West High School, commonly referred to as Denver West High School or simply D-West, is a historic high school located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of the original section of West Denver, Colorado. It is part of the

Denver Public Schools The Denver County School District No. 1, more commonly known as the Denver Public Schools (DPS), is the public school system in the City and County of Denver, Colorado, United States. History In 1859, Owen J. Goldrick established the Union Scho ...

system. It is one of four original high schools in Denver; the other three are

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

, and South.

History

West High School was organized in 1883. On June 13, 1884, at 2:00PM, Charles McDonough, Effie Hallam, Lelia Williams, Frances Brandt, Laura Duccy, and Morrison Stillwell became the first graduates of West High School. In 1902, after merging with School District No. 1 (East) to become Denver Public Schools, West became the district's "second" high school. In 1926, West moved into its current building at 9th and Elati, a building designed in English gothic style and executed in light brick with buff terra cotta trimmings. It contains spacious halls and numerous academic, scientific, and vocational classrooms. West High School has a history of activism. In 1969,

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

students organized

walkout In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...

s and marches against the racism and discrimination they experienced in the classroom in protests known as the "West High Blowout". Walkouts occurred throughout

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

as students from other high schools across the city joined in. In 2012, West High School split into two smaller schools — West Early College and West Leadership Academy — in an attempt to boost academic scores. The two schools shared the same building and remained unified for

extracurriculars An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities a ...

such as athletics, but academically broke into two schools. It has a 1,082-seat auditorium that underwent a complete state-of-the-art renovation in 2014 (over 1,200 seats prior to renovation), and a gymnasium that seats 2,000. In 2021, The

Board of Education approved reunifying West Early College and West Leadership Academy into West High School beginning in the 2021–2022 school year. Students and staff advocated for reunification in efforts to embrace the school's history and end what some saw as a rivalry between the two small schools. West High School also houses West Middle School, a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

of about 475 students within the same building as the

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 ...

Demographics

As of the 2020–2021 school year, West High School has a total enrollment of 771 students. Percentage Minority Students: 96% * Hispanic/Latino: 84.9% * African American/Black: 7.8% * White: 4% * Asian & Pacific Islander: 1.1% * American Indian: 1.1% * Multiple Races: 1.1%

Athletics

The athletic teams of West High School are known as the Cowboys (and Cowgirls, for women's sports). The school competes in multiple athletic divisions - the 2A Colorado division for football, and the 5A/4A/3A mixed Denver Prep division (comprising mostly DPS teams) for all other sports. As of 2021, the athletic director is Leon Garcia, who is also the head football coach. Because of the urban location of West High School, their athletic teams welcome student athletes from nearby

alternative high schools An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientati ...

and schools too small to field their own teams, such as nearby

DCIS Baker Denver Center for International Studies at Baker, or simply DCIS Baker, is a public 6-12 magnet school located in the Baker neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. It is part of the Denver Public Schools system. DCIS was created in 1985 as a magnet pr ...

, whose student athletes account for about 20 percent of West High School's rosters.DCIS Athletics
Accessed 2 November 2021

Notable alumni

* Mary Chase - playwright *

William Edward Doyle William Edward Doyle (February 5, 1911 – May 2, 1986) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Di ...

- judge *

Bill Frank William B. Frank, Jr. (April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2014) was a Canadian football offensive tackle in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions, Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He also was a member of the Dallas Cowboys in the ...

- former NFL and CFL player *

Jordon Perlmutter Jordon Perlmutter (1931-2015) was an American real estate developer.West High School
{{authority control High schools in Denver Public high schools in Colorado