Grandview High School (Colorado)

Grandview High School
File:GhsLOGO.jpg
Location
20500 E. Arapahoe Rd. Aurora, CO 80016
Information
Type	Public
Established	1998
School district	Cherry Creek School District
Principal	Kurt Wollenweber
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	2651
Color(s)	blue, black, and white
Athletics	5A
Athletics conference	Centennial League
Mascot	Wolf
Information	720-886-6500
Website	http://www.ghs.ccsd.k12.co.us/

Grandview High School is the second largest high school in the Cherry Creek School District, with approximately 2,800 students. Grandview opened in 1998 as CCSD's fifth high school, built to accommodate a population boom the district's growing southeastern region. Grandview is located in Aurora, Colorado and sports the wolf as its mascot.

History

The process to plan and complete the school that would become Grandview began in the mid 1990s, when it became clear that another high school in the eastern part of the Cherry Creek District was needed. During the 1995-96 school year a committee of teachers, administrators, parents and students gathered to meet with architects to design the blueprints for High School 5. In January of 1997, Linda Fox formally accepted the assignment as the founding principal. By March of that year, groundbreaking at the site began and a cadre of coordinating teachers were hired to create what would become Grandview High School. Mrs. Fox, Associate Principal Harry Bull, bookkeeper Sherry Andrews, and secretary Vickie Davis settled into Rolling Hills elementary in a nearby neighborhood to spend a year preparing to open a new high school. The cadre joined them in the evenings and then full time in January of 1998.

One of the most important aspects of planning "High School 5" was community involvement. To this end, numerous meetings were held over the months, beginning in January of 1997. According to Terry Conley, Executive Director of High Schools, one clear message from parents was that they "wanted students to have a competitive edge upon graduation." From this, the Mission Statement evolved: To inspire academic achievement, responsible citizenship, and individual development in a supportive environment.

With this goal in mind, it was time to choose a name, colors, and a mascot. In the fall of 1997, three names for the high school were submitted to the school board, with Grandview garnering the highest recommendation. In the winter of 1997-98, the school colors were chosen. Black, teal, and purple had the greatest number of votes until a student brought a photograph of Duke athletes in uniform to a community meeting. The entire group changed their vote to blue, black and white which became Grandview's colors. Choosing the mascot proved more difficult. Wanting a mascot that made "good tracks," the Let's Get Started" committee recommended the wolf over a hornet or diamondback.

The Grandview High School cafeteria from the outside.

As the year progressed, staff was hired, curriculum decisions were made, and the school was built. On August 3, 1998, Mrs. Fox received the keys to the building. With semi-trailers lined up to unload all the furniture, parents came to help assemble desks and ensure that the color-coded furniture made it to the right wings of the school. Books were unpacked, computers were set up, and the staff began to move in.

On August 24, 1998, Grandview proudly opened its doors to 830 ninth and tenth grade students.

In 2000, the principal of Grandview, Linda Fox, was promoted to Executive Director of High Schools and Assistant Principal Harry Bull was selected to become the new Principal of Grandview High School.

In 2006 Dr. Harry Bull was promoted to Executive Director of High Schools, after Linda Fox's retirement. Assistant Principal Kurt Wollenweber was selected to become the new principal of Grandview High school for the 2007-2008 school year

Academics

Grandview offers wide variety of courses for students to choose from. Grandview, like many other schools in the Cherry Creek School District offers an Advanced Placement Program, but Grandview does not have and IB program.

Advanced Placement

Grandview offers the following Advanced Placement Classes:

English
AP English Language
AP English Literature

Social Studies
AP European History
AP Human Geography
AP Psychology
AP U.S. Government
AP U.S. History
AP World History
AP Comparative Government and Politics (Introduced 2006-2007)

Mathematics
AP Statistics
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC

Science
AP Environmental Science
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Physics B
AP Physics C

World Language
AP French Language
AP German Language
AP Spanish Language
AP Spanish Literature

Other
AP Computer Science A
AP Computer Science AB
AP Music Theory

State Accountability Report

For the 2005-2006 school year, Grandview was rated as a "High School" with Stable academic growth. Grandview met the AYP for Reading, but failed to make AYP for math; out of the 35 goals grandview had, they achieved 33.

	Full Time	Part Time
Teachers	137	10
Paraprofessionals	15	16
Administrators	5	0
Other Professionals	21	2
School Support	39	11

Standardized Testing

Test	School	District	State
9-10 CSAP Reading (Percent of Students meeting Advanced or Proficient)	76%	75%	67%
9-10 CSAP Writing (Percent of Students meeting Advanced or Proficient)	64%	61%	51%
9-10 CSAP Math (Percent of Students meeting Advanced or Proficient)	45%	44%	35%
11th ACT Reading	21.48		19.41
11th ACT Writing	21.07		18.22
11th ACT Math	21.34		18.86

Athletics

Grandview offers most standard varsity sports, but has achieved notable success with its cheers, volleyball and pom-pon teams.

Fall Sports

Boys' Cross Country
Girls' Cross Country
Boys' Golf
Boys' Soccer
Boys' Tennis
Girls' Field Hockey
Softball
Volleyball
Cheers/Poms

Winter Sports

Boys' Baskeball
Girls' Basketball
Co-ed Wrestling
Cheers/Poms
Girls' Swimming

Spring Sports

Baseball
Boys' Swimming
Boys' Lacrosse
Girls' Lacrosse
Girls' Golf
Girls' Soccer
Girls' Tennis
Boys' Track and Field
Girls' Track and Field
Boys' Volleyball

Performing Arts

During each school year, Grandview's Performing Arts program traditionally releases two major, teacher-directed productions plus a student directed collection of one-act plays. One musical and one drama are typically produced. Grandview has an auditorium that seats 750 people, the largest in the district.

In the 2005-2006 school year, Grandview produced West Side Story directed by Jan Justis and Taming of the Shrew directed by Dr. Mike Pearl.

In the 2006-2007 school year, Grandview produced Guys & Dolls directed by Dr. Mike Pearl and The Crucible directed by Jan Justis. The production of The Crucible was unique because it was presented as a Theatre in the round, something never done before at Grandview.

For the 2007-2008 school year, two musicals will be staged - Into the Woods directed by Jan Justis and The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 directed by Dr. Mike Pearl. The final production of the year will be Grandview's traditional student directed one-act play festival.

External link

• Grandview High School