West Salem High School (Salem, Oregon)

West Salem High School (also referred to as West Salem High, West Salem HS, or WSHS) is a public high school of the Salem-Keizer School District located in Salem, Oregon, United States.

West Salem High School
Address
1776 Titan Drive

Salem
,
(Polk County)
,
Oregon
97304

United States
Coordinates44°57′33″N 123°05′04″W
Information
TypePublic
Motto"It's a great day to be a Titan" [1]
Opened2002
School districtSalem-Keizer School District
PrincipalCarlos Ruiz (2021–present)
Teaching staff73.96 (FTE)[2]
Grades9-12
Number of students1,742 (2019–20)[2]
Student to teacher ratio23.55[2]
Color(s)Black, Forest Green & Silver      
Athletics conferenceOSAA Mountain Valley Conference 6A-7
MascotTitans
RivalSprague High School
NewspaperThe Titan Spectator[3]
Websitewest.salkeiz.k12.or.us

Academics

In 2008, 82% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 339 students, 279 graduated, 29 dropped out, five received a modified diploma, and 26 were still in high school the following year.[4][5] As of 2017, 1,732 students were enrolled at West Salem High School. At that time, its graduation rate was 89%.[6] The 2017 class of 414 had 37 dropouts, and 87% of the class were graduating on time.[7]

The Titan Spectator

West Salem High School is home to the Titan Spectator newspaper. Their mission statement is "to cover school and city happenings, from the serious to the comical ... [and] to engage students in their school and community".[3] They were previously cut as a class which caused public backlash [8] They are also known for their mass social base of community members [9]

Maps Credit Union Education Branch

West Salem High School is one of three high schools[10] in Salem, Oregon which are home to an education branch of Marion and Polk Schools Credit Union.

MAPS Credit Union education branches provide an opportunity for high school students to participate in the day-to-day operations of a real credit union. Students in certain business classes spend a small amount of time conducting real teller transactions for other students during lunch hours, under the supervision of a trained faculty member. The school's branch has been open since 2003.

Black football field

In 2012, West Salem installed a new black FieldTurf surface for its football field, believed to be the first of that color ever used for outdoor football (the Nebraska Danger of the Indoor Football League also use this color). The decision to use a black surface came about when the school's original green FieldTurf surface, installed in 2002, needed replacing. FieldTurf offered the school a discount of nearly $140,000 from the regular $437,000 replacement cost if it used an "unusual" color; West Salem chose black since it was a school color and also had not previously been used by another school. The school changed its home uniform color from black to green in order to avoid possible complaints by visiting teams about the uniforms blending into the field. The field and uniforms were fully paid for through fundraisers, including four local business sponsors.[11] However, as of 2015, the school has now started to use black uniforms with grey numbers.[12] As of 2020, the field has reverted to green.

Notable students

See also

References
  1. "About Us". West Salem High School. Archived from the original on 2021-07-10. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  2. "West Salem High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  3. "The Titan Spectator". Archived from the original on 2021-07-10. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  4. "State releases high school graduation rates". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  5. "Oregon dropout rates for 2008". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. Archived from the original on 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  6. "West Salem High School". U.S. News. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  7. "West Salem High School". The Oregonian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  8. "West Salem student newspaper class cut for 2019-20 school year". 9 May 2019.
  9. "@TitanSpectator" on Twitter
  10. "MaPS Credit Union Wins Crystal Apple Award". MaPS Credit Union. Archived from the original on 2012-12-17. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  11. Chandler, Rick (August 21, 2012). "Oregon High School says 'The heck with everything, we're going with black turf'". Off the Bench. NBCSports.com. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  12. "West Salem's football uniforms getting harder to read". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
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