Warren Township High School

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Warren Township High School
Expect Success, Exceed Dreams
Address
Almond Campus:
34090 Almond Road
O'Plaine Campus:
500 N. O'Plaine Road
Gurnee, Illinois 60031
Information
School type High school
Founded 1917
School district Warren Township High School District 121
Principal O'Plaine Campus:
Dr. Jeff Brierton
Almond Campus:
Rob Parrot
Vice principal O'Plaine Campus:
Chuck Maurer
Almond Campus:
Staff 260
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 4277
Language English
Campus Suburban
Color(s) Royal Blue, Old Gold
Team name Blue Devils
Website www.wths.net

Warren Township High School, or Warren, is a public four-year high school located in Gurnee, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. The school is split across two campuses: the O'Plaine Road Campus for freshmen and sophomores and Almond Road Campus for juniors and seniors. It is part of Warren Township High School District 121.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Brief History

Since its formation in 1915, Warren Township High School District 121 has grown and evolved with its residents. From a one-story building on O’Plaine Road to two campuses located about 4.5 miles apart, Warren has seen graduating classes grow from about 25 students in the beginning to more than 900 today. There are more than 4,000 students divided between two campuses representing one comprehensive high school program for more than 61,000 residents from Gurnee, Grayslake, Waukegan, Wadsworth, Beach Park, Gages Lake, Wildwood, Grandwood Park, Millburn, Park City and Old Mill Creek.

The school is indirectly named after Joseph Warren, a doctor and patriot soldier in the American Revolution. The settlers who founded Warren Township were from Warren, New York, also named for Joseph Warren.

The first high school was erected in 1917. The one-floor school first opened in the fall of 1918 with 57 pupils in attendance. Between the years 1920 and 1924, a Vocational Agriculture Building and Farm Shop (separate from the school) were constructed. In 1926, a second floor and gymnasium were added to the 1917 structure. Additions to this structure were also made in 1951, 1956, 1960, 1968, and 1974.

A defining time in Warren Township High School history was December 20, 1984 when the high school building was destroyed by fire just before winter break. All students and staff moved to the Lake Forest West Campus where Warren Township High School existed from January 1985 to June 1987. Students and staff returned to Gurnee in August 1987 after the high school was rebuilt on the same site.

With enrollment continuing to spiral upward, a second campus for Warren Township High School opened in 1997 for juniors and seniors. Called the Almond Campus, it is dependent on the O’Plaine Campus for amenities such as the football field, indoor pool and auditorium.

Two prestigious awards were presented to the high school in the 1999-2000 school year with a “Those Who Excel” recognition for creating a learning community throughout the school organization and the national “Blue Ribbon School” recognition from the U.S. Department of Education.

The last major construction project was partly completed in 2008 which included a renovation of the Almond Campus lunchroom. A 3 million dollar project that converted the black box theater into a larger seating area for students. More renovations are still underway, as more classrooms are being added. The project is set to finish for 2010.

[edit] No Child Left Behind

According to Warren's 2008 Report Card, the school failed to meet the minimum requirements for adequate yearly progress for the sixth year in a row. [1] The school's 2008-'09 Federal Improvement Status is Restructuring. [1] The school's 2008-'09 State Improvement Status is Academic Watch Status Year 3.

Since the 2004-2005 Report Card, Warren has had the status of "Choice". [1] This was intended to allow parents to transfer their children to a school with passing scores.

Since the 2005-2006 Report Card, Warren has had the status of "Supplemental Educational Services" under the federal law. [1] This requires Warren to offer free outside tutoring to economically disadvantaged students.

The first NCLB report card was published in the fall of 2003, the first year of Dr. Sobocinski's superintendency. The district failed to meet the minimum standards of NCLB in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The failure was always the result of failures within subgroups, such as special education students, Hispanic students, and black students. In the most important All Student category, Warren met the AYP standard. In each of the six years, the school district was found to have required all 11th graders to take the state assessment. For obvious statistical reasons, this is the most important single rule of the NCLB testing.

[edit] 2008-2009 Report Card Scandal

On June 10, 2008, the school board created a new category of juniors. They were called "Juniors for the purposes of the PSAE." [2] All students who met the traditional 8-credit standard became juniors. But only those juniors who met a much higher 11-credit standard would be permitted to take the PSAE. In essence, the juniors were divided into two groups. About 85% were deemed qualified to take the PSAE. About 15% were still juniors, but because they had failed one or more classes, they would not be allowed to take the PSAE.

All of the juniors were housed in the Almond Road junior-senior campus. They were all called juniors. All athletes in the group participated at the junior varsity or varsity level. From the first day of school, they were listed in as 11th graders in SIS, the state's computer system. They all called themselves juniors, as did their friends, their teachers, their parents, and all school records. On the two days of state testing in April, 2009, they were all enrolled as juniors.

On June 26, 2009, a formal complaint against the district was filed by Richard Bryan, a retired Warren teacher. Mr. Bryan alleged that the district had improperly denied some juniors the right to take the PSAE. [3] The formal complaint would take several months. Eventually, the State Superintendent of Education would issue his findings.

On July 8, 2009, the Illinois State Board of Education Director of Assessment informed superintendent Sobocinski that all juniors had to take the assessment. She explained to him that each district could set the criteria to become a junior, but that there could not be two standards—one for taking the PSAE and one for every other purpose.

On July 20, 2009, Melina Wright, the NCLB liaison at the ISBE wrote to Phil Sobocinski, stating that Warren was violating state and federal requirements and that federal funding was at risk. She wrote, "This practice must cease immediately." [3] The district later explained that this sentence was unclear.

The administrative decision to exclude 150 juniors from the test will result in a failure in ten out of fourteen participation categories when the 2009 Report Card is released. For the first time ever, Warren will fail in the important All Students category. White students and Asian students will still pass. All educationally disadvantaged subgroups will fail because blacks, Hispanics, and special ed students were disproportionately excluded. No matter how well the students score on the test, the school will fail on the Report Card because of the illegal policy.

On July 21, 2009, the scandal was discussed at length in an open board meeting. The district has an audio recording of the entire meeting. District officials agreed that about 150 juniors were prevented from taking the test. Board member Crowley explained that the district was not trying to hurt children. He concluded, "The child is being helped by what we're doing. We're trying to help ourselves at the same time."

Board members Thommes and Conley pressed hard for the district to comply with the ISBE order by testing all juniors in the future. Board members Crowley and Anderson, as well as administrators Sobocinski, Perry Bates, and Gehrig, favored continuing the exclusion of students who had less than 11 credits. They all felt that the exclusions would be legal with only a small semantic change.

Administrators repeatedly argued that the policy was completely legal, that it was approved in advance by the ISBE, and that high schools all over the state were doing essentially the same thing. In the context of a discussion about other schools who allegedly have the same policy, the superintendent expressed his ethical position by saying, "If they get a pass, we want a pass."

[edit] Statistics

Percentages less than 1% are shown as <1%. Other percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

[edit] School Overview

The overall view of the school through the Illinois Interactive Report Card.[4]

Average Teacher Salary $63,556
Average Teacher Experience 10.7 Years
Instructional Expenditure per Pupil (03-04) $5,561
Operational Expenditure per Pupil (03-04) $10,433
Low Income 11%

[edit] Local School Districts' Ethnic Subgroups

Each of the local districts has become steadily more diverse in recent years. In terms of educationally disadvantaged subgroups, only Gurnee District #56 is more diverse than the state of Illinois as a whole. [5]

Ethnicity Warren H.S. Dist.#121 Gurnee Dist.#56 Woodland Dist. #50 State of Illinois
White 63% 50% 62% 55%
Black 10% 14% 7% 20%
Hispanic 15% 25% 17% 19%
Asian 11% 6% 10% 4%
Native American <1% <1% <1% <1%
Multiracial 1% 4% 4% 2%

[edit] Local School District's Overall Diversity

There is an alternate point of view on diversity. The state combines ethnicity with other measurements including income, primary language, special education status, etc. These are measured by counting the number of categories in which each district must meet AYP standards. The requirement ranges from a low of 5 categories to a high of 41. By this definition, each of the districts shown on the table below is more diverse than most other Illinois schools. [6]

Warren H.S. Dist.#121 Gurnee Dist.#56 Woodland Dist. #50
Number of Categories 29 33 37

[edit] Local School Districts' Test Results

This is the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the state goals in the average of all tests in 2006-2007. The grade school districts are between 9% and 13% above the state average. The high school district is 12% below the state average. [7]

Warren H.S. Dist.#121 Gurnee Dist.#56 Woodland Dist. #50 State of Illinois
Percentage 62% 83% 87% 74%

[edit] Black Student Performance in Local School Districts

This is the percentage of black students that meet or exceed state standards in overall performance in each subject area. Black subgroups excel at both grade school districts. Scores are much lower at Warren High School. [5]

Subject area Warren H.S. Dist.#121 Gurnee Dist.#56 Woodland Dist. #50
Reading 43% 66% 62%
Math 32% 72% 74%

[edit] Hispanic Student Performance in Local School Districts

This is the percentage of Hispanic students that meet or exceed state standards in overall performance in each subject area. Hispanic subgroups excel at both grade school districts. Scores are much lower at Warren High School.[5]

Subject area Warren H.S. Dist.#121 Gurnee Dist.#56 Woodland Dist. #50
Reading 48% 79% 71%
Math 45% 79% 77%

[edit] Local School Districts' State Academic Status

Warren is the only local district on reduced status. The school was on Academic Early Warning Status for two years and is now in its second year of Academic Watch Status. [5]

Warren H.S. Dist.#121 Gurnee Dist.#56 Woodland Dist. #50
Status Academic Watch Full Recognition Full Recognition

[edit] Warren's Overall Results Compared to the State

This is the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the state goals in the average of all tests. It compares Warren's performance with that of the state as a whole. [8]

Year Warren State  % Difference
2002 66% 60% +6%
2003 61% 61% none
2004 61% 62% -1%
2005 63% 65% -2%
2006 64% 73% -9%
2007 62% 74% -12%

[edit] Warren's Overall Results Compared to the City of Chicago

This is the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the state goals in the average of all tests. This compares Warren District #121's Average of All Tests with that of Chicago District #299, the largest and one of the most diverse districts in the state. [9]

Year Warren Chicago  % Difference
2002 66% 38% +28%
2003 61% 40% +21%
2004 61% 42% +19%
2005 63% 45% +18%
2006 64% 58% +6%
2007 62% 60% +2%

[edit] Lake County H.S. Districts' Instructional Expenditure per Pupil

This demonstrates that there is only one high school district in Lake County which spends less on instructional cost per student than Warren.[10]

H.S. District Dollars per Pupil  %age Difference from Warren
Highland Park #113 $10,139 +82%
Lake Forest #115 $9,204 +66%
Libertyville #128 $8,864 +59%
Stevenson #125 $8,303 +49%
Antioch #117 $7,575 +36%
Zion-Benton #126 $6,131 +10%
Mundelein #120 $5,981 +8%
Grayslake #127 $5,583 none
Warren #121 $5,561 ---
Grant #124 $5,044 -9%

[edit] Parental Contact

Warren is on average with the state for parental contact, which includes parent-teacher contacts, phone contacts, written contacts, and parent visits to the school. [11]

District State
96.3 96.1

[edit] Student to Staff Ratios

Warren's student to staff ratios are higher than the state average. [11]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio Pupil-Certified Staff Ratio Pupil-Administration Ratio
District 19.2 14.5 314.5
State 18.8 13.9 230.6

[edit] Average Class Size

Warren's class sizes are above the state average. [11]

District State
20.3 18.9

[edit] Teacher Salaries

The average Warren teacher salary is 9% higher than the state average teacher salary. However, Warren's average teacher salary is 22% lower than the average salary in large high school districts in Illinois. (The state classifies Warren as a large high school district.)[12] In fact, Warren has the lowest beginning teacher pay of all large Illinois high school districts (more than 3000 students.) [13]

State Warren Large High School Districts
$58,275 $63,556 $77,750

[edit] Administration Salaries

The average Warren administration salary is 24% higher than the state average administration salary. However, it is 5% higher than the average administration salary in large high school districts in Illinois. (The state classifies Warren as a large high school district.) [12]

State Warren Large High School Districts
$102,310 $127,223 $120,738

[edit] Sports

Warren's Blue Devils compete in the North Suburban Conference.

[edit] Cheerleading

In 1992, the Warren Township High School Cheerleading Squad won the ICCA state championship. Years later, in 2005, the team won 3rd place in the ICCA state cheerleading championship.The following year, the Illinois state cheerleading rules and regulations underwent a major change. Cheerleading became an official sport in the state which made the competition schedule comparable to other major sports with sectional, super-sectional, and state championships. In order to make it to the end, other teams were left behind. The Warren High School Cheerleaders were faced with a challenged that bumped them up to a higher level due to the 8A size of the school. They placed 0 in the North Suburban Conference competition, beating their 1st place rival, Stevenson High School. Despite the rise of Cheerleading's prominence in Illinois sports however, it is still unknown what actually takes place during a Cheerleading competition. The ICCA has been tasked with expanding the monosyllabic spelling contest, as well as the unison shouting event, into more robust, sustainable competitive events. It is due to release its recommendations sometime in 2011.

[edit] Track and Field

In 2009, the Warren Township High School Track and Field Team finished 13th in the state. The school's 4 by 800m relay team won an individual state championship behind members Gabby Nystrom, Sarahbeth Jones, Natalia Jovanovic, and Heather Olson.

[edit] Activities

  • Academic Team (Scholastic Bowl)
  • Astronomy Club
  • Art Club
  • Band
  • CEC (Counsel for Exceptional Children)
  • Choir
  • Creations (Student published art and literary magazine)[1]
  • Drama Club
  • EXCEL
  • FBLA (Future Business Leaders of Americana)
  • Fight Club
  • French Club
  • FROLF
  • German Club
  • Hockey
  • Indian Club
  • International Club
  • Iris (GSA)
  • Knitting Club
  • MECS (Mother Earth's Concerned Students)
  • NAMBLA (Student Chapter)
  • NHS (National Honor Society)
  • PAC (Political Action Club)
  • Scratch Paper (Student Newspaper)
  • Ski Club
  • SOS (Students of Service Club)
  • Spanish Club
  • Speech Team
  • Student Council
  • Tech Team Website
  • Winter Guard
  • Yearbook




[edit] Band

The Warren Township High School band program involves over 300 students, making it the largest high school band program between IL Route 132 and IL Route 120. Ensembles include seven (with the new Concert Band II Almond added for the 08-09 school year) curricular concert bands, four curricular jazz bands, two marching bands, chamber ensembles, jazz combos and pep band. They have a website at http://www.wthsbands.org

[edit] Jazz Bands

Throughout the year, three curricular jazz bands are offered: Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Almond, and Jazz Lab O'Plaine. The Jazz Ensemble has performed at the 1995 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the 1996 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference, and the 2000 Monterey Jazz Festival. All four jazz bands received superior ratings at the 2008 Northshore Jazz Festival. In addition, Jazz Lab III O'Plaine received two perfect scores at the 2008 IHSA Organizational Contest. Jazz Ensemble has placed in the top three of their class at Jazz in the Meadows for over ten years, often performing in the Grand Finale Concert. In 2009, the Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab O'Plaine both placed first in their class at Jazz in the Meadows. Jazz Ensemble was also named Grand Champion at Jazz in the Meadows. The Warren Township High School Jazz Ensemble has been invited to play at the 2009 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic.

[edit] Athletic Bands

During the fall, all students participate in one of two marching bands. The Marching Show Band is made up of Concert Bands I, II and III from the O'Plaine Campus, and some students from Concert Bands I and II at the Almond Campus. The Show Band performs at community parades, and performs a simple field show at each home football game. The Marching Blue Devils Competition Band is made up of Symphonic Band I and II members, with some select members from Concert Bands I and II at Almond. The Marching Blue Devils have earned top honors at marching festivals throughout Illinois and finished in the top ten at the State of Illinois Marching Band Championships in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008.

[edit] Concert Bands

When marching season ends, the students are assigned to one of seven curricular concert bands: Symphonic Band I, Symphonic Band II, Concert Band I Almond, Concert Band I O'Plaine, Concert Band II O'Plaine, Concert Band II Almond, and Concert Band III. The concert band program is the core of the Warren Township High School Bands. In recent years, Symphonic Band II and Concert Band I O'Plaine have performed at the IHSA Organizational Contest and received superior ratings. Symphonic Band I is the premier ensemble at Warren Township High School. Symphonic Band I has given performances at the IMEA All-State Conference in 2000 and 2009, the Bands of America National Concert Band in 1998 and 2003, and has been accepted to the University of Illinois Superstate Festival over fifteen times, most recently in 2009.

[edit] Winter Guard

The Warren Winter Guard has been successful. The Winter Guard placed first in the 6-minute Flag Show category at the 2007 Team Dance & Flag Illinois state finals in Peoria, earning its seventh State Championship title in a row. The Warren Blue Devil Winter Guard has begun taking their show on a larger road this year, becoming a force in the Midwest Color Guard Circuit, competing against winter guards from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa this season. The team completed their season on March 3, going undefeated in their class. [14]

[edit] Library

Warren Township has a library housing a wide variety of books and many computer workstations, which is typical of most libraries.

[edit] Cafeteria

Warren Township has two cafeterias, one at each campus. The cafeterias house tables, chairs, vending machines, and hot food service.

[edit] Project Lead the Way

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses began in the 2006-2007 school year with approximately 100 freshman students. This program offers engineering courses to high school students. During the 2006-2007 school year, it was realized that two classes in this program were switched. Therefore, it caused many Freshman to be placed in the Sophomore classes. In 2007-2008 when the courses were resequenced, 55% of Freshmen and Sophomores earned college credit for their work in the PLTW courses.

Couses Offered 2009-2010 School Year

  • Introduction to Engineering Design
  • Principles of Engineering
  • Digital Electronics
  • Engineering Development & Design

[edit] Alumni

Additional notable staff and alumni of Warren can be found at wths.net

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "ISBE eReport Card Public Site". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
  2. ^ "Board of Ed Minutes". http://www.wths.net/images/boardofed/minutes/6-10-08regmin.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
  3. ^ a b "Warren High Fighting State Agency's Accusations Over Student Testing". http://www.isbe.net/news/2009/newsclips/090724.htm#w. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
  4. ^ "Interactive Illinois Report Card". http://iirc.niu.edu/School.aspx?source=School%20Profile&schoolID=340491210170001&year=2006&level=S. Retrieved 2006-11-28. 
  5. ^ a b c d "ISBE eReport Card Public Site". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
  6. ^ "ISBE eReport Card Public Site". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx. Retrieved 2007-12-07. 
  7. ^ "ISBE eReport Card Public Site". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-28. 
  8. ^ "Interactive Illinois Report Card -- Warren's page". http://iirc.niu.edu/School.aspx?schoolID=340491210170001&year=2007&source=school%20profile. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  9. ^ "eReport Card Public Site". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx. Retrieved 2007-12-13. 
  10. ^ "Interactive Illinois Report Card -- Data search". http://iirc.niu.edu/compare.aspx?tsource=find&tsource2=district&level=d&districtID=340491210&year=2007. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
  11. ^ a b c "Warren Township High School’s Illinois Report Card" (PDF). http://www.wths.net/images/forms/rc/rc07.pdf. Retrieved 2006-11-28. 
  12. ^ a b "Interactive Illinois Report Card -- Data search". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2007&code=340491210ds_e.html. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
  13. ^ "ISBE Illinois Teacher Salary Study 2006-2007, p.38-40". http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getReport.aspx?year=2007&code=340491210ds_e.html. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
  14. ^ Warren Band Boosters

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Township_High_School"