Woodbury High School, formerly Woodbury Senior High, 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 ...

serving grades 912 in

Woodbury, Minnesota Woodbury is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States, eight miles (13 km) east of Saint Paul along Interstate 94. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The population was 75,102 at the 2020 census, making it ...

, United States. It is part of the South Washington County Schools. The school's mascot is 'Roar the Lion' and the school colors are

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

and

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 ...

. The school opened in 1975.

Overview

Enrollment for the school is about 1,933 students. This is one of the three public high schools in the district. WHS follows a three-trimester, six-period schedule with about 54 minutes in each class. Woodbury High School is rated 9 out of 10 by Great Schools.

Academics

All schools in Minnesota are required by law to administer the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test, better known as the MCA, a standardized test used to measure student and school performance. In 2017 Woodbury High School scored 66.9% proficient in Mathematics, 74.4% proficient in Reading, and 77.9% proficient in Science. Compared to statewide results, Woodbury scored 8.3, 14.2, and 23.7 percentage points higher in proficiency respectively. The school average composite ACT score is 23.6. Woodbury High School is the 16th highest ranked high school in Minnesota by U.S. News & World Report, earning its Silver award. GreatSchools.org gave Woodbury a 10 out of 10 GreatSchools rating. In 2014

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

magazine ranked Woodbury High School as the 45th best high school in the United States, placing it as 2nd best in Minnesota.

Niche (company) Niche.com, formerly known as College Prowler, is an American company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that runs a ranking and review site. The company was founded by Luke Skurman in 2002 as a publisher of print guidebooks on US colle ...

gave Woodbury High School the title of fourth best high school in Minnesota.

Athletics

Girls Basketball

The girls basketball team won the AAAA Minnesota State Championship in 2003, finishing the season with a record of 29-0. Other highlights for the girls basketball team under coach Dave Preller from 1987 to 2011 include: 10 State Tournament appearances and a winning percentage of .808 (512 wins, 122 losses).

Boys Basketball

The boys basketball team won the AA Minnesota State Championship in 1983. The team went undefeated (24-0), the season culminating with a 56-50 overtime victory over Coon Rapids (featuring future NBA player

Tom Copa Thomas James Copa (born October 30, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. After graduating from Marquette he went on to play professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in Europe. Born in Robbinsdale, Min ...

) in the state final.

Shirt incident

In 2001 the school created homophobia-free areas called " safe zones" designated by an inverted

pink triangle A pink triangle has been a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, initially intended as a badge of shame, but later reclaimed as a positive symbol of self-identity and love for queerness. In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, it began as one of the ...

and intended for gay students. Student Elliot Chambers reacted by wearing a makeshift sweatshirt with the slogan "Straight Pride" and the image of male and female

stick figure A stick figure, also known as a stickman, is a very simple drawing of a person or an animal, composed of a few lines, curves, and dots. On a stick figure, the head is most often represented by a circle, which can be either a solid color or som ...

s holding hands. In light of previous anti-gay incidents, the school's principal ordered Chambers to remove the shirt, and a court case ensued. A court upheld Chambers' complaint that his

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

rights had been violated, and that the principal's decision was unjustified. Although praising the principal's intentions, the judge explained that views of both sides of the debate should be allowed and that such issues should be resolved within the school's community, not within the court system. Under the

Tinker Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...

case, the court stated that the substantial disruptions claimed by the school must be shown to have some connection to Chambers' sweatshirt message of "Straight Pride".

Music department

The Woodbury Music Department supports a very comprehensive music program. The program includes 3 concert bands, 2

jazz ensemble A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

s, a

marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

, a

pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchi ...

, 3

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

s, and 2 chamber orchestras

School Bands

Woodbury High School hosts a varsity band, a symphony band, a concert band, and a marching band.

Varsity Band

The Varsity Band is composed to mostly high school

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, but may include older students who are restarting their band process.

Symphony Band

The intermediate level band is made up of students grades 9-12. Each student has their own role in this band- it is designed to make students better and be able to move up to the concert band.

Concert Band

The Concert Band is the advanced level band and is the band program's premier and award-winning performing ensemble. Students in all grade levels may audition into the Concert Band, audition materials are released each spring, or at the director's discretion. In the year 2016, the Concert band traveled to Denver, Colorado.

Jazz Ensembles

The Woodbury HS Jazz Ensembles perform jazz music of many styles when they appear in community events and concert performances. Jazz events begin in late November as the Marching Band season comes to an end.

Marching Royals

The Marching Royals are made up of an all-volunteer group of students from grades 9-12 who are a part of the Woodbury High School Band Program. The Woodbury Royals

performs at every home football game under the lights. The Marching Royals have performed across the nation; including the 2013

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

Parade in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, halftime at a Minnesota Vikings game at Mall of America Field in the fall of 2013, and in front of 30,000 spectators in the Disney Festival of Fantasy parade at Disney World in Orlando, FL. During the Fall of 2016 the Marching Royals played at the 75th anniversary of the

Pearl Harbor attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ...

in Hawai'i.

Pep Band

The Woodbury High School Pep Band is composed of all the members of the band program. As a part of regular band class, students perform for select athletic events throughout the school year. The Pep Band also accompanies select Woodbury sports teams to state.

Orchestras

Woodbury High School has three orchestras along with two chambers. The three orchestras are: Varsity, Sinfonia, and Concert.

Notable alumni

Woodbury High School has been attended by several persons of note, including: *

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, former NFL player *

Michelle Fischbach Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach (; born November 3, 1965) is an American attorney and politician who is the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district, which is very rural, is Minnesota's largest congressiona ...

, US Representative and former Minnesota Lieutenant Governor * Kate Hughes, former LPGA tour golferKate Hughes
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Chip Lohmiller John McLeod "Chip" Lohmiller (born July 16, 1966) is a former professional American football placekicker in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, and St. Louis Rams. He played college football at the Univ ...

, former NFL player * Max Meyer, 1st round pick (3rd overall) MLB Draft, 2020, Miami Marlins * Eric C. Tostrud, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. * Michelle Young, Reality TV star, The Bachelor Season 25 (runner up) and the star of The Bachelorette Season 18

Notable faculty

Woodbury High School teachers of note: * Len Price, Social Studies teacher and Minnesota State Representative and Senator

References

External links

* {{authority control Public high schools in Minnesota Schools in Washington County, Minnesota