Wayzata High School
| Wayzata High School | |
 |
|
| Established | 1903 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| Principal | Dr. Craig Paul |
| Location | Plymouth, Minnesota, |
| Students | 3,237 (06-07) |
| Mascot | Trojans |
| Colors | Royal Blue and Gold |
| Website | wayzata.k12.mn.us/whs |
Wayzata High School is a high school in Plymouth, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The high school, operated by the Wayzata School District, has approximately 3,200 students, from grades 9 to 12. The current principal is Dr. Craig Paul. Despite being named Wayzata High School, the high school is not actually located in Wayzata. It receives its name from the school district, not the city in which it resides. Newsweek ranked the school #990 in their "List of the 1200 Top High Schools in America."[1]
Wayzata High School is one of the largest public high schools in Minnesota and also one of the largest in the country. Its interior measures 487,000 square feet and cost $58 million to build.[2] Construction was completed in August 1997.
Wayzata High School is part of the Classic Lake Conference, an athletic conference that also includes Minnetonka High School, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School, Edina High School, and Hopkins High School.
Academics
Classes are run on a block schedule of four periods of approximately 86 minutes each, starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 2:20 p.m. The block schedule consists of only four daily classes. Because of the length of a block schedule structured class, a one semester class is equal to taking the class all year. The block schedule allows students to focus more on their four classes rather than having eight or nine classes at some high schools. It also allows students to "double up" and take two years worth of a subject in one year. The majority of students have the same four classes every day during a semester, though many may have some changes between terms due to one-term courses or three-term courses. Some exceptions to this are students in some band, orchestra, and choir classes, who alternate one class with their respective music class every other day.
Wayzata High School offers a large number of Advanced Placement classes. For the 2007-2008 school year, twenty-five AP classes are being offered, which is the most out of any school, public or private, in Minnesota. An advantage to using the block schedule is the ability to take essay tests in class that are composed of questions from past Advanced Placement exams, giving a feel for what the actual tests will be like.
Wayzata is highly competitive academically. The average grade during the first semester of the 05-06 school year was an A-, this is a typical representation of the grades received. Due to this highly competitive atmosphere and grade inflation, class rank was dropped in the 05-06 school year. Students with B+ averages were in the bottom half of their class.
Extra-curricular Activities
Academic extra-curricular activities of notable mention include Policy debate, Math Team, DECA, BPA, Knowledge Master Open, and Quiz Bowl. All of these teams have high rankings in state leagues. The Wayzata Math Team won championships in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League in 1996, 2003, 2004, and 2005 and was runner-up in 1999 and 2007. In 2006, the Wayzata Math Team placed third in state. It has also won the conference for the past 16 years. In 2007, the Wayzata Debate Team also won the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Novice State Debate Tournaments.
Athletics
In 2005, the Wayzata Trojans won their first ever state football title 28-24 over Cretin-Derham Hall High School[3]. The team reached the title game the year before in 2004, but lost a close game to Minnetonka, 23-14.
Wayzata is part of the Classic Lake Conference in the Minnesota State High School League.
State Championships
| State Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Sport | Number of Championships | Year |
| Fall | Football | 1 | 2005 |
| Soccer, Boys | 2 | 85, 05 | |
| Cross Country, Boys | 3 | 92, 93, 00 | |
| Soccer, Girls | 4 | 91, 96, 00, 02 | |
| Winter | Basketball, Boys | 1 | 1959 |
| Wrestling | 3 | 41, 51, 52 | |
| Dance Team J/F | 3 | 91, 06, 07 | |
| Skiing, Nordic Girls | 1 | 1980 | |
| Spring | Golf, Boys | 2 | 94, 98 |
| Synchronized Swimming | 1 | 2007 | |
| Tennis, Boys | 2 | 1993, 1999 | |
| Track and Field, Boys | 4 | 77, 80, 84, 95 | |
| Track and Field, Girls | 2 | 1979, 2007 | |
| Total | 29 | ||
Notable alumni
- Marion Barber III (2001), running back for the Dallas Cowboys[4]
- Dick Beardsley, marathon runner, 2nd place in 1982 Boston Marathon
- Shawn Daivari, professional wrestler
- David Gaither, former Minnesota State Senator, and currently Governor Tim Pawlenty's Chief of Staff
- Ben Hamilton, offensive lineman for the Denver Broncos [5]
- Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator (DFL) representing Minnesota [6]
- James Laurinaitis - Linebacker, Ohio State Buckeyes, 2006 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Winner [7]
- Benjamin Salisbury, former child actor [8]
- Kimberly Elise, actress (John Q, The Manchurian Candidate)
- Bob Kruschev, Former child actor
- Joseph Stevens, Runner up in 2006 Plymouth, MN Mayoral Election
References
- ^ The Top of the Class. The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools. MSNBC (2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-20.
- ^ Wayzata High School Construction, [1]
- ^ Minnesota State High School League, 2005 State Football Tournament
- ^ Marion Barber reference,[2]
- ^ Ben Hamilton reference,[3]
- ^ Amy Klobuchar reference, [4]
- ^ James Laurinaitis reference, [5]
- ^ Benjamin Salisbury,[6]
External links
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