Ralston Valley High School
| Ralston Valley High School | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
| 13355 West 80th Avenue, Arvada, Colorado United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary school |
| Established | 2000 |
| School district | Jefferson County Public Schools |
| Principal | Jim Ellis |
| Staff | 129[1] |
| Faculty | 72[1] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,624 [2] |
| Campus size | 54 acres (220,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Navy blue, Carolina blue and Silver |
| Athletics | 5A |
| Athletics conference | Jefferson County League |
| Mascot | Mustangs |
| Information | 303-982-5600 |
| Website | Ralston Valley High School |
Ralston Valley High School is a public high school in Arvada, Colorado. Since it opened for the 2000 school year, its enrollment has grown to around 1700 students. Area rivalries include Standley Lake High School and Arvada West High School.
Contents |
[edit] History
The 24th high school built in Jefferson County Public Schools, Ralston Valley's opening relieved Arvada West High School, which was serving so many students in 1999 it was on a split schedule. Groundbreaking occurred in March 1999 and the school opened in the fall of 2000 to students.[3]
The mascot of Ralston Valley is the Mustang. It was selected based on votes from local elementary and middle school students in Jefferson County who would be attending RVHS. There were 3 other options on the final ballot, with the mustang ultimately being selected. The mascot is significant to the location of the school, which is located on land that was formerly a ranch that raised and bred horses. Part of this ranch still exists across the street from the southern edge of campus.
[edit] Campus
The school building, situated on a 54-acre (220,000 m2) site in northwest Arvada, was designed by LKA Partners and won a Merit Award in 2002 from the Colorado chapter of the American Institute of Architects.[4]
In March 2007, the school finished additional construction for expansion. This consisted of the addition of 47,700 sq ft (4,430 m2) of classroom and science labs to the east side of the building as well as 45,700 sq ft (4,250 m2) of classroom and more science labs to the south side.[5] This renovation closed off the lower level in a full square to connect the science, math and (new) foreign language halls. Previously, the science and math halls were only connected in a horseshoe. Further renovations included the addition of 10,443-square-foot (970.2 m2) resulting in an auxiliary gym with a bleacher mezzanine, weight room and expanded athletic locker rooms. RVHS is one of only a few high schools to have the Millikan oil-drop experiment equipment along with the equipment for finding the mass of the electron.
Additional improvements:
Darkroom
Orchestra Pit in the auditorium
Computer Lab
Expanded Student Commons
New athletic practice field
SmartBoards in nearly every classroom
Expanded student, staff and visitor parking
Expanded Bus Drop-off and Pick-up points
The estimated budget for the expansion was $29.5 million. According to Jefferson County Public Schools "The project entailed demolition of the existing academic and administration areas and the redevelopment of the site. Therefore, a large portion of a building only five years old was torn down after the architects had won numerous awards for it and the taxpayers had not yet paid off the debt on it." [6]
[edit] Students and faculty
The student-teacher ratio is 22.6 to 1 [1][2]
[edit] Extracurricular activities
[edit] Athletics
Ralston Valley fields teams in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross county, football. golf, ice hockey, girls lacrosse, poms, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling in interscholastic competition. Although Ralston Valley initially competed in Class 4A athletics, the school has since moved to Class 5A (the highest level in Colorado) as of fall 2009.
State championships won by the school include [7]:
- Boys' basketball: 2003 (4A)
- Coed cheerleading: 2003 (4A), 2006 (4A/5A)
- Poms: 2004 (4A)
- Baseball: 2008 (4A)
- Softball: 2002, 2008 (4A)
- Girl's Swimming: 2007, 2008, 2009 (5A) [8]
- Boy's Golf: 2008 (5A)
[edit] Student groups
Ralston Valley holds an interesting collection of clubs and organizations. This high end 5A school creates a great environment where students can express their creative ideals though these organizations.
- CARE Team- a dedicated group of students that volunteer and become involved with other peers seeking help or ad. They also provide ideals of new community service.
- Drama Club- The Drama club is headed by T.J Thomas, the drama club helps by creating new plays outside the main school events and taking performances to elementary schools around the community.
- FCCLA
- Instrumental Music
- Marching Band
- Mock Trial
- National Honor Society
- Spirit Squad
- MVP- Mustang Video Production- Where students make and create their videos promoting Ralston Valley, like filming football or specific sporting events and place them for the student government to see.
- Anime Club- Where students are inclined to watch Japanese animation to greater Japanese filmmakers talk about their films.
- Newspaper
- Ski/Snowboard Club(Shred the Gnar)- Where students are taken to Copper Mountain and other trips for grand skiing and snowboarding adventure
- Student Government- STUGO- Our student government, providing decisions and selecting events to make Ralston Valley a greater working environment.
- Vive la France- Headed by Mrs. Leslie, the French club takes outings to French Restaurants and promotes the awareness of French culture
- Spanish Club
- Vocal Music
- WHOA (Warm Hearts of Africa) Club- A group that promotes the awareness of life outside the community of Ralston Valley and takes a trip to Africa each year to give students a new life affirming experience.
- Yearbook
[edit] Notable alumni
- Ben Wysocki, drummer for pop band The Fray.[9]
- Dave Welsh, electric guitar player for pop band The Fray.[9]
- Nick Fazekas (2003), University of Nevada, Reno basketball player, Drafted 34th to Dallas Mavericks[10]
- Dan Gustavson, former guitar player for post-hardcore band Drop Dead, Gorgeous.[11][11]
- Jamie Dukehart-Conti (2003), Miss Colorado 2008 [12]
- Robert Carney (2004), Accomplished Crocodile Wrangler [13]
- Jason Putnik (2006), 2009 National Committee President of the Evans Scholarship Foundation [14]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "School Accountability Report" (PDF). 2008-10-20. http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/pdf/2008_1420_7239_H.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ a b Ralston Valley High School - Demographics. Jeffco Public Schools.
- ^ Bingham, Janet (1999-02-26). "District makes start on Legacy". Denver Post : pp. B-02.
- ^ AIA Colorado South - Awards.
- ^ Ralston Valley High School Construction Overview.
- ^ Ralston Valley High School Construction Overview. Jeffco Public Schools.
- ^ State Team Champions. Colorado High School Activities Association.
- ^ Colorado Swim Title 9News KUSA.
- ^ a b Key Communiqué. Jefferson County Public Schools. February 13, 2007.
- ^ Tomasson, Chris (2007-03-16). "Tomasson: Nelson wouldn't mind being wrong". Rocky Mountain News. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sports_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_83_5422083,00.html.
- ^ a b http://www.rockonrequest.com/id78.html
- ^ http://www.missamerica.org/competition-info/national-contestants.aspx?state=Colorado&year=2009
- ^ http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/guidance/weird-jobs.htm
- ^ http://www.coloradoevansscholars.com.htm
[edit] External links
- Ralston Valley Xpress Newspaper
- Ralston Valley High School official website
- Ralston Valley Music Boosters
