West Valley High School - Fairbanks, Alaska/AK

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West Valley High School

3800 Geist Road, Fairbanks, AK, 99709-3547 -

tel: (907)479-4221
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Definition of Terms

West Valley High School

School Level

High school

Grades Offered

Grades 9 - 12

County

Fairbanks North Star County, AK

Students & Faculty

Total Students

1235 students

% Male / % Female

51% / 49%

Total Classroom Teachers

63 teachers

Students by Grade

Grade 9 - 314 students

Grade 10 - 306 students

Grade 11 - 332 students

Grade 12 - 283 students

This School

( AK ) School Average

Teacher : Student Ratio

1:20

1:16

Students by Ethnicity

This School

( AK ) School Average

% American Indian	12%	27%
% Asian	3%	7%
% Hispanic	3%	5%
% Black	3%	5%
% White	78%	57%
% Unknown	1 %	2%

Additional Student Information

This School

( AK ) School Average

% Eligible for Free Lunch

30%

% Eligible for Reduced Lunch

% Migrant Students Enrolled

( AK ) Statewide Testing Performance

School Statewide Performance

View Education Department Test Scores

School District Name

Fairbanks North Star School District

This School's Agency

( AK ) District Average

Number of Schools Managed	35	5
Number of Students Managed	15,040 students	452 students
District Total Revenue	$159,187,000	$7,734,000
District Expenditure	$160,694,000	$8,431,000
District Revenue / Student	$10,584	$86,507
District Expenditure / Student	$10,684	$86,876
District Graduation Rates	61%	92%

West Valley High School is a public high school in Fairbanks, Alaska, and part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.
History: West Valley was first opened in 1975 as West Lathrop, due to the overcrowding of Lathrop High School across town; in 1976 the name was changed to West Valley High School. A major renovation of the school was completed in 1999, roughly doubling the amount of classroom space.
There is a glass cage with four stuffed wolves, completed c. 1977, in West Valley's main commons. It is known as the "wolf cage" and is one way the school greets its students and visitors. West Valley has a trophy case housing the relics of all of its teams, as well as posters in the gym commemorating championships won.
Marianne A. Carlson has been principal of West Valley since 1995 and as of 2007, is retiring after 30 years as an educator at West Valley.Building and grounds: West Valley is located next to the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The grounds include a football field and track, a soccer field, and other recreational areas. The building has two floors and is divided into three main sections, one of which houses most of the classrooms, one the administrative offices and library, and one the gymnasium and other special-use rooms.
Academics: There are seven academic departments at West Valley: Vocational Education, Health and Physical Education, Fine Arts, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Global Studies (which includes both social studies and world languages). An appointed teacher chairs each department. Students are required to take a number of classes in every department (except Vocational) in order to graduate.
AP academics: West Valley offers a number of Advanced Placement courses to juniors and seniors. These are college-level alternatives to, or enhancements of, standard high school courses. In 2006-07 West Valley offers the following AP courses: Art History - Art Portfolio - Biology - Calculus AB & BC - Chemistry - English Language & Composition - English Literature - Government - Macroeconomics - Physics - Spanish - U.S. History.
Extracurricular Activities: West Valley offers all standard high school sports, including swimming, baseball, basketball, cross-country running and skiing, football, hockey, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, wrestling and volleyball. The West Valley girls' cross-country running team won the 2005 state championship, and recently won the 2006 state championship. They have competed in Nike Team Nationals in 2005 and 2006. In the 2005 season they earned 15th place Nike Team Nationals and in 2006 were ranked ninth in the nation. Other recent state championships include the 2003 state title earned by the schools wrestling team. West Valley's wrestling program (over the years) also has the most state titles compared to any other sport and also boasts the most individual state champions.
Student government: West Valley has a student body council as well as a council for each class. Each student government has an advisor and five officers.
Academic Decathlon: West Valley has competed in the United States Academic Decathlon since 1986. Its Academic Decathlon team has won 11 state championships, most recently in March 2007, and will compete at the national finals in Hawaii in April 2007. At the 2007 state competition West Valley achieved a record breaking team score, followed closely by rival Lathrop High School.
Newspaper: West Valley's newspaper was founded in 2005 and is named The Pipeline after the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It puts out two to three issues per semester.
Yearbook: The yearbook is entitled the Aurora and is published every year in May.
Airband: Airband is not like other circulars or sports because there are no academic requirements other than being a full time student. Airband is a class competition where the different classes are given eight minutes to dance and lip sync to pre-recorded songs. Airband is one of the most popular events of the year and occurs in the spring semester.
Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
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About This Zip Code (99709)

School Zip (99709)

(AK) State Average

Population (Approximate)

24,202 people

602,981 people

% (age 25+) w/College Degree

45%

20%

Population Average Age

33 years old

32.4 years old

Average Household size

2.5 persons

2.5 persons

Median Household Income

$53,825

$52,213

Avg. # of Rooms in Household

4.5 rooms

4.8 rooms

Median Age of Housing Structure

29 years old

30 years old

View current housing listings in 99709

Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (99709)

What's a Zindex?
Subject to Zillow Terms of Use

% Owning / % Renting

60% / 40%

61% / 39%

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Weather: 10-day forecast or monthly climate averages.

Nearby Schools:


1. Howard Luke Academy - 167 students - view location
2. Hutchison Career Center - 320 students - view location
3. Star Of The North Charter School - 182 students - view location
4. Lathrop High School - 1320 students - view location
5. New Beginnings Charter School - 12 students - view location
View all schools in: Fairbanks Town, Fairbanks North Star County, Zip 99709

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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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