Westhill Senior High School
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| Westhill Senior High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
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4501 Onondaga Blvd | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1963 |
| Principal | Lee Roscoe |
| Faculty | 75 (2006) |
| Enrollment | 696 (2006) |
| Color(s) | Blue & White, originally Royal Blue & White |
| Information | 315-426-3100 |
| Mascot | Trojan Warrior |
| Website | Westhill Sr High School Website |
Westhill Senior High School is an American public high school located in the western suburbs of, and immediately adjacent to, the City of Syracuse, New York. It serves grades 9 through 12, primarily from the neighborhood of Westvale (located in the Town of Geddes), as well as portions of the Onondaga Hill area (located in the Town of Onondaga). Westhill Senior High School is part of the Westhill Central School District.
Overview
Established in 1963 as WESTHILL CENTRAL SR HIGH SCHOOL serving grades 9-12 at the time, Westhill High School maintains a local reputation in the Syracuse area for having a high graduation rate, a large percentage of graduates attending college, and a successful athletic program.
Westhill's athletic program mascot is the "Warrior". Recently the mascot was changed from a Native American to a Spartan-like character.
Educational Achievement
More than 90% of Westhill graduates go on to college. According to the school's website, 94% of June 2006 Westhill graduates earned a Regents Diploma. In June, 2006 Regents Examinations, with approximately 1450 exams administered, Westhill students had an overall pass rate of 94%.
In the second year of the higher standards culminating in the Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation, 70% of Westhill’s graduates in June 2006 reached such a level of achievement, and an additional 24% were awarded a Regents Diploma.
Co-Curricular Programs
Westhill High School offers an extensive co-curricular program, including over 25 different clubs and activities. The Drama Club presented "A Christmas Carol" in the fall of 2007. In the spring of 2008, Westhill had its very first student-run production in which the musical "Godspell" was directed, produced, choreographed, music directed, pit conducted, costumed and featured sets, all by Westhill High School students. The production performed for two extremely successful nights in late May 2008. Both of these shows were presented in the school's newly renovated auditorium. In the spring of 2009 the drama club put on one of the first showings of High School Musical 2 in the country which was very much a success.
The high school newspaper, The Glass Corridors, earned high honors from several organizations including a first place evaluation award from the American Scholastic Press Association. The high school literary magazine received a second place evaluation award.
The Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble & Percussion Ensemble have performed at the Heritage Music Festival in Chicago. The Symphonic Band received a Silver Medal and the Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble both received first place with Gold ratings. The Jazz Ensemble finished in third place with a Silver rating. More recent than that the same groups performed in Walt Disney World at Festival Disney. It was a very successful trip also.
The Choral Department just returned from Annapolis, Maryland in April. They competed with five groups (Concert Choir, Westhill Singers, Women's Ensemble, Men's Ensemble, and Westhill Swingers) which all got awarded with gold and the whole department was awarded with best choral department. A few years before the Concert Choir auditioned and was recently invited to sing the National Anthem at Shea Stadium in New York City for the New York Mets versus the Atlanta Braves game in front of 35,000 people.
Athletic Programs
Westhill's interscholastic sports program offers 35 teams at various levels serving 24 varsity sports. With nearly 56% of Westhill high school students participating in interscholastic athletics, and with an overall varsity winning percentage of nearly 80%, Westhill teams won 2005-06 league championships in Boys Cross Country, Girls Tennis, Girl's Indoor Track, Boys' Basketball, Girl's Basketball, Girls Outdoor Track, and Baseball. Section III Class B Championships were won by the Girl's Tennis, Boy's Cross Country, Boys Basketball, and Girls Indoor Track teams.
Fifteen out of twenty varsity teams won New York State Public High School Athletic Association Academic Awards for maintaining the required number of students on the roster and having composite GPA’s of 90% or higher. Fifteen Westhill seniors participated in all three varsity sport seasons, while collectively maintaining an overall GPA of more than 90%.
The Westhill Atletic Department has also laid claim to several State Championships, including:
Girls Soccer 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999
Boys Soccer 1992
Girls Basketball 1989, 1996
Boys Basketball 1997
Baseball 2009
- Note: Westhill competed in Class C until 1995, and has been Class B since then.
Architecture
The school’s architecture exhibits standard features of late 1950’s style modern architecture. The academic wing is rectangular and stands approximately two-and-one-half stories; it also contains the school’s library. The academic wing was connected to the other wings with unique twin “glass corridors” that contained a small courtyard. The main office, counseling offices, school nurse, auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, cultural classrooms, and trade classrooms were located in the connecting wing. The roof of the cafeteria is a concave section walled with skylights, while the roof of the gymnasium is arched. It is considered by some to resemble an airplane hangar, and was meant to evoke a "Hill and Vale" motif, with the "hill" of the gym representing Onondaga Hill and the "vale" of the cafeteria representing the valley of Westvale.
The plans for the school were purchased (presumably at a discount) from an architect who originally designed the building to be built in California. The unique design of the building presents some interesting drawbacks due to the region. While the building is earthquake proof, the concave ceiling of the cafeteria leaks due to heavy snowfall each year. The glass corridors, combined with the many single-door entries make for very costly heating bills in the cold climate of Syracuse, NY. Also, the open courtyard was originally intended to be a swimming pool if built in California. Extensive renovations have recently taken place, modernizing the facilities and updating or changing many of the original features.
Notable alumni
Andrew Davoli ('91)- Actor - Has appeared in several episodes of HBO's "The Sopranos" , the motion pictures "Knock Around Guys", "Welcome to Colinwood", "The Yards", and "The Last Supper"
Sally Dee ('89) - Professional Golfer, LPGA
Jonathan M. Connelly ('00)- Physical Education Teacher, Basketball Coach: Known as Weshill's favorite son, Inducted into the Cherry Road, Sky King Court, Hall of Fame, 2007. Most recently Jon (Shoe) was interviewed on a local news affiliate by Rodd Wood on the importance of physical education and the positive impacts that is has on children.
Dale Ross ('08) - Holds the New York State rushing record in a single football game with 569 yards against rival school Marcellus. Ross, as of 2009, attends Morrisville college, where he plays the halfback and corner back positions.
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