Sandy High School (formerly known as Sandy Union High School) is a
public high school in the
northwest United States
The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...
, located in
Sandy, Oregon
Sandy is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, settled 1853 and named after the nearby Sandy River. Located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, the city serves as the western gateway to the Mount Hood Corridor, ...
, east 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 ...
.
Originally located in a two-story schoolhouse in 1917, the high school was given its own standalone brick structure in 1923 to accommodate a growing student body as the
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...
and surrounding cities expanded in population; that building is used now as Cedar Ridge Middle School.
The high school continued to expand throughout the 20th century, with numerous additions and exterior buildings being added to its campus (then located at 17100 Bluff Road). In 2008, voters approved an education bond enabling the construction of a new school building. The new building, constructed on a budget of $75 million, opened in September 2012, and features various updated and new technologies absent from the previous school, including a 500-seat auditorium, outdoor learning and vocational spaces,
geothermal heating
Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of ...
, and
greywater
Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...
recycling.
Since 1997, Sandy High School has been operated by the
Oregon Trail School District, and is the district's only high school.
History
Sandy Union High School was formally established in 1917,
[ with the first graduating class consisting of 12 students, all of whom were female. Prior to this, in 1908, as the city of Sandy grew, a two-story schoolhouse had been established to accommodate students of all ages. By 1914, one room of the building's second floor was used exclusively for high school students.
A local district election was held in 1921 regarding the allocation of a ]bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
of $30,000 to construct a new building, but voters opposed the bond. However, in 1923, the bond was approved, and a two-story 12-classroom brick structure known as the Pioneer Building, was constructed for $30,000 (). It also contained a main office, a small gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...
nasium, and an assembly hall and stage. Following the passing of the Smith–Hughes Act
The Smith–Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917 was an act of the United States Congress that promoted vocational education in "agriculture, trades and industry, and homemaking," and provided federal funds for this purpose. As such, it ...
, home economics
Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...
and agriculture were added to the school's curriculum in 1926. In 1936, a second building was added to the campus in 1936 with funds donated by Ed and August Bruns.
Over the ensuing decades, exterior buildings and additions to the original brick structure were constructed to accommodate the increasing student body; the school was noted in 2006 for implementing a 32-camera surveillance system to ensure safety given the campus's numerous disconnected buildings. In 1984, the school implemented an integrated environmental science vocational program, which proved to be highly successful. In 1997, operations of the high school were taken over by the then-newly formed Oregon Trail School District.[
In 2008, voters approved a $115-million education bond for ]Clackamas County
Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...
, $75 million of which was sequestered to use for constructing a new high school.[ In September 2012,]
the school was officially relocated from its original location to the new campus, with the fall 2012 student body being the first to occupy the new school.[ The new school building is double the size of the previous one, with a performing arts center, 585-seat auditorium, career and technical education pod, and outdoor environmental learning area.][ It also utilizes ]geothermal heating
Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of ...
and greywater
Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...
recycling.[
As of 2017, the Oregon Trail School district was undertaking renovations on the former high school building with plans to use it as a new location for Cedar Ridge Middle School.
]
Student body
According to the '' U.S. News & World Report'', the student body of Sandy High School was 79% white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 12% Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
, 2% American Native or Alaskan Native, 1% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.4% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, and 5% two or more races
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
. 48% of the student body was female, with 52% male.[ The school has a ]student-teacher ratio
A student teacher or prac teacher (''practice teacher'') is a college, university or graduate student who is teaching under the supervision of a certified teacher in order to qualify for a degree in education.
The term is also often used interch ...
of 26:1.
Sandy High School's student body is primarily made up of residents along the Mount Hood Corridor
The Mount Hood Corridor is a part of Oregon between Sandy and Government Camp, in Clackamas County. It is named after Mount Hood and has served travelers going in both directions since the days of Native Americans and Oregon Trail migrants. Th ...
, a route connecting the Portland metropolitan area
The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, ...
with the recreational facilities on Mount Hood, and in Kah-Nee-Ta
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort & Spa was a resort in central Oregon, United States, on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, near the community of Warm Springs in Jefferson County. It closed on 5 September 2018, laying off all its employees. It is plann ...
and central Oregon.
Academics
Sandy High School is unranked by ''U.S. News & World Report''.[ 19% of students participate in the Advanced Placement (AP) program,][ and 59% of those participants passed at least one AP exam.][ The school's graduation rate is 71%.][
Per 2018 data, the student body's proficiency in the subject of English was 20% above the state average.] In mathematics, students performed at only 5% above the state level.[ Students' State Test Performance Index score was 79.9, 5.1 points above anticipated scores based on students' family incomes and levels of education.][ 46.5% of students from ]disadvantaged
The "disadvantaged" is a generic term for individuals or groups of people who:
* Face special problems such as physical or mental disability
* Lack money or economic supportKingdom of Nepal: Economic and Social Inclusion of the Disadvantaged Poo ...
backgrounds scored proficiently on these tests, with 59.7% proficiency for non-disadvantaged students.[
In 2015, students' ]mean average
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...
PSAT score was 1001.
Athletics
The school's athletic teams are the Pioneers, and compete in the OSAA
The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) is a non-profit, board-governed organization that regulates high school athletics and competitive activities via athletic conferences in the U.S. state of Oregon, providing equitable competition amo ...
6A-4 Mt. Hood Conference.
In July 2016, Sandy High School signed an athletic sponsorship deal with the locally headquartered Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
company.
Notable alumni
*George Bruns
George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations, and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions for ...
, Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-nominated Disney music composer
* Bill Johnson, World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
alpine ski racer, Olympic gold medalist
*Brenda Strong
Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in television, including guest starring appearances in ''Twin Peaks'', '' Party of Five'', ''Seinfeld'', '' Scandal'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' ...
, actress
* Mark Thorson, football quarterback
References
Works cited
*
External links
*
Official school site
Sandy High School athletics site
{{authority control
High schools in Clackamas County, Oregon
Public high schools in Oregon
Cross country running courses in Oregon
1917 establishments in Oregon