Plano West Senior High School

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Plano West Senior High School
Leading With Pride
Address
5601 West Parker Road Plano, Texas, 75093 United States
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	1999
School district	Plano Independent School District
Superintendent	Dr. Doug Otto
Principal	Kathy King
Grades	11–12
Enrollment	1,855
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Royal blue, black, and white
Mascot	Wolf
Rival	Plano Senior High School
Website	Official website

Plano West Senior High School (commonly West, Plano West, or PWSH) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas (USA) serving high school juniors and seniors. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District, with admission based primarily on the locations of students' homes. Students at Plano West attended one of two high schools: Jasper or Shepton. Plano West is accredited by the Texas Education Agency, which designates the school as "Recognized". The school colors are royal blue, black, and white, and the mascot is the Wolf.

This mascot was selected by future students of the school prior to its opening, and represents a departure from the theme of feline-related mascots used by the other two senior high schools. Before the founding of Plano West, there was a push by students to have the school mascot be the bulldog, but this was vetoed by the administration.^[1]

[edit] In the news

In July 2003, Taylor Hooton, a student athlete at Plano West, committed suicide which many believed was connected to depression caused by the use of steroids used for performance enhancement. This incident drew national focus to the issues of high school athletes and steroid use. Chris Wash was featured on the cover of the December 20, 2004, Newsweek magazine wearing a Plano West Senior High School shirt in an article about the use of steroids in high schools. On March 10, 2005, Taylor's father, Don Hooton, testified before a Congressional Subcommittee about the use of steroids in high school. This was a widely covered event as several prominent baseball players including José Canseco and Mark McGwire testified as well.

[edit] Academics

Building "B" houses the science department and all science related classes.

Plano West operates on a 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes seven periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch. There is one period from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. called "Zero Hour" which students can opt to attend, thus enabling an 8:00-to-3:19 school day. ^[2]

Plano West offers 26 Advanced Placement courses out of the 31 possible courses. The school currently offers many vocational courses in agriculture, early childhood education, home economics, journalism, fashion design, advertising design, drafting, automotive technology, criminal justice, and clinical rotation.^[1]

In 2005-2006, students achieved an average composite SAT score of 1158 out of 1600 and a mean ACT score of 24.6 out of 36. Both scores are the highest out of all three PISD senior high schools.^[3] Many Plano West students received National Merit Scholarship accolades in the 2005-2006 school year, including 30 finalists, 40 semi-finalists, and 59 commended students.^[1]

Plano West is ranked 186 in Newsweek's Top Public High Schools 2007.

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Championships

[edit] Football

The Plano West Wolves have made the state football playoffs in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. However, their only playoff win in school history occurred in 2004 against DeSoto High School. Plano West has an intense football rivalry with the Plano Senior Wildcats. The Plano East Panthers are also another big rival in football and in other sports as well.

[edit] Basketball

Under coach Anthony Morgan, the Plano West Wolves boys' basketball team has won district titles back to back in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The 2008-2009 has gone further in the playoffs than any other team in school history.

[edit] Other

The Plano West hockey team won back-to-back state championships in the Southwestern Bell High School Hockey League for the years of 2004 and 2005. However, during the 2004 Southwestern Bell High School Hockey Championship (Texas Cup) Plano West had to forfeit all games due to ineligible players. The 2004 Texas Cup was not awarded to any team. The team has played in the state championship game in four of the six years of its existence.[2]

In addition, the women's soccer team was ranked #1 in the nation and claimed the Texas state championship the first three years in the school's existence.

The men's lacrosse team for Plano West also won state title honors in 2005. Plano West completed a 10-3 season in the Texas Division 2 North conference with the only losses coming to Division 1 teams. West then went 5-0 in the playoffs, including two riveting games against rival Plano East. West defeated East 15-14 in overtime in the conference finals, and 13-12 in the state finals to capture its first state championship in only its fourth season of existence.

The Plano West Wolves have also competed in a UIL Record four consecutive State 5A High School Tennis Championships at the Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin, Texas, (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) winning the UIL State Championship 5A Title in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Plano West made it to the Final Four in each of its seven years of existence, to the State Championship Match five times, and won the championship title four of those years, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The Plano West Runnin Wolves Cross Country team swept the 9-5A district meet in 2006, 2007, and 2008 placing first in all four races. Both varsity teams advanced to regionals. The Plano West Girls Cross Country team qualified for state for the third time in school history. They placed first at regionals for the first time in 2006. The Plano West Boys Cross Country team qualified for the state meet for the first time in school history in 2006. The Girls team finished in 4th place, while the Boys team finished 6th. The Plano West Cross Country team won the district 9-5A again in 2007, placing first in all four races once again. In 2008 the Plano West Girl's cross country team came in third place at the state meet.

The Plano West Swim team completed a stellar 2006-2007 campaign with the guy's team finishing higher at state than ever before. Led by senior Jordan Hawley, the Wolves were able to place 8 swims at the state meet. Two unfortunate disqualifications in a second place and winning relay negated a chance to place in the top three overall for the boys team. The DQs were a result of Vadim K. leaving early on both relays, one of which was by .01 of a second. Sophomore Brendan McIntee was named by coach Kris Jones as Plano West Male Swimmer of the Year based on his leadership and performance throughout the season. The award follows up his award from the 2005-2006 academic year of Newcomer of the Year.

In 2007, both the Plano West Boys and Girls Soccer Teams advanced to the State Final. The Plano West Girls defeated previously undefeated Deer Park 3-0 to win its 4th state championship. Sophomore Lauren LaGro was named the Championship Match MVP.^[9]. Meanwhile, the Boys team lost to undefeated Flower Mound Marcus in a shootout, 3-2, despite having the lead with less than 2 minutes remaining.^[10].

At the end of the 2007 school year, West was awarded with the Texas Dodge Dealers Lone Star Cup, given to the top sports high school in the state due to how far high schools went or final rank in all district, regional, and state playoff competitions. West tied with Humble Kingwood, but won the tie breaker with 2 overall state championships (Girls Soccer and Team Tennis) to Kingwood's 1 (Boys Swimming).

In 2007, Plano West won the Dallas Morning News SportsDay's All-Sports High School Award as the top athletic program in North Texas. ^[11].

[edit] Notable alumni

• David Lofton (Class of 2002) — NFL defensive back with the Miami Dolphins, formerly at Stanford University.^[12]
• Vickiel Vaughn (Class of 2002) — NFL defensive back with the Denver Broncos, formerly at the University of Arkansas.^[13]
• Taylor Hooton - drew national attention due to steroid use.
• Spencer Wadsworth - (Class of 2004) Soccer player for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer, formerly at Duke University.

[edit] Music

The Plano West Chamber Orchestra has been named the outstanding string orchestra for the state of Texas by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) 4 consecutive times. Directed by Mrs. Jo Wallace-Abbie, the orchestra is made up of approximately 40 musicians. TMEA rules prohibit a school from entering the competition the year after it has won, so the title of Texas "Honor Orchestra" was won in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. The orchestra has been featured on the Disney Channel series "Totally in Tune" which aired in 2001. In 2005 , the orchestra won a Cappie Award for Outstanding Pit Orchestra in a musical, for the school production of Les Misérables.

The Plano West band is directed by James Hannah, and assistant director David DeSoto. The James Hannah Mighty Wolf band has a marching and concert season, and also has a winterguard program. In the 2006-2007 school year, the band had 126 members. The band's 2008 Marching show is "A Nation's Strength, we lift them up to the sky" by the famous composer, Robert W. Smith. Mr. Smith wrote this specific composition for the Plano West Marching Band, and will work with them to perfect it.

[edit] Theatre

The Plano West Theatre Department is currently under the direction of Ms. Carla Ford-Rich, who has been named the Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association.^[14] Past theatre productions include performances of West Side Story, Les Misérables, The Laramie Project, To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Dark Side of the Moon.

[edit] See also

• Plano East Senior High School
• Plano Senior High School
• Shepton High School
• Jasper High School

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Plano West Senior High School Band Website

Coordinates: 33°02′37″N 96°48′48″W / 33.0436°N 96.8133°W / 33.0436; -96.8133