Westlake High School is a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

unincorporated territory Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions and dependent territory, dependent territories overseen by the federal government of the United States. The American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indi ...

Travis County, Texas Travis County is located in Central Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the List of counties in Texas, fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat and most populous city is Austi ...

, west of and adjacent to

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. The school is a part of the Eanes Independent School District. Westlake High School is the only high school in the Eanes ISD and serves

West Lake Hills West Lake Hills (locally referred to as "Westlake") is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,444. It is a suburb west of central Austin. History West Lake Hills was founded by Emmett Shelt ...

, Rollingwood, parts of Southwest

, as well as parts of unincorporated Travis County. The school was established in 1969 and opened in 1970. In ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' Magazine's list of America's top High Schools Westlake was ranked #72 in 2011, #160 in 2012, #93 in 2013, and #117 in 2014. In high school rankings by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Westlake was #52 in 2010, #59 in 2011, #106 in 2012, #136 in 2013, and #136 in 2014. In the '' U.S. News & World Report's'' 2023-2024 rankings, Westlake is listed as #299 out of 17,680 schools.

Extracurricular activities

Westlake was moved to the state's highest classification in 2014 when Texas added a 6A classification.

Academics

*UIL Academic Meet Champions **1993(4A)

Athletics

The Westlake Chaparrals compete in volleyball, cross country, football, basketball, powerlifting, wrestling, swimming, soccer, lacrosse, golf, tennis, track, water polo, baseball, softball, dance, and cheerleading.

State titles

*Baseball **1980(3A), 1984(4A) *Girls basketball **1993(4A), 1995(5A), 1996(5A) *Boys cross country **1979(B), 1981(4A) *Girls cross country **1975(B), 1976(B), 1977(B), 1985(4A), 1990(4A) *Football **1996(5A), 2019(6A/D2), 2020(6A/D1), 2021(6A/D2) *Boys golf **1980(3A), 1996(5A), 1999(5A), 2001(5A), 2009(5A), 2010(5A), 2014(5A), 2017(6A), 2018(6A), 2019(6A), 2021(6A), 2022(6A), 2023(6A), 2025(6A) *Girls golf ** 2010(5A), 2011(5A), 2018(6A), 2019(6A) *Boys swimming **2006(5A) *Girls swimming **1980(All), 1996(All), 1997(All), 2007(5A), 2008(5A), 2014(5A), 2015(5A) *Team tennis **1984(4A), 1985(4A), 1992(4A), 2006(5A), 2007(5A), 2009(4A) *Volleyball **1991(4A), 1993(4A), 2002(5A), 2004(5A) *Rugby **2015, 2016

Orchestra

The orchestra program currently has two full orchestras and four string orchestras competing in UIL each year.

Band

The Westlake High School Chaparral Band has been named the Texas State Honor Band three times (AA, AAA, and AAAA) in its 30-year history. A select group of Chap Band student musicians performed at the bi-annual conference of the internationally recognized World Association for Symphonic Bands (WASBE) in Cincinnati, OH in July 2009. The invitation to perform at WASBE is the first ever extended to a high school band organization.

State titles

*Marching Band Sweepstakes Champions **1979(3A), 1982(3A)

Cheerleading

The Westlake Cheer Program's Red Team has won the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019 UCA Super Varsity Division 1 National High School Cheerleading Championships.

Notable alumni

* KJ Adams Jr.,

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

basketball forward * Kyle Adams, former NFL tight end *

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Ben Breedlove Benjamin Daniel Breedlove (August 8, 1993 – December 25, 2011) was an American Internet personality from Austin, Texas, known for his vlogs on YouTube. On the night of December 25, 2011, he died from complications of hypertrophic cardiomyopat ...

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champion *

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, former professional basketball player *

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, college football player for the

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* Courtney Duever, basketball player who played professionally in

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and

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, NFL quarterback and

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champion * Theo Gillen, baseball player * Jaden Greathouse, college football player for Notre Dame *

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Kelly Gruber Kelly Wayne Gruber (born February 26, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played for the Toronto Blue Jays and California Angels from 1984 to 1993. He was a two-time MLB All-Star and won a Gold Glove Award an ...

, former MLB infielder and

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champion *

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, actor * Josh Ilika, Olympic swimmer *

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Cade Klubnik Cade Klubnik (born October 10, 2003) is an American college football quarterback for the Clemson Tigers. Early life Klubnik attended Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. During his high school career he passed for 7,426 yards with 86 touchdo ...

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quarterback *

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Controversies

On the morning of Oct. 13, 1989, an effigy was found hanging by a noose from a tree on campus. The effigy was dressed in a football jersey that read "fish." That same day, Westlake High School was set to play the Homecoming football game against Lyndon B. Johnson High School, who had a Black quarterback named "Fish." Controversy over the meaning of the effigy ensued. Some insisted that the lynched effigy was racially motivated. Others thought the word "fish" on the jersey was an unfortunate coincidence, drawing parallels to the nickname "fish" that was often given to freshmen at the school. Another scandal would ensue the same day as the words "Go Home, N——" were found painted on the bleachers for the visiting team. Following the incidents on October 13, the University Interscholastic League put Westlake High School on probation for the 1990-91 school year. The school was also required to institute a plan to improve diversity, inclusion, and sensitivity. Public controversy around racism at Westlake High School resurfaced in 2020 with the creation of the Instagram accoun
@racismatwestlake.
The account documents firsthand experiences with discrimination at Westlake High School. Media attention garnered by the account has led to conversations surrounding diversity at the school, the actions of administrators, and the general culture at Westlake.

In popular culture

Neptune High, the high school in ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

'', is partially based on Westlake, where the father of writer-producer Rob Thomas once served as vice-principal.

References

External links

Westlake High School
* * * - From the WHS Webmastering Class, prior to 2000 {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1958 Educational institutions established in 1969 Public high schools in Travis County, Texas 1958 establishments in Texas