Palisade Senior High School is a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Palisade, Colorado Palisade is a statutory town in Mesa County, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,565 at the 2020 census, down from 2,692 in 2010. The community was named for the clif ...

, United States. It is part of the Mesa County Valley School District 51. It is situated on the western edge of Palisade, on the "old highway" ( US Highway 6). The town of Palisade and the school were founded in 1904. The current school building was completed in 1992, making it one of the more modern schools in the district. Palisade High School is a participant

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

(IB) school, the first in District 51.

History

The first Palisade School was built in 1893 on Second Street just east of Main Street. A second Palisade School was built on the corner of Fourth and Kluge. The third Palisade School was built in 1910 on the corner of Iowa and 7th Street. It was demolished in December 1970. Palisade High School was built in 1925 and a gymnasium added later as a WPA project. That building remained in operation until 1992 (though it had been continually modified and added onto), when the current facility was opened on 3679 "G" Road. Several traditions are held at Palisade which have their roots in the community. For instance, starting in 1949, every homecoming week the senior class "enslaves" the freshmen, forcing them to carry rocks up the Orchard Mesa hill, whitewash them, and put them into a large "P" that can be seen through the Grand Valley. The original mascot of the school was the "Palisade

Peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-f ...

es," a reference to the rich fruit

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s of the region, especially famous for sweet peaches. However, in the 1920s, a student, Marion Bowman, brought his British bulldog to football games, and the dog soon became a school favorite. In his honor, the mascot was changed to the current Palisade Bulldogs, and is now named "Spike". A bronze statue of a bulldog graces the

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...

of the school. It was sculpted and donated by Parker G. C. Inc.

Curriculum

Palisade offers several Advanced Placement (AP) classes and IB classes. A movement that began at PHS, the PACK program, is an integral part of Palisade academics. Students with any grades below passing, or a C, must spend the first half of lunch in Content Tutoring, where they get homework help. This program has begun to gain popularity with other schools in the district. Apart from these programs, Palisade High School's curriculum is that of any school in District 51. This includes a 25 credit system, drawing from a variety of subjects. Three credits are required in mathematics, science, and social studies, and four credits in English. Also required are credits in PE, computer literacy, fine arts, and other general electives. PHS offers a variety of classes, including unique classes such as food science and technical education, which fit into various credit requirements.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Athletics at Palisade High include: *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

(boys' and girls') * Cross country (boys' and girls') * Football *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

(boys' and girls') * Soccer (boys' and girls') *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

(girls') *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

(girls') * Track *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

(girls') *

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Early in the 1990s, the football team won four consecutive Colorado State 3A Championships.

Non-athletic

The school's Knowledge Bowl team won the 4A state title two years. Since 2005, the school's Speech and Debate team has had six State Champions and one National Champion. PHS offers a "club day" on Thursday's in which students are exempt from Office Hours and Advisory, and freshmen are required to attend at least one club.

References

External links

*
Mesa County Valley School District official website
{{authority control Public high schools in Colorado Schools in Mesa County, Colorado International Baccalaureate schools in Colorado Educational institutions established in 1902 1902 establishments in Colorado