Oregon City High School is a

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Oregon City, Oregon ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

, a suburb south of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

History

Oregon City High School was established in 1885 on the lower level of Oregon City on Jackson Street Due to the growing number of students in the late 1980s, a freshmen campus was established in 1989 at Moss Junior High School on the southeast side of Oregon City and the main campus had just the upper three grades for its last fourteen years. In the early 2000s, construction began on the Moss Campus for the new high school, often referred to as Beavercreek. With its completion in 2003, OCHS became a four-year high school again for the 2003–04 school year. The original 1885 campus on Jackson was closed in 2003 due to the aftereffects of multiple disasters (fires and earthquakes) and the inability to effectively repair the damage. It is now the campus for the Clackamas Academy of Industrial Sciences (CAIS), and is still in use for basketball games and other activities. Pioneer Memorial Stadium, adjacent to the 1885 campus, continues as the OCHS venue for football, soccer, lacrosse, and track and field.

Academics

In 1985, Oregon City High School was honored in the

Blue Ribbon Schools Program The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

, the highest honor a school can receive in the United States. Oregon City offers 14 Advanced Placement courses and is connected to

Clackamas Community College Clackamas Community College (CCC) is a public community college in Oregon City, Oregon. Founded in 1966, it is one of the largest community colleges in the state of Oregon. Clackamas Community College offers courses at three campuses: the centr ...

, where some Oregon City Courses are taught by professors. In 2008, 85% of the school's seniors received a

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

. Of 474 students, 405 graduated, 46 dropped out, five received a modified diploma, and 18 were still in high school the following year. In 2009, ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'' described the school as an "overachiever" at teaching reading and math, due to its achievement scores.

Extracurricular activities

Choir

The Rendezvous Jazz Choir took first place at the Pleasant Hill Jazz festival. The OC Master Choir performed the song "Raua Needmine" (Curse Upon Iron) by the Estonian composer

Veljo Tormis Veljo Tormis (7 August 1930 – 21 January 2017) was an Estonian composer, regarded as one of the great contemporary choral composers and one of the most important composers of the 20th century in Estonia.Daitz, Mimi. Ancient Song Recovered: The ...

in the 2009 school year.

Athletics

The girls' basketball program won three consecutive ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' girls' national championships from 1995 to 1997, as well as state championships in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2014. They have placed at the State Tournament 24 years in a row starting in 1987.

State Championships

* Girls' lacrosse: 2009, 2010 * Baseball: 2012 * Boys' cross country: 1996 * Girls' track & field: 1988, 1989, 2021 * Boys' Track & Field: 2017 * Dance: 1992

Controversies

Political cartoon controversy

During the 2004–2005 school year, a political cartoon drawn by a student concerning the border issue between Mexico and the United States, was taken out of context, making national news. The cartoon was a depiction of two vigilante patrolmen discussing a "point system" for the capture of illegal immigrants. Local news coverage of the issue soon expanded to national coverage, bringing aboth criticism and support for the cartoonist and the newspaper.

Social media controversy

During the 2016–2017 school year, a Twitter post that showed a group of students holding a sign that included a racial slur was released, stirring controversy. In the following days, many of the students united to express their views and opinions of the incident by walking out of the classrooms and gathering in the school courtyard.

Notable alumni

Rebecca Anderson Rebecca Anderson (Muessle) (born May 1991) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Oregon City, Oregon. She won a series of local titles beginning in 2011 and was crowned Miss Oregon 2014. Entering her first pageant at age 19, Anderson ...

Miss Oregon The Miss Oregon competition is a regional scholarship competition and Beauty contest, beauty pageant that selects the representative for the US state of Oregon in the Miss America pageant. The annual event includes contestants from across the st ...

2014 *

Jonah Nickerson Jonah S. Nickerson (born March 9, 1985 in Casper, Wyoming) is a retired American minor league baseball pitcher. Nickerson played for the 2006 College World Series-winning Oregon State Beavers, and was named the Most Outstanding Player. Early li ...

, baseball player,

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Shannon O'Keefe Shannon O'Keefe (née Rondeau, born January 27, 1979) is an American professional bowler and bowling coach now living in Shiloh, Illinois, who has competed in the United States and internationally. She is an 18-time member of Team USA (2005– ...

(né Rondeau), professional bowler, Team USA Bowling *

Ron Saltmarsh Ron Saltmarsh is an American composer, producer, guitarist and performer. He has written many TV and movie scores, and also written many country music songs. Saltmarsh was born in Portland, OR in 1962 and grew up on a ranch in Beavercreek, OR. He m ...

, composer *

Brad Tinsley Bradley Glen Tinsley (born May 10, 1989) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was the starting point guard and played high school basketball at Or ...

, basketball player, Vanderbilt * Trevor Wilson, baseball player,

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

and

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Tyrone S. Woods Four Americans died in the 2012 Benghazi attack: Ambassador Chris Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith, and two CIA operatives, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former Navy SEALs. Stevens is the first U.S. ambassador killed in an attack ...

, U.S. Navy Seal * Lindsey Yamasaki, basketball player

References

External links

Oregon City High School page
at school district's website {{authority control Buildings and structures in Oregon City, Oregon High schools in Clackamas County, Oregon Educational institutions established in 1885 Public high schools in Oregon 1885 establishments in Oregon