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Ralston Valley High School

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Coordinates: 39°50′35″N 105°09′00″W / 39.84306°N 105.15000°W / 39.84306; -105.15000
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Ralston Valley High School
School exterior
Address
Map
13355 West 80th Avenue

Arvada
,
Colorado
80005

United States
Coordinates39°50′35″N 105°09′00″W / 39.84306°N 105.15000°W / 39.84306; -105.15000
Information
TypePublic secondary school
MottoChallenge yourself to be a person others admire.
Established2000 (24 years ago) (2000)
School districtJefferson County R-1
CEEB code060051
NCES School ID080480001797[1]
PrincipalMica Buenning
Teaching staff88.89 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,813 (2021–22[1])
Student to teacher ratio20.40[1]
Campus size54 acres (220,000 m2)
Color(s)Navy blue, Carolina blue, silver
   
Athletics5A
Athletics conferenceJefferson County League
MascotMustang
RivalsPomona High School, Arvada West High School
Websiteralstonvalley.jeffcopublicschools.org

Ralston Valley High School (RVHS or RV) is a comprehensive, four-year public high school in Arvada, a northwest suburb of Denver, Colorado. Opened in 2000, its enrollment is around 1800 students.

Ralston Valley High School is an eight-time recipient of an "Excellent" rating by the Colorado Department of Education.

History

The 24th public high school built in Jefferson County, Ralston Valley's opening relieved Arvada West High School, which was serving students in 1999, was on a split schedule. Groundbreaking occurred in March 1999, and the school opened in the fall of 2000.[2] With the exception of a few years when the award program was discontinued after 2019, RVHS has received the Colorado Department of Education's John Irwin School of Excellence Award yearly since 2005.[3]

The mascot of Ralston Valley is the mustang. It was selected based on votes from local elementary and middle school students in Jefferson County, as well as Arvada West HS students who would be attending RVHS. The mascot is significant to the location of the school, which is located on land that was formerly a ranch that raised and bred horses. Part of this ranch still exists across the street from the southern edge of campus.

Curriculum

College preparation is the focus in all RVHS classes. RVHS offers Advanced Placement courses for freshmen and sophomore. Students may opt to pursue an Honors Diploma.

Campus

The school building, situated on a 54-acre (220,000 m2) site in northwest Arvada, was designed by LKA Partners and won a Merit Award in 2002 from the Colorado chapter of the American Institute of Architects.[4]

In March 2007, the school finished additional construction for expansion. This consisted of the addition of 47,700 sq ft (4,430 m2) of classroom and science labs to the east side of the building as well as 45,700 sq ft (4,250 m2) of classroom and more science labs to the south side.[5] This renovation closed off the lower level in a full square to connect the science, math and (new) foreign language halls. The Ralston Valley High School addition and remodel includes 170,000 square feet of new construction and 42,000 square feet of remodeling. The project entailed demolition of the existing academic and administration areas and the redevelopment of the site. The new facility has 44 general classrooms, 12 science classrooms, library, media area, auxiliary gym, administration area, kitchen, commons and a remodeled art department and locker rooms. The 28.5-acre site offers soccer, softball and multi-use fields.

Further renovations included the addition of 10,443-square-foot (970.2 m2) resulting in an auxiliary gym with a bleacher mezzanine, weight room and expanded athletic locker rooms. RVHS has the Millikan oil-drop experiment equipment along with the equipment for finding the mass of an electron.

Additional improvements:

  • Darkroom
  • Orchestra pit in the auditorium
  • Computer lab
  • Expanded student commons
  • New athletic practice field
  • Publications lab
  • Expanded parking

Construction began in December 2005, was completed in September 2007, and cost $29.5 million.

Beginning in 2022, renovations are being made to expand the school in the front and back. A new library will be built in the front of the school, which will allow for extra classrooms to be built where the current library is. Additionally, 4 new classrooms will be added in the C hall at the back of the school upstairs. Construction is expected to be finished for the 2023–24 school year.

Principals

  • Jon Donaldson (2000–2004)
  • Jim Ellis (2004–2014)
  • Gavan Goodrich (2014–2018)
  • Mica Buenning (2018–)

Extracurricular activities and classes

School publications

The Review's Logo
  • The Review magazine (2013–): The Review is the student publication of Ralston Valley High School. It is published quarterly and features sports photography and school news.
  • The Stampede yearbook (2000–): yearly published student produced yearbook
  • Former student newspaper: The Ralston Valley [e]Xpress (2000–2013)

Athletics

Ralston Valley vs. area rival, Arvada West
RV's hockey team hoists up the state championship trophy in 2013.
The basketball court named after Lisa Nelson, who died in 2013 after fighting cancer.

Ralston Valley has won nine state championship titles in softball, boys' basketball, baseball, swimming & diving, coed cheerleading, and poms. The Mustangs have won 74 Jeffco league championships in 13 different sports. The school has received the Steinmark Award competing in the Jeffco league. The Steinmark is awarded to the school with the top overall athletic performance in the league. Ralston Valley seniors have received athletic scholarships at Division I and II NCAA schools, along with nearly every US service academy.[citation needed]

Ralston Valley fields teams in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross county, football, golf, ice hockey, girls' lacrosse, poms, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling in interscholastic competition.

Ralston Valley initially competed in Class 4A Athletics in every sport except football. Football initially competed in 3A in its first two seasons, before moving up a classification to 4A. The school has since moved to Class 5A (the highest level in Colorado) as of fall 2009 in all athletics.

State championships won by the school include:[6]

  • Boys' basketball: 2003 (4A)
  • Coed cheerleading: 2003 (4A), 2006 (4A/5A)
  • Poms: 2004 (4A)
  • Baseball: 2008 (4A)
  • Softball: 2002, 2008 (4A)
  • Girls' swimming: 2007, 2008, 2009 (5A)[7]
  • Boys' golf: 2008 (5A)
  • Hockey: 2013, 2014 (5A); 2014: undefeated season, 23-0

The basketball court is named in honor of Lisa Nelson (coach and teacher) and the gym is named in gratitude after Jim Hynes (former athletic director and assistant principal).

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Search for Public Schools - Ralston Valley Senior High School (080480001797)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  2. ^ Bingham, Janet (1999-02-26). "District makes start on Legacy". Denver Post : pp. B-02.
  3. ^ "2019 John Irwin Recipients | CDE". www.cde.state.co.us. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  4. ^ AIA Colorado South - Awards.
  5. ^ Ralston Valley High School Construction Overview.
  6. ^ State Team Champions Archived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine. Colorado High School Activities Association.
  7. ^ Colorado Swim Title 9News KUSA.
  8. ^ Meyer, John (25 January 2017). "Ralston Valley grad Mariah Bell emerges as a contender for Olympic team in figure skating". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. ^ Tomasson, Chris (2007-03-16). "Tomasson: Nelson wouldn't mind being wrong". Rocky Mountain News.
  10. ^ "Jordan Holloway Stats, Fantasy & News | Miami Marlins". MLB.com.
  11. ^ "Dan Skipper". 8 May 2015.
  12. ^ a b Key Communiqué. Jefferson County Public Schools. February 13, 2007.
  13. ^ "Andrew Wingard (SS): Bio, News, Stats & more".
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