Walnut Ridge High School (Columbus, Ohio)
Encyclopedia
Walnut Ridge High School is a public high school located on the far east side of Columbus, Ohio
at 4841 E Livingston Ave near the I-70 and Hamilton Road exit. The school is neighbored by the Far East Recreation Center and Big Walnut Creek
The school colors are scarlet, gray and white and the school's sports teams nickname is the Scots in honor of the school's sister school, The Harlaw Academy in Scotland. In recognition of this fact the school's color scheme has been officially recorded as a distinct tartan pattern. Walnut Ridge is a four-year comprehensive college prep high school with an enrollment of 860. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, and by the Department of Education of the State of Ohio. It is an integrated public high school with student representation from 27 countries. Columbus Public Schools system is one of the most outstanding urban school systems in the United States.
At its peak in the early 1970s, the school had an enrollment of over 1,800 in grades 10-12. Starting with the 1971-72 school year, Walnut Ridge went into split sessions. This lasted until declining enrollment caused by new schools being built (Independence and Centennial were built and opened in 1976-1977 school year). Declining enrollment for city schools started after many fled the Columbus city schools (see growth of Columbus suburban population ie: Pickerington, Westerville, Dublin) after a federal court mandated desegregation of the district in 1979.
Academically, Walnut Ridge offers Advanced Placement courses in chemistry, English literature and composition, calculus (AB), government & politics and U.S. History. It also offer PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) through Hocking College. Students enrolled in the PSEO program can earn high school credit as well as college credit in English and Government. Concurrent enrollment is also available through local universities. The Freshman Academy has been implemented to assist 9th-grade students with the transition from middle school to high school. The goal is to promote more students from grade 9 to grade 10. There is also an established Sophomore Academy.Credit Recovery is also offered to students. This uses technology and available resources to individualize instruction for students in the core academic courses. However, this school remains slightly below average for the district when it comes to profiency test scores.
In sports, the school's traditional rival was Eastmoor High School. This was in part because when Walnut Ridge opened to students in 1961, more than half of its enrollment were former Eastmoor students. Walnut Ridge Students attended classes in the Eastmoor High School building in the afternoons while the Eastmoor students attended classes in the same building in the mornings. This continued for a few months until the new Walnut Ridge building received its certificate of occupancy. From the late 1960s through the end of the 1990s the winner of the annual football game between these two schools received the Victory Bell trophy to go along with their bragging rights. Officially this tradition came to an end when Eastmoor became an Academy school in 2000. Unofficially, it came to an end in 1999 when four Walnut Ridge student athletes broke into Eastmoor's football stadium and cut the bell from its tower. This was a fitting end to the tradition as legend has it the bell was originally stolen from a rural church by football players in 1968. Since 2000 the biggest rival has been Independence High School. Currently there are two alumni of Walnut Ridge playing in the National Football League, Gary Russell in the Oakland Raiders organization, and Ernie Wheelwright, for the Baltimore Ravens. In addition to football the school has 16 other varsity sports including baseball, basketball, swimming, wrestling, and a soccer program that has dominated the league for much of the past two decades.
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
at 4841 E Livingston Ave near the I-70 and Hamilton Road exit. The school is neighbored by the Far East Recreation Center and Big Walnut Creek
The school colors are scarlet, gray and white and the school's sports teams nickname is the Scots in honor of the school's sister school, The Harlaw Academy in Scotland. In recognition of this fact the school's color scheme has been officially recorded as a distinct tartan pattern. Walnut Ridge is a four-year comprehensive college prep high school with an enrollment of 860. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, and by the Department of Education of the State of Ohio. It is an integrated public high school with student representation from 27 countries. Columbus Public Schools system is one of the most outstanding urban school systems in the United States.
At its peak in the early 1970s, the school had an enrollment of over 1,800 in grades 10-12. Starting with the 1971-72 school year, Walnut Ridge went into split sessions. This lasted until declining enrollment caused by new schools being built (Independence and Centennial were built and opened in 1976-1977 school year). Declining enrollment for city schools started after many fled the Columbus city schools (see growth of Columbus suburban population ie: Pickerington, Westerville, Dublin) after a federal court mandated desegregation of the district in 1979.
Academically, Walnut Ridge offers Advanced Placement courses in chemistry, English literature and composition, calculus (AB), government & politics and U.S. History. It also offer PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) through Hocking College. Students enrolled in the PSEO program can earn high school credit as well as college credit in English and Government. Concurrent enrollment is also available through local universities. The Freshman Academy has been implemented to assist 9th-grade students with the transition from middle school to high school. The goal is to promote more students from grade 9 to grade 10. There is also an established Sophomore Academy.Credit Recovery is also offered to students. This uses technology and available resources to individualize instruction for students in the core academic courses. However, this school remains slightly below average for the district when it comes to profiency test scores.
In sports, the school's traditional rival was Eastmoor High School. This was in part because when Walnut Ridge opened to students in 1961, more than half of its enrollment were former Eastmoor students. Walnut Ridge Students attended classes in the Eastmoor High School building in the afternoons while the Eastmoor students attended classes in the same building in the mornings. This continued for a few months until the new Walnut Ridge building received its certificate of occupancy. From the late 1960s through the end of the 1990s the winner of the annual football game between these two schools received the Victory Bell trophy to go along with their bragging rights. Officially this tradition came to an end when Eastmoor became an Academy school in 2000. Unofficially, it came to an end in 1999 when four Walnut Ridge student athletes broke into Eastmoor's football stadium and cut the bell from its tower. This was a fitting end to the tradition as legend has it the bell was originally stolen from a rural church by football players in 1968. Since 2000 the biggest rival has been Independence High School. Currently there are two alumni of Walnut Ridge playing in the National Football League, Gary Russell in the Oakland Raiders organization, and Ernie Wheelwright, for the Baltimore Ravens. In addition to football the school has 16 other varsity sports including baseball, basketball, swimming, wrestling, and a soccer program that has dominated the league for much of the past two decades.