Swan Valley High School
Swan Valley High School is a public high school located in Thomas Township, Michigan and part of the Swan Valley School District and under the Saginaw ISD. They are part of the Tri-Valley Central Conference. Swan Valley has been part of the Mid-Michigan B, TVC East, TVC West, and the TVC Central conferences since its start in 1971. Swan Valley's original mascot was the Panthers which soon changed to the Vikings. When the new high school was built the mascot needed to be changed because there was already a high school in the area that were panthers. The sports teams of Swan Valley were then divided up between the Vikings and the Valkyries to show individual support for both male and female teams. Later the sports teams were simply called the Vikings and the Lady Vikes.
| Swan Valley High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
8400 O'Hern Road , 48609 | |
| Coordinates | 43°24′40″N 84°04′41″W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1971 |
| Status | Open |
| School district | Swan Valley School District |
| CEEB code | 233333 |
| NCES School ID | 263341006876[1] |
| Principal | Markus Muennix |
| Teaching staff | 30.30 (FTE)[2] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | 550 (2018–19)[2] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 18.15[2] |
| Color(s) | Purple and white |
| Athletics conference | Tri-Valley |
| Nickname | Vikings |
| Website | |
History
On June 13, 1966, voters approved the formation of a unified school district. Rumor has it that while the Board was contemplating a name for the new school district, one of the members spotted a Swan on a nearby pond and suggested the Swan Valley School District title. Soon after, voters also approved a $3.9 million bond for the construction of a new elementary (Robert B. Havens which was completed in 1971) and a new high school on 87 acres of land where those buildings sit today.
Ground was broken for Swan Valley High School in July 1971 led by board president Dick Middlebrook and Assistant superintendent Marvin Johnson. The first high school graduation was in 1974 and there have been nearly 7000 alumni since that time.[3] Swan Valley High School is a highly rated public high school in Thomas Township, MI, on the outskirts of Saginaw, MI. In the 2022–2023 academic year, Swan Valley is listed among the top 10 schools in the Saginaw area.[4][5] The School district is ranked top three in the Saginaw area.
Demographics
The demographic breakdown of the 573 students enrolled in 2021-22 was:[6]
- Male - 58.2%
- Female - 41.7%
- American Indian/Alaska Native - 1%
- Asian- 0%
- Black - 2.2%
- Hispanic - 12.9%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander - 0%
- White - 80.6%
- Multiracial - 3.6%
30.5% of the students were eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch.[6]
Academics
Swan Valley offers some advancement placement (AP) courses that can be taken for college credit that include: World History, Calculus AB, Computer Science, Literature & Composition. For those students who qualify through the IEPC process, the high school offers special education programming. Each student is assigned a case load teacher who monitors his or her progress through graduation.[7] The average ACT score for the school is 25 has an average SAT score of 1160.[8] Swan Valley purchased iPads for every student shortly after the 2014–2015 school year began. The iPads are combined with an education concept known as one-to-one learning, a program fairly new to the state of Michigan as a whole.[9] The school is set up on trimesters.
Athletics
The Swan Valley Vikings are currently part of the Tri-Valley Conference Central Division. Its currently a Class-B school. Swan Valley High School offers several varsity sports, including:[10]
- Football
- Class B State Champ Runner ups 2017
- Basketball (boys and girls)
- Competitive Cheer (girls)
- Pom Pon - Class B State Champs 2012 (not MHSAA sanctioned)
- Cross Country (boys and girls)
- Soccer (boys and girls)
- Bowling (boys and girls)
- Boys State Champs 2016
- Girls state champs 2008[11]
- Golf (boys)
- Track & Field (boys and girls)
- Volleyball
- Wrestling
- Ice Hockey (boys)
- Baseball
- State champs 2001[12]
- Softball (girls)
- State champs 1986[13]
Notable alumni
Daryl Szarenski (1986) - Three time Olympic qualifier - Pistol
Distinguished Alumni Award winners
Dr. Donald R. Gilbert 1998
Jeffrey A. Castillo 1999
Edwin C. Flattery 2000
Susan Whaley-Brady 2001
John Owen Hamilton 2002
Sharyl Ann Majorski-Briggs 2003
Luann Freier Marx 2004
Dr. Tari Lynch-Caris 2005
Margo Houston-Barocko 2006
Colonel Merrily D. Madero 2007
Stephen Sowuleski 2008
Heidi Erlenbeck 2009
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Weiss 2010
Tracy A. Weber, PhD. 2011
J. Coffey 2012
Keith Martin 2013
Honorable Laura Frawley 2014
Mike Cousins 2015
Lieutenant Erica Ziel 2016
Jay Fosgitt 2017
Tom Kluck 2018
Theo Keith 2019 - Two time Grammy winning political reporter
Lynda Thayer 2020
Mark Garabelli 2021
Bethany Campbell Charlton 2022
See also
References
- "Search for Public Schools - Swan Valley High School (263341006876)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
- "Swan Valley High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- "Communicator Article September 2022". Communicator Article September 2022.
- "2023 Best School Districts in the Saginaw Area".
- "2023 Best Public High Schools in the Saginaw Area".
- "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Swan Valley High School". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
- "Courses offierings" (PDF).
- "Swan Valley Academics".
- "An iPad for every student: Swan Valley schools says technology sparks leap forward in learning MLIVE". January 11, 2015.
- "MHSAA > Schools". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- "Team Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- "Yearly Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- "Yearly Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 23, 2015.