12
Enrollment approx. 950
Color(s) Navy Blue and White
        
Slogan "Inspiring Excellence, One Spartan at a Time"
Team name Spartans
Rival Berks Catholic High School
Website District Website

Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School is a secondary school serving the Wyomissing Area School District. Located in the borough of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania the school boasts an enrollment in grades seven through twelve of approximately 950 students. WAHS has been ranked within Newsweek's top 1,200 public high schools in the United States annually since 2006.[1] The Washington Post ranks WAHS the most challenging public school in the state excluding magnet and charter schools,[2] and U.S. News & World Report ranks the school as the best public school in PA also excluding magnet and charter schools.[3]


History

In 1909, the Wyomissing school district was founded, with classes being taught in a private residence. In 1908, the district's first building was completed, responsible for grades 1-11 (seniors attended another area high school). This school was built on Belmont Avenue and served grades 1-11 until 1922. It served grades 1-6 until 1939. This building is now the Wyomissing Institute of Fine Arts. The first dedicated high school building was constructed in 1923, and later became an elementary school for the district. The high school built in 1923 was built on Wyomissing Boulevard and remained the high school until 1939, when it became the elementary school and the high school moved to Evans Avenue. The current high school was constructed in 1940, as part of Franklin Roosevelt's depression recovery program, the Works Projects Administration. The building was expanded to meet the growing student body in 1965, and was renovated in 1994. The Wyomissing School District became the Wyomissing Area School District upon merging with the former West Reading School District in the late 1960s. In 1984, the original high school, which was built in 1923, was destroyed at the land was sold for housing.

An addition was finished September 2006. The addition added several new classrooms, a new chorus room, and a stagecraft workshop. The somewhat controversial renovation has removed two courtyards in the school, many windows in classrooms, in addition to a major portion of the student parking area. The school's auditorium was also recently renovated. Renovations included removing the windows, replacing the seats, installing new curtains and carpeting, repainting, and installing garage doors in the stage right wing and the new set construction rooms so that scenery could be moved.

Academics

There are 567 sections of 183 courses in basic core areas and in a wide variety of electives.[4] The school offers 30 honors and 16 Advanced Placement courses.[5] During the 2003-04 school year, 221 AP exams were administered to 104 students, and the average score (1-5) was a 4.1. The same year, the average SAT score was 1133 (571 in math and 562 in verbal); the state average was 1002 (502 in math and 500 in verbal). The school boasts a 95% graduation rate, with 94% of high school seniors attending a two- or four-year institution of higher education[6]

Extracurricular activities

The school offers a number of opportunities for student participation outside of the classroom:

Athletics

Since the early 1990s, the school has won state championships in boys' football (2012), boys' soccer (1994), girls' cross country (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), girls' tennis (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003), boys' track (2003), boys' volleyball (2008), boys' tennis (2009, 2010, 2012), and golf (2012). The school fields the following teams:

Clubs

The school offers the following extracurricular clubs:

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com
  2. ↑ http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2014/list/pennsylvania-schools/
  3. ↑ http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/pennsylvania/rankings?int=c0b4c1
  4. ↑ http://www.wyoarea.org/wyo/SCHOOLS/Wyomissing%20Area%20Junior-Senior%20High%20School/Curriculum
  5. ↑ http://www.wyoarea.org/downloads/jshs_documents/2014-15_program_of_studies-_revised__august_2014_20140815_134120_1.pdf
  6. ↑ http://www.wyoarea.org/wyo/SCHOOLS/Wyomissing%20Area%20Junior-Senior%20High%20School/About%20Us/PSSA%20Report%20Card
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