Forest Grove High School

Forest Grove High School
Address
1401 Nichols Lane
Forest Grove, Oregon, Washington County 97116
 United States
Coordinates 45°32′04″N 123°07′12″W / 45.534551°N 123.120024°W / 45.534551; -123.120024Coordinates: 45°32′04″N 123°07′12″W / 45.534551°N 123.120024°W / 45.534551; -123.120024
Information
Type Public
Opened 1907
School district Forest Grove School District
Principal Karen Robinson[1][2][3]
Faculty 79.0 (on FTE basis)[4]
Grades 9-12
Number of students 1979[2]
Student to teacher ratio 21.7[4]
Color(s) Maroon and gold   [1]
Athletics conference OSAA Greater Valley Conference 6A-5[1]
Mascot Vikings[1]
Newspaper Viking Log[5]
Website FGHS website

Forest Grove High School is a public high school in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. It is the only high school in the Forest Grove School District.

Students

As of the 2008-09 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,922 students and 94.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 20.4.[4]

Academics

The school had the highest rate for drop outs in Washington County and test scores below the state average in the early 2000s.[6] Forest Grove High then hired a new principal, John O'Neil, to address these issues in 2002.[6] The principal introduced the mandatory Reading and Math Workshops for students below the state average to raise their performance. This and other changes helped to reduce the dropout rate and improve test scores at the school.[6] For these improvements, in 2006 the school was presented the Closing the Achievement Gap award from the State of Oregon.[7] The following year, the 2,000-student school became the first high school to win the award two years in a row.[8] During this time graduation rates improved from around 66% to 85%.[8] The school has been awarded the Bronze Medal by US News and World Report's rankings of America's Best High Schools.[9]

In 2008, 73% of the school's seniors received their high school diploma. Of 444 students, 325 graduated, 51 dropped out, 19 received a modified diploma, and 49 are still in high school.[10][11]

In 2009, The Oregonian described the school as an "overachiever" at teaching reading and math, due to its achievement scores.[3]

Athletics

Notable programs

In 1976, Birt Hansen started the Viking House Program. Each year the students build a single-family home in the community.[13] They begin building in early September and finish construction with an open house in late May.[14] The house is then put up for sale at market price, with the proceeds then used for furthering the program with purchases of new tools and the materials for the next house.[14][15] This program is one of few focused on house construction in Portland-area schools, in addition to Canby High School and Benson Polytechnic High School.[15][16] The program adopted "learn by doing" as their motto. Through 2011, the program had built 35 homes.[17]

The school also operates a firefighting cadet program that began in 2001.[18] The program allows juniors and seniors to learn firefighting techniques that are usually taught at the community college level to prepare students for careers in firefighting. Forest Grove’s fire department and the school partner in the program with the fire department providing instructors.[18]

Notable alumni

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 http://www.osaa.org/schools.aspx/ForestGrove/
  2. 1 2 "Oregon School Directory 2008-09" (PDF). Oregon Department of Education. p. 139. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
  3. 1 2 Hammond, Betsy (September 10, 2009). "New principals for Portland-area high schools". OregonLive.com. The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  4. 1 2 3 Forest Grove High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ Owen, Wendy (May 20, 2010). "Forest Grove High School newspaper advisor reassigned after controversy". The Oregonian. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Tareen, Sophia. A model for change. The Oregonian, May 18, 2006.
  7. ↑ Beghtel, Doug. School achievement award. The Oregonian, September 28, 2006.
  8. 1 2 Pardington, Suzanne. Forest Grove High School: School turnaround? 'Absolutely'. The Oregonian, May 8, 2007.
  9. ↑ US News and World Report, FGHS: Best High Schools. Accessed June 15, 2008.
  10. ↑ "State releases high school graduation rates". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  11. ↑ "Oregon dropout rates for 2008". The Oregonian. 2009-06-30. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  12. ↑ Palmer, Zach. Lady Vikings win state championship. The Forest Grove News-Times, June 2, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  13. ↑ Trappen, Michelle. Forest Grove High School - Students build every square inch of house. The Oregonian, October 4, 2007
  14. 1 2 Mandel, Michelle. Viking House not your average school project. The Oregonian, June 8, 2006
  15. 1 2 Trappen, Michelle. Hands-on classes make a comeback. The Oregonian, October 11, 2007
  16. ↑ Owen, Betsy (2009-10-08). "High schoolers building houses in self-funded program". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  17. ↑ http://fghsvikinghouse.com/pastvh.aspx
  18. 1 2 Navas, Melissa. Firefighter cadet class might be cut. The Oregonian, January 30, 2007
  19. ↑ Bobby Chouinard, The Baseball Cube. Accessed November 12, 2007.
  20. ↑ Humburg, JD (April 16, 2014). "Ex-Forest Grove left-hander Zac Rosscup back in the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs". The Oregonian. Retrieved 17 April 2014.

External links

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