Wasatch Junior High: Difference between revisions
Undid revision 154265256 by 67.171.115.63 (talk) |
|||
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
===Wasatch and Churchill Junior High=== |
===Wasatch and Churchill Junior High=== |
||
After the 6-alarm [[wiktionary:fire|fire]], the [[Granite School District]] decided to build a new Wasatch Junior High, but in that time, Wasatch [[wiktionary:students|students]] needed to share a facility with Churchill Junior High. The faculty and staff in Wasatch Junior High had 2 months to prepare for the next school year, building their teaching materials from scratch. The staff worked hard, trying to rearrange classroom assignments, bring in new portable classrooms, change class times, and renew teachers' materials. "It was kind of like a death when you don't get a chance to grieve -- we just had to put everything aside and just get the work done," said Sam McBride, 7th grade Spanish teacher. Staff and students at Churchill, with a gradually decreasing enrollment rate, offered to make room for Wasatch students, creating two schools in one building. |
After the 6-alarm [[wiktionary:fire|fire]], the [[Granite School District]] decided to build a new Wasatch Junior High, but in that time, Wasatch [[wiktionary:students|students]] needed to share a facility with Churchill Junior High. The faculty and staff in Wasatch Junior High had 2 months to prepare for the next school year, building their teaching materials from scratch. The staff worked hard, trying to rearrange classroom assignments, bring in new portable classrooms, change class times, and renew teachers' materials. "It was kind of like a death when you don't get a chance to grieve -- we just had to put everything aside and just get the work done," said Sam McBride, 7th grade Spanish teacher. Staff and students at Churchill, with a gradually decreasing enrollment rate, offered to make room for Wasatch students, creating two schools in one building.. What was a 700 student school, turned into a crowded 1,600 student school as Wasatch students moved in. The big challenge was sharing playing fields and stages for sports and performances; stages had to be scheduled in different times so both schools would have an equal amount of time practicing for certain plays. The field had to be split into 4 sections, each for either [[Physical Education|PE]], or for after-lunch social time. Although Wasatch and Churchill still have a tense [[wiktionary:rival|rivalry]] between each other, they have started to cooperate with the situation. In the Fall of 2008, the new Wasatch Junior High building will be open for the school year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20060712/ai_n16528374|title=Wasatch and Churchill United|publisher=[[Deseret News]]|date|accessdate=2007-03-24}}</ref> |
||
==School Choice== |
==School Choice== |
||
Revision as of 23:58, 28 August 2007
Template:High School Infobox
Wasatch Junior High of the Granite School District, is located at 3450 East Oakview Drive. It has an enrollment rate of 885 students and has the highest junior high SAT scores in the district.[1]
Faculty
| Faculty | |
|---|---|
| Teacher | Subject |
| Mr. Bingham | Principal |
| Dr. Mackintosh | Assistant Principal |
Wasatch Fire
On July 11th, 2005, a six-alarm destroyed Wasatch Junior High. More than 100 firefighters fought the fire, along with six to eight fire trucks. At 12:30 the fire alarm went off and the principal discovered that the source of the fire was an old computer server in the media center. The fire quickly spread to the attic, making what was a three-alarm fire, a six-alarm. The fire what so powerful and forceful that firefighters had to fight it from the outside, without risking their lives inside. Wasatch Principal , Doug Bingham said, "It's just a building, but a building is a place where people are invested in each other's lives, and this one is toast."[2]
Wasatch and Churchill Junior High
After the 6-alarm fire, the Granite School District decided to build a new Wasatch Junior High, but in that time, Wasatch students needed to share a facility with Churchill Junior High. The faculty and staff in Wasatch Junior High had 2 months to prepare for the next school year, building their teaching materials from scratch. The staff worked hard, trying to rearrange classroom assignments, bring in new portable classrooms, change class times, and renew teachers' materials. "It was kind of like a death when you don't get a chance to grieve -- we just had to put everything aside and just get the work done," said Sam McBride, 7th grade Spanish teacher. Staff and students at Churchill, with a gradually decreasing enrollment rate, offered to make room for Wasatch students, creating two schools in one building.. What was a 700 student school, turned into a crowded 1,600 student school as Wasatch students moved in. The big challenge was sharing playing fields and stages for sports and performances; stages had to be scheduled in different times so both schools would have an equal amount of time practicing for certain plays. The field had to be split into 4 sections, each for either PE, or for after-lunch social time. Although Wasatch and Churchill still have a tense rivalry between each other, they have started to cooperate with the situation. In the Fall of 2008, the new Wasatch Junior High building will be open for the school year.[3]
School Choice
Students are allowed to attend schools outside of their boundaries; parents may even be looking for which school their child should attend. Because of the high test scores, parents are more inclined to.
Wasatch has many advanced classes; Mr. Bingham, Principal of Wasatch Jr. High School, said "Most students come because of the academics. Wasatch offers the Gifted and Talented program for Science, English, and Social Studies classes. The school is very welcoming and it just has a good feeling." In addition Drama for beginning, intermediate, and advanced classes are offered; Concert Band, Concert Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble are also offered, and have gotten superior ratings for the past 21 years at all music festivals.
Wasatch is ranked as one of the highest schools in the state in education; According to U-Pass test scores, In 2005 Wasatch tested highest in the state on the Iowa Basic Test for the 8th grade; in addition, Wasatch CRT scores are also above the state average; in 2006, 9th grade students tested 97% in language arts, 97% in geometry, and 95% in biology, while the states averages were 81% for language arts, 70% in geometry, and 66% in biology.
Wasatch has a plethora of extra-curricular activities. It has many clubs such as Academic games (which in the 2007 season has made it to the national final), Chess Club, Community of Caring, Cheerleading, Debate Club, Math Counts, Spanish Club, Student Body Officers, and more.
Drama Program
Since the 1997-1998 school year, Wasatch has provided students with theatrical opportunities under the leadership of Karen Dodge. In addition to teaching several courses on acting and the theater world, she also has directed a full-scale school musical each spring since her first year teaching at Wasatch Junior High. The ninth of these, performed in March of 2006, was written by Dodge. Entitled "Pieces of Eight," it was a review of the first eight musicals that Dodge had directed during her tenure at Wasatch.
Year after year, Dodge's musicals turn out large crowds on three performing nights and normally an opening night cast of well over a hundred. The success of these musicals are not without sacrifice, however. Karen Dodge and her loyal stagehands, along with dozens of parent volunteers, have worked strenuous hours throughout the months of February and March in producing a show that usually costs toward $20,000. "The Play" also demands the time and energy of the actors and Stage Crew as well, as after-school practices lasting over three hours or more.
See Also
References
- ^ "Wasatch has the highest SAT scores". Granite School District. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
- ^ "Wasatch Fire". KSL-TV. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ^ "Wasatch and Churchill United". Deseret News. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
{{cite web}}: Text "date" ignored (help)