La Follette High School

Robert M. La Follette High School is a public school located in Madison, Wisconsin, serving the city's far east side with its attendance boundaries including parts of the City of Madison, City of Fitchburg, Town of Blooming Grove, and Town of Burke, teaching students in grades 9-12. Founded in the fall of 1963, it is a part of the Madison Metropolitan School District, and is named after former lawmaker and 1924 presidential candidate Robert M. La Follette, Sr.

La Follette High School
Address
702 Pflaum Road

Madison
,
Wisconsin

United States
Coordinates43°03′48.3″N 89°19′10.9″W
Information
TypePublic secondary
Established1963
OversightMadison Metropolitan School District (MMSD)
PrincipalMathew Thompson
Faculty106.49 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,561 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio14.66[1]
Color(s)Cardinal and Gray    
MascotLance the Lancer
AccreditationAdvancED[2]
NewspaperThe Lance
YearbookThe Statesman
Websitehttps://lafollette.madison.k12.wi.us/

Academics

La Follette offers diverse academic opportunities, drawing upon its 14 academic departments and more than 150 faculty offering instruction in more than 250 courses in 100 different fields of study. Courses are taught in a variety of academic settings, from traditional classrooms to community-based service experiences. Additional opportunities for growth and leadership are offered through involvement in numerous student organizations.[3] The school began offering American sign language as a foreign language in 1998, and other schools have modeled their programs after La Follette's.[4]

Academic departments
  • Applied Technology
  • Art
  • AVID/TOPS
  • Business, Marketing, and IT
  • English
  • Family and Consumer Education
  • Math
  • Multilingual Education (ESL)
  • Music
  • Physical Education and Health
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Special Education
  • World Languages

Extra-curricular activities

Clubs

La Follette offers nearly four dozen extra-curricular clubs, spanning a wide variety of student interests, including academic, athletic, social, fine arts, science, health and others, such as gaming clubs.[5]

Athletics

La Follette athletics include girls' volleyball, boys' volleyball, girls' soccer, boys' soccer, boys' basketball, girls' basketball, wrestling, boys' track & field, girls' track & field, football, girls' swim, boys' swim, boys' cross country, girls' cross country, dance, cheer, hockey, girls' golf, boys' golf, baseball, softball, girls' tennis, boys' tennis. Club sports include basketball, rugby, bowling, ultimate frisbee and volleyball.

WIAA State Championship Teams
Sport Year(s)
Basketball (boys) 1977, 1982, 2002
Cross country (boys) 2006, 2007
Dance (jazz) 1992, 1994
Football 1967
Golf (boys) 2003
Track and field (boys) 1969, 2002
Track and field (girls wheelchair) 2017, 2018
Volleyball (boys) 1987, 1989

Other notable athletic achievements
  • 1978 WIAA Girls Softball State Runner Ups
  • 1979 WIAA Class A Girls Softball State Runner Ups
  • 1986 WIAA Class A Girls Softball State Runner Ups
  • 1988 WIAA Division 1 Boys Volleyball State Runner Ups
  • 1993 WIAA Division 1 Wrestling Individual State Champion, Chad Powell
  • 1993 WACPC Competition Dance D1 State Champions
  • 1994 WACPC Competition Nationals D1 Competitors
  • 1995 WACPC Competition Dance D1 State Champions
  • 2003 WIAA Division I Boys Tennis Individual State Champion, Pete Amundson
  • 2006 WACPC Competition Cheer D1 Small State Champions
  • 2007 WACPC Competition Cheer D1 Small State Champions
  • 2010 WIAA Division 1 State Baseball Runner Ups
  • 2011 WACPC Competition Cheer D1 Small State Champions
  • 2011 WIAA Division 1 Boys Cross Country Individual State Champion, Chandler Diffee
  • 2011 WIAA Division 1 Girls Discus Individual State Champion, KeKe Burks
  • 2012 WIAA Division 1 Boys Cross Country Runner Ups
  • 2013 WACPC Competition Cheer D1 Small State Champions
  • 2014 WACPC Competition Cheer D1 Small State Champions
  • 2015 WIAA Division 1 Boys Cross Country Individual State Champion, Finn Gessner
  • 2015 WIAA Division 1 Boys Cross Country Runner Ups
  • 2016 WIAA Division 1 Boys Cross Country Individual State Champion, Finn Gessner
  • 2022 WIAA Division 1 Wrestling Individual State Champion, Jackson Mankowski

Other activities and events
President Obama visits La Follette in 2010

Arboretum

La Follette has one of the few on-ground arboretums in the state. It was designed to have three ecosystems, including prairie, woodland and pond.

Board of visitors

La Follette's board of visitors serves as an advocate for the school, and is the only school in the Madison area, and possibly the state, which has such a board. Drawing upon experiences and resources of alumni, parents and other patrons, the board's mission is to empower students and faculty while building community. The board assists in fundraising, business, community outreach, public affairs, student support and teacher support.[6]

Business

In 2011, Summit Credit Union began operations at La Follette High School. In ensuing years, branches were opened at other Madison-area high schools. The branch is staffed by interns from the La Follette career internship class and is open during the lunch hour.[7][8]

Presidential visit

On September 28, 2010, the school was visited by President Barack Obama, who made an unannounced stop ahead of a late-afternoon rally on the UW-Madison campus.[9]

Publications

The Lance is the student newspaper for La Follette; its yearbook is known as The Statesman; The Lancer Legend is the parent newsletter.[10]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "LaFollette High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  2. Institution Summary, AdvancED, Retrieved 2012-07-08
  3. LHS, Academics, retrieved May 26, 2020
  4. 120 incoming Greendale freshmen pick ASL as their world language — a first for southeastern Wisconsin, by Clara Hatcher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 27, 2018, retrieved September 8, 2020
  5. LHS website, Clubs, retrieved May 26, 2020
  6. La Follette board of visitors website, retrieved May 26, 2020
  7. Summit Credit Union website, retrieved May 26, 2020
  8. Credit unions partner with local high schools for education, hands-on experience, by Pamela Cotant, Madison.com, November 6, 2017, retrieved May 26, 2020
  9. Obama’s surprise stop at La Follette ‘amazing’ and ‘surreal,’ by Gayle Worland, Wisconsin State Journal, September 30, 2010, retrieved May 27, 2020
  10. LHS Lancer Legend website
  11. Know Your Madisonian: Kim Sponem leads booming growth for Summit Credit Union, by Chris Hubbuch, Wisconsin State Journal, August 31, 2019, retrieved May 29, 2020
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