Westminster High School (Westminster, Colorado)

Westminster High School is a public secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

(grades 9-12) operated by Adams County School District 50

Adams County School District 50

Adams County School District 50 is a public school district located in extreme southwestern Adams County, Colorado, United States. The district serves the southeastern portion of the City of Westminster and adjacent areas.-Board of education:...

in Westminster

Westminster, Colorado

Westminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

At the end of 1996, it was also announced that all incoming freshman in the '08-'09 school year as well as all sophomores in the district that currently attended either Ranum

Iver C. Ranum High School

Iver C. Ranum High School was a public secondary school operated by Adams County School District 50 near Westminster, Colorado, United States, from 1961 to 2010. The high school was located in the Sherrelwood neighborhood in Adams County. Ranum was named in honor of Iver Ranum, Superintendent of...

or Westminster High School, would be attending the current Westminster High School campus, until the new building was finished, for the '10-'11 school year. The district then announced the new school name would also be Westminster High School and the new school colors would be Teal, Black, and Silver, with the wolves as a mascot. The new building location is on almost the same lot as the current building. Features include three multi-purpose basketball courts, an indoor track, a lecture hall, and a 2-seat theatre, all within a 375000 square feet (34,838.6 m²) building.

Demographics

Hispanic 62.2%
White 26.2%
African American 1.8%
Asian 8.7%
Native American 1.1%

Academies

The school is divided into five separate academies where students can select an area of focus.

Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Academy (led by Vice Principal Scott Eldred)

This academy (ACE) will offer innovative and diverse coursework in construction, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It will emphasize preparation for 21st century careers and higher education. Students will collaborate with working professionals to apply their classroom skills in an industry setting.

Global Business Academy (led by Vice Principal Lottie Wilson)

This academy (GBA) prepares students for immediate employment upon graduation or for entrance into a four-year college or university. Students will learn the fundamental basics of office/business management, marketing, and communication. GBA coursework will prepare students to meet the growing demands of the 21st century employers while providing the foundation for critical thinking and leadership skills needed to succeed in the business world.

Health and Biomedical Academy (led by Vice Principal Stacy Parrish)

This academy will offer students an academic pathway to a career in health and biomedical fields. It will offer an opportunity to work with health care workers in a professional setting while attending high school.

Liberal Arts Academy (led by Vice Principal Michael Carlson)

This academy will offer the most traditional of high school experiences. It will focus primarily in the core subject areas. It will also house the International Baccalaureate program.

Visual and Performing Arts Academy (led by Vice Principal Lottie Wilson)

This academy (VPA) will house the creativity of the students involved in an open environment. It will provide a rigorous course work in core areas as well as a well-rounded area of work in creative subjects. It will offer three majors: Music Performance, Visual Arts, and Theatre. Students will build their professional portfolios in the brand new, state-of-the-art choir room, traditional auditorium, and black-box theatre.

CenterStage Theatre

CenterStage is Westminster High School's drama program. Under the direction of Joanna Ramsey, four productions are put on per year: a play in the fall, a musical in the spring, an IB Theatre class show, and an additional show by one of the school's Drama, Stagecraft, or Theatre classes. Additionally, Joanna Ramsey has initiated the use of an original improvisational piece, entitled Natural Born Comedians (or NBC) as well as putting on student written pieces (Fade to Black is the most recent).
Previous Productions Include:

2002-2003: West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
2004-2005: The Last Round Up; Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
2005-2006: NBC 3 (improv); Lucky Stiff
Lucky Stiff
Lucky Stiff is a musical farce. It was the first collaboration for the team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty . The show is based on the 1983 novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth...
2006-2007: Tonight on NBC (improv); The Robber Bridegroom
The Robber Bridegroom (musical)
The Robber Bridegroom is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. The story is based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty of the same name, with a Robin Hood-like hero; the adaptation placed it in a late 18th century American setting...
2007-2008: Fade to Black; Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
2008-2009: And Then They Came for Me
And Then They Came for Me
And Then They Came for Me is a play by American author James Still. It is a multimedia production, which combines tapes of interviews with Holocaust survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with live actors recreating the scenes from their lives. It is part oral history, part drama, part...

; Seussical
Seussical
is a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based on the books of Dr. Seuss that debuted on Broadway in 2000. The play's story is a rather complex amalgamation of many of Seuss's most famous books. After a Broadway run, the production spawned two US national tours and a UK tour...
2009-2010: The Miracle Worker
The Miracle Worker (play)
The Miracle Worker is a three-act play by William Gibson adapted from his 1957 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name. It is based on Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life.-Plot:...

; Once on This Island
Once On This Island
Once on This Island is a one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea...
2010-2011: Heaven Can Wait; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
2011-2012: NBC 5 (tentative title)

Class Reunions

Westminster High School

Westminster High School alumni have created several web pages for class reunions. The following classes have also registered the following domains for their respective classes.

Historical Information

The original Westminster High School was located at 7300 Lowell, which later became the Career Enrichment Park when Westminster High School moved from 73rd and Lowell to its current location in 1976. When originally established in 1949, the school colors were blue and white, and the mascot was a Warrior.

External links