Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School

Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School is a secondary school serving the Wyomissing Area School District. Located in the borough of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, United States, the school has approximately 950 students in grades seven through twelve. WAHS has been included in Newsweek's list of top 1,200 public high schools in the United States annually since 2006.[3] The Washington Post named WAHS the most challenging public school in the state, excluding magnet and charter schools,[4] and U.S. News & World Report ranked it as the best public school in the state, also excluding magnet and charter schools.[5]

Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School
Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School as seen from Evans Avenue
Address
630 Evans Avenue

Wyomissing
,
Berks County
,
PA
,
19610

United States
Coordinates40.3243°N 75.9716°W / 40.3243; -75.9716
Information
Funding typePublic
MottoEsse quam videri (Latin)
("To be, rather than to seem.")
Established1908
School districtWyomissing Area School District
PrincipalDr. Cory Jones
Staff77.96 (FTE)[1]
Grades7-12
Enrollment913 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio11.71[1]
CampusSuburban
Color(s)Navy blue and white
  
Slogan"Inspiring Excellence, One Spartan at a Time"
Team nameSpartans[2]
RivalBerks Catholic High School
YearbookThe Colophon
WebsiteDistrict website


History

In 1909, the Wyomissing school district was founded, with classes being taught in a private residence. In 1908, the district's first building was completed on Belmont Avenue and served grades 1-11 until 1922 (seniors attended another area high school). It served grades 1-6 until 1939. This building is now the Wyomissing Institute of Fine Arts. The first dedicated high school building was constructed in 1923 on Wyomissing Boulevard. This building remained the high school until 1939, when it became the elementary school and the high school moved to Evans Avenue. The current high school was constructed in 1940, as part of Franklin Roosevelt's depression recovery program, the Works Projects Administration. The building was expanded to meet the growing student body in 1965, and was renovated in 1994. The Wyomissing School District became the Wyomissing Area School District upon merging with the former West Reading School District in the late 1960s. In 1984, the original high school, which was built in 1923, was destroyed and the land was sold for housing.

An addition was finished in September 2006. This added several new classrooms, a new chorus room, and a stagecraft workshop. The somewhat controversial renovation removed two courtyards in the school, many windows in classrooms, and a major portion of the student parking area. The school's auditorium was also recently renovated. This included removing the windows, replacing the seats, installing new curtains and carpeting, repainting, and installing garage doors in the stage right wing and the new set construction rooms so that scenery could be moved.

Academics

There are 567 sections of 183 courses in basic core areas and in a wide variety of electives.[6] The school offers 30 honors and 16 Advanced Placement courses.[7] During the 2003-04 school year, 221 AP exams were administered to 104 students, and the average score (1-5) was a 4.1. The same year, the average SAT score was 1133 (571 in math and 562 in verbal); the state average was 1002 (502 in math and 500 in verbal). The school boasts a 95% graduation rate, with 94% of high school seniors attending a two- or four-year institution of higher education.[8]


Extracurricular activities

The school offers a number of opportunities for student participation outside of the classroom.

Athletics

Since the early 1990s, the school has won state championships in boys' football (2012), boys' soccer (1994), girls' cross country (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), boys’ cross country (2017), girls' tennis (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2016), boys' track (2003), boys' volleyball (2008), boys' tennis (2009, 2010, 2012), and golf (2012).

The school fields the following teams:

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Bowling
  • Cheerleading
  • Color guard
  • Cross country
  • Field hockey
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Lacrosse
  • Marching band
  • Boys' soccer
  • Girls' soccer
  • Softball
  • Swimming
  • Tennis
  • Spring track and field
  • Winter track and field
  • Volleyball
  • Wrestling

Clubs

The school offers the following extracurricular clubs:

  • Art Club
  • Big Spartan/Little Spartan
  • Brass Ensemble
  • Camerata
  • Chariot student newspaper
  • Chess Club[9]
  • Chorale
  • Colophon yearbook
  • Color Guard
  • Concert Choir
  • Cooking Club
  • Debate Team
  • Drama Club
  • Environmental Club
  • French Club
  • Freshmen Select Ensemble
  • Jazz Band
  • Latin Club
  • Literary-Art Magazine
  • Marching Band
  • Math Team
  • Model UN
  • Peer Mediation
  • Pit Orchestra
  • Service Club
  • Spanish Club
  • Student Council
  • Student Tutoring
  • TechnoSpartans
  • Varsity Singers
  • Wyo5Live
  • Wyo Quiz Bowl Team

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Wyomissing Area JSHS". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  2. Spartans
  3. America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com
  4. https://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2014/list/pennsylvania-schools/
  5. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/pennsylvania/rankings?int=c0b4c1
  6. http://www.wyoarea.org/wyo/SCHOOLS/Wyomissing%20Area%20Junior-Senior%20High%20School/Curriculum
  7. http://www.wyoarea.org/downloads/jshs_documents/2014-15_program_of_studies-_revised__august_2014_20140815_134120_1.pdf
  8. http://www.wyoarea.org/wyo/SCHOOLS/Wyomissing%20Area%20Junior-Senior%20High%20School/About%20Us/PSSA%20Report%20Card
  9. Chess Club
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