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Birmingham Groves High School

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Wylie E. Groves High School
Address
Map
20500 West Thirteen Mile Road

Beverly Hills
,
Michigan
48025

United States
Information
School typePublic
MottoA Tradition of Excellence
Established1959
FounderWylie E. Groves
Grades9-12
Number of students1399
Color(s)Green White Yellow      
MascotFalcon
NewspaperScriptor
Website[1]

Groves High School, full name Wylie E. Groves High School, is a high school in Beverly Hills, Michigan, in the Birmingham City School District. Groves' colors are green and white, and its mascot is the Falcon. Groves' intra-district rival is Seaholm High School. The current principal is Fred Procter, the assistant principal is Cathy Hurley, and the athletic director is Tom Flynn. The school consistently ranks as one of the best schools in the state of Michigan as a result of high test scores on the SAT, ACT, AP, and MEAP exams.

Building history

Completed in 1959, the building was an example of the International Style applied to ordinary school design, resulting in a modernistic exterior look similar to much subsequent school construction. The building's original architectural "signature" was a scalloped circular white roof over the central administrative core; it is no longer visible. The building has a grid-like floor plan, with three main hallways intersected by six shorter ones. Liberal use was made of glass walls and interior courtyards, with energy costs not yet a major concern in 1959. Since the school's opening, the building has undergone periodic renovations, the most extensive occurring from 1999-2001 when the school was completely remodeled and brought up to 21st century standards. The school features state of the art technology, including seven computer labs (including one for modern languages) and a large media center; state of the art science labs for biology, chemistry, physics, CAD, and robotics; a little theatre that seats approximately 300; an auditorium that seats approximately 1200; art studios for drawing, photography, jewelry, ceramics, and graphic design; a TV studio; and a large, open commons area where students gather for lunch, dances, and other activities. In 2005, construction began to renovate the athletic wing of the school, as well as to build a new competitive size swimming pool. The former swimming pool will be converted into classrooms, a fitness center, and a dance studio. The school was one of the first schools in Michigan to use artificial "FieldTurf" for its football/soccer field.

Early Years

The school opened in the fall of 1959 with 1,052 students in grades seven through ten. Intended eventually to be Birmingham's second high school, it was named after a local civic leader and school board member. In the first year, students selected the school colors (green and white), team nickname (Falcons), fight song ("Rise Up, All Falcons"), names of the yearbook ("Talon") and newspaper ("Scriptor"), etc. The original tenth graders became the first class of graduating seniors in 1962. For a brief period the school was a junior and senior high school, and the classes of 1965, 1966 and 1967 spent grades seven through twelve there. The lower grades were eliminated as new junior high schools were built. This pattern enabled the school district to accommodate, with phased construction, the demographic wave of babyboomers emerging from elementary schools in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Academics

As stated above, Groves consistently ranks the top of the state in terms of test scores, ranking just above Birmingham's other high school, Seaholm. The school offers numerous Honors and Advanced Placement courses for students to elect. Advanced Placement is offered for Chemistry, Physics, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Computer Science, Economics, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, European History, French, Music Theory, Psychology, Spanish, Statistics, US History, and US Government. Additionally, AP Biology and AP Human Geography may be taken at Seaholm High School. The school has a variety of academic elective options for students who do not wish to take Honors or AP courses. The school also offers courses in journalism, with newspaper ("The Scriptor"), yearbook ("The Talon"), and television production ("The FANN")

Activities

The school offers over thirty varsity sports for both men and women. Most sports are broken down into varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen teams. Groves is a member of the Oakland Activities Association and has won league championships in nearly every sport since the league's inception in 1994. Groves also offers a variety of activities for students to participate in, including instrumental music (both band and orchestra), forensics, debate, theatre, quiz bowl, bowling, photography, and National Honor Society. Both the forensics and debate teams have enjoyed success in recent years. The forensics team finished second in the state in 2007, while the debate team finished first in 2006 and 2007.

Groves Student Congress (GSC) is responsible for planning school-wide activities and events such as Spirit Week, Field Day, Extreme Dodgeball, Operation Volleyball, Sadie Hawkins Dance, Wylie's Winter Week, and two blood drives. Members of GSC are elected in school-wide elections. In addition, each class elects its own government, which is responsible for planning class-wide events. Groves students also run their own events independent of the school, including the seniors-only "Water Wars" tournament at the end of the year.

Newspaper Success

During the 2006-2007 school year, the Groves Scriptor was recognized as the top high school newspaper in the country as they received a 1st place award in the American Scholastic Press Association's annual competition.

Editor David Inwald was also given the prestigious honor as one of the top 6 photographers in the nation in both collegiate and high school publications. Under the tutelage of advisor Laura Redman and editors David Zemon and Samantha Kaca, the Scriptor won MIPA and Spartan awards, recognizing the nearly 30 reporters and editors as consistently having one of the best publications in the Midwest.


State Championships

  • Boys golf won a state championship in 1971.
  • Boys soccer won a state championship in 1975.
  • Girls soccer won a state championship in 1998.
  • Boys water polo won state championships in 1975, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994.
  • Boys swimming won state championships in 1969,1975, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
  • Girls swimming won state championships in 1988, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.
  • The policy debate team won state championships in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
  • Birmingham Unified Lacrosse (a combined team of Groves and Seaholm students) won state championships in 2002 and 2007.
  • Birmingham Unified Figure Skating team won a state championship in 2003

Notable alumni

Rankings

Groves received a "Silver Medal" on U.S. News and World Report's rankings of Best High Schools in America. This means that the school is one of the top schools in the country based on the "College Readiness Index" used by the magazine. Groves was one of thirteen schools in Michigan to receive this award (no Michigan schools received a "Gold Medal"). Its index score of 39.3 was the fourth highest in the state.[2]

This school is ranked #791 on Newsweek's 2007 list of the Best High Schools in America, which is based on the percentage of seniors who take advanced placement exams.[3]

External links

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42°31′6.06″N 83°14′44.12″W / 42.5183500°N 83.2455889°W / 42.5183500; -83.2455889


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