Westlake High School (Texas)

Westlake High school
Address
4100 Westbank Drive West Lake Hills , Travis County , Texas 78746 United States
Information
School type	Public high school
School district	Eanes Independent School District
Superintendent	Dr. Nola Wellman
Principal	Dr. John Carter
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,442 (2008)
Language	English
Mascot	Chaparral
Website	http://www.whschaps.com/

Westlake High School is a high school in West Lake Hills, Texas in the Eanes Independent School District. In 2011, it was ranked 72nd on Newsweek Magazine's list of America's top High Schools. In 2012, Children at Risk, a Houston-based nonprofit and advocacy agency ranked Westlake High School as the number 4 public high school in Austin.

Though located outside the limits of the surrounding cities by a matter of yards, Westlake High School is the lone high school in the Eanes ISD and serves West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, parts of Southwest Austin, and parts of unincorporated Travis County. The school was established in 1969 and was opened in 1970.

Academics

Statistics

Under the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) annual ranking, Westlake consistently ranks in the top 50. In 2005, 82% of Westlake students taking AP tests scored a 3 or higher. Of the 2005 senior class, 84% of students went on to attend a four year university, and another 10% attended a 2-year community, or junior, college/technical school.

AP courses

Westlake's academic programs include an extensive list of AP courses, as well as courses such as Graphic Design, national award-winning Journalism, Technical Theater, Choir, Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Computer Science, Spanish, Latin, French, German, ASL, and Chinese. AP courses include Human Geography, Government, Environmental Science, various foreign languages, and other academic courses. Westlake also has an Independent Study Mentorship program, "Ready, Set, Teach" program, and Health tech, among other special programs.

Extracurriculars

General information

"Rigor, Relevance, Relationships" is Westlake's motto brought about by principal Linda Rawlings and based on the Model Schools Initiative.

Westlake also offers many extracurricular activities. Some of these specific programs include: Film Production, The Westlake Technical Entertainment Crew, The Hyline Dance Team, Cheerleading, Band, Athletics, Chess Club, UIL Academic Competitions, Future Entrepreneurs of America, CLA, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Choir, CUTE (Cleaning Up The Environment), Cultures of the World Club, Chinese Cultural Club, PASF Spanish Club, Eco-Action Club, EDGE Club and the Computer Club.

Orchestra

The Westlake High School Orchestra has consistently achieved highly under the direction of James C. Edwards. The orchestra program currently has three full orchestras competing in UIL each year, and all three consistently return top scores. The Symphony Orchestra was recently runner-up to Plano East Senior High in Breckenridge, Colorado for the Breckenridge Blast Music Festival. Students are routinely selected for the Texas All-State Orchestra, through taped auditions requiring etudes and orchestra excerpts.

Band

The Westlake High School Chaparral Band has been named the Texas State Honor Band three times (AA, AAA, and AAAA) in its 30-year history. The Band has consistently earned University Interscholastic League (UIL) Sweepstakes trophies for superior performances. The Band marched in the Rose Parade in January, 2003 and performed in Carnegie Hall in March 2005 and April 2009. The band has traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and China to perform at various clinics and festivals and has received numerous awards.

A select group of Chap Band student musicians performed at the bi-annual conference of the internationally-recognized World Association for Symphonic Bands (WASBE) in Cincinnati, OH in July 2009. The invitation to perform at WASBE is the first ever extended to a high school band organization.

The Westlake Marching Festival, organized first in 1977, has become recognized as one of the major marching competitions held in the state with awards presented for excellence in Musicianship and Program Performance along with trophies for Best Color Guard and Drum Line Performances. Held the second Saturday in October each year, the Festival draws top bands from around Texas in all school classifications.

The 2008 Westlake Marching Band made history by performing in the bi-annual State 5A UIL Finals Competition, becoming the second band in the history of Westlake High School to achieve this honor. In 2010, the band repeated this accomplishment and placed in the top 10 of the 50+ 5A school bands competing in the State Finals.

In Fall 2010, the Band numbered over 260 members, the largest in its history.

Theatre program

The Westlake Theatre department has received many honors and awards, and many alumni of the department go on to pursue careers in theatre or theatre-related fields.

A typical season for the department consists of either one or two fall plays, a children's show near Thanksgiving, a UIL One-Act show in the spring, and three Student-Directed plays at the end of each year. All fall and UIL shows are directed by Michael Harlan or Gary Jaffe.

Past shows

2008–2009
Idiot's Delight
The King Stag
Three Sisters (dir. Jonathan Dahm)
The Finger Box (dir. Matt Stellato)
No Exit (dir. Mia Hines)
God's Ear (dir. Jackson Wimberly)

2009–2010
A Midsummer Night's Dream

2010-2011
Brothers Grimm Spectacular
A Long Way Home
Rabbit Hole (dir. Warner Eidman)
Clue (dir. Logan Leidman)

2011-2012
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Dog Sees God (dir. Chelsey Thornburg)
Peter Pan (dir. Cash McBride)
Dividing The Estate
The Foreigner (dir. Rachel Johnson)
Five Women Wearing The Same Dress (dir. Tori Twomey)
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (dir. Katie McDoniel)

Westlake Theatre also includes an improvisational troupe, the Westlake Improv Team (WIT).

School newspaper

The Westlake Featherduster is an award winning student newspaper of Westlake High School. The Featherduster was founded in 1969 and is currently advised by Deanne Brown. The Westlake Featherduster and the journalism program at Westlake High School are widely acknowledged as leaders in scholastic journalism. Many former students of the program have continued into careers in professional journalism, including Andrew Loehman (photography), Corrie MacLaggan (print journalism), and Kevin Dunn (radio).

Technical Theatre

The program includes different skills to the "behind the scenes" part of all of the shows. Some of the skills included in this is construction of sets for drama and choir (musical), lighting design, sound and moving automated lighting.

Athletics

Football program and tradition

Westlake's football team has at times been one of the elite teams in Texas. Ebbie Neptune was the head football coach from 1982 to 1986. Under his leadership the Chaps went 39-17-1. He stepped away from his position as head football coach to focus on his duties as athletic director in 1986. Once Ron Schroeder took over for the 1987 season, the team emerged as a perennial power in Texas high school football. Derek Long, who took over for Ron Schroeder at the beginning of the 2003 football season, retired following the 2008 season. Darren Allman was hired as the head coach/athletic director in late February 2009. He was the head coach/athletic director for his alma mater, Odessa Permian, the last four seasons. He turned around the tradition rich Permian program, the subject of the book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, and subsequent feature film Friday Night Lights, taking them to a 12-1 record in each of his final two seasons.

Under Coach Schroeder the team made the UIL 4A State Title Game in 1990. After moving to Class 5A, the team made the State Title Game in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2006, and 2009. 2006 under Dereck Long, 2009 under Darren Allman. In 1996, Westlake won its first, and only state championship. They beat an Abilene Cooper team by a score of 55-15 for the 5A Division II state championship. Cooper was led by future NFL runningback Dominic Rhodes. The Chaps were led by future Purdue standout and eventual Super Bowl XLIV-winning quarterback and MVP for the New Orleans Saints Drew Brees. The game was played on February 7, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The 1996 16-0 season was Westlake's only undefeated season. Drew Brees was backed by a powerhouse of senior talent. His go-to guy that title year was Ryan Read, who set the Texas all-time single season receptions record. Both were protected by a stalwart line including current NFL player Seth McKinney. The previous year, Brees had the services of Westlake's all-time leading rusher Ryan Nunez at tailback. That year Brees tore his ACL in the 3rd round of the playoffs versus Alice, ending what would have been another title chance.In 2003, Coach Schroeder's former Assistant Derek Long took over as head coach. 3 years later, he and Nick Foles were able to battle their way to the state championship, where the chaps lost to the Southlake Carroll power house 43-29. The Chaps also made it to the 2009 Class 5A Division 1 State Championship on the shoulders of quarterback Tanner Price and Center Brandon Behrens.

Westlake played the favored Euless Trinity team from north Dallas in the 2009 5A D1 final. Westlake led throughout most of the game, but Trinity was able to make a second half rally to take the lead with just minutes left in the 4th quarter. Westlake was able to score to tie the game with just under a minute left. Southlake took the kickoff and drove to around the 25 yard line, where they attempted a game winning kick with just seconds left. However, the kick was wide and the game went into overtime. Westlake played offense first in overtime. They earned a first down, but due to a penalty were not able to get a second first down. They were forced to kick a field goal to go up by three. Euless easily earned a first down on their ensuing possession, but then struggled on the first and second downs to get any yards. On third down, they threw a fade into the corner which was behind the receiver. The Westlake defender batted the ball down and almost gained possession of it (which would have won the game for Westlake), but lost it just as the players were hitting the ground. The ball landed on the Westlake corner-back and rolled onto the chest of the Euless Receiver who then grabbed the ball. The play was ruled a catch and touchdown, and so the game ended in a 41-38 loss for Westlake.

In the 2010 playoffs, Westlake lost the first round to eventual semi-finalists Round Rock Stony Point High School. Westlake's record for that year was 6-5.

In 2011, the team was undefeated at home en route to a 9-3 season and a district title.

Chaparral Stadium (football stadium)

Westlake Chaparral Stadium at Ebbie Neptune Field is a high school football stadium located in Austin, Texas that serves as the home field of the Westlake Chaparrals Football Team. The Stadium opened in 2002 with a 21-10 victory over the Westwood Warriors. Since its opening, only six visiting teams have managed to walk off the field with a victory, two of which were in the 2007 season. In 2001, the stadium had a Daktronics video message board installed. The Chaparrals have lost Three regular season home games at New Westlake Chaparral Stadium (Austin and Bowie in 2007 and Bastrop in 2009). Since the start of the 1990 season, Westlake has an 96-8-1 record when playing at Home (Old and New Chaparral Stadium).

Chaparral Stadium also serves as the home of the Westlake Women's and Men's Soccer Teams and annually hosts the Westlake Marching Band Festival.

Soccer

The men's soccer team, which has just recently become competitive in the State tournament, made it to the state tournament for the second time in school history in the 2009-2010 season. Following the unprecedented run, the Chaps were upset the following year by McNeil High School in a 3-0 home defeat. That year, McNeil made the state championship game, eventually losing out to Southlake Carroll High. The last time the Men's Soccer Team made it to the Championship was in 1983. The Women's Soccer Team last went to the State Championship in 1996 where they lost 2-0 against Dallas Highland Park. They last went to the State Tournament in 2007 with Coach Jenny Aldrete where they lost in the semi-finals 1-0 against Houston's Deer Park.

Baseball

The baseball team has won two state championships. The first was in 1980. Future major leaguers Calvin Schiraldi and Kelly Gruber were on that team. The Chaparrals won the coveted state championship once again in 1984. The majority of those senior players went on to college with scholarships provided from their performance on the field. In addition, the team boasts another major leaguer; former AL Rookie of the Year Huston Street played 3rd Base and pitched for the Chaps.

Golf

The golf team does consistently well. The boy's team has been district champions every year since 1980 except for '88, '04, and '06. They have made it to the state tournament every year since 1980 except for '88 and '06. The Chaps have won the State Tournament 6 times, including back to back wins in '09 and '10. The current head coach is Callan Nokes and the assistant coach is Lane Grigg. The girl's team is also consistently good, with 10 straight district titles. They also won their first state tournament in the 2010 season, and won the following 2011 state tournament. The current head coach is Chuck Nowland.

Tennis

The tennis team has played for the UIL Team Tennis state championship eight times, taking home the title four times. Most recently, they captured the 5A state crown for the 2007-2008 school year. Over the years many players have gone on to play successfully at the collegiate level.

Cross Country

The both the boy's and girl's cross-country teams have been highly ranked. The girl's cross country team won the 2A State Championship in 1975, 3A in 1976, 4A in 1977, 1978, and 1985, and 5A in 1990.

Wrestling

The wrestling team has quickly become strong competitor in the Texas wrestling scene, placing 5th at the State dual tournament under Captains David Kapsner and Grant Miller in 2008 and 3rd in the state in 2009 under captains Alex Hershey, Neils Hazen, and Grant Perry. Westlake also has 5 district titles and 7 state placers among the short time the program has been enacted.

Notable alumni

Westlake High alumni include:

• Drew Brees, 1997, NFL Quarterback and Super Bowl XLIV MVP
• Seth McKinney, 1997, NFL offensive lineman
• Nick Foles, 2007, University of Arizona quarterback, Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles
• Huston Street, 2001, MLB Pitcher
• Scott Spann, 2006, Olympic Swimmer, holds 5A state record in the 100 yd breast stroke
• Ben Breedlove, 2011, Internet personality
• Paul London, professional wrestler, former WWE superstar.
• Chris Mihm, NBA Center
• Kelly Gruber, MLB Third Baseman
• Angela Bettis, Actress