Sprague High School

Charles A. Sprague High School
Location
2373 Kuebler Road S Salem , (Marion County) , Oregon 97302 United States
Coordinates	44°53′13″N123°04′40″W / 44.886988°N 123.077743°W / 44.886988; -123.077743
Information
Type	Public
Opened	1972
School district	Salem-Keizer School District
Principal	Chad Barkes
Teaching staff	72.08 (FTE) [1]
Number of students	1,765 (2023–2024) [1]
Student to teacher ratio	24.49 [1]
Color(s)	Olympic orange and white    [2]
Athletics conference	OSAA Central Valley Conference 6A-6 [3]
Mascot	Olympian [3]
Team name	Olympians [4]
Rival	South Salem High School
Newspaper	The Oracle
Feeder schools	Crossler Middle School, Judson Middle School [5]
Website	sprague.salkeiz.k12.or.us

Charles A. Sprague High School, known as Sprague High School (SHS), is a high school in the Sunnyslope neighborhood of Salem, Oregon, United States. The school is named after Charles A. Sprague, who served as Oregon's governor from 1939 to 1943.

Academics

In the 2017–18 school year, 87.9% of Sprague's seniors received a high school diploma, compared to a statewide rate of 77%. Of 365 students, 321 graduated and 30 dropped out.

In the 2017–18 school year, Sprague's test scores were significantly higher than the state averages. In English, Sprague had 84% of students meeting state standards compared to the 70% state average, 46% in math compared to 33% statewide, and 81% in science compared to the 54% state average.

The racial makeup of Sprague currently consists of 74% white, 11% Hispanic, 15% other.

Music activities

Grammy Signature School recognition

Sprague has been recognized as a Grammy Signature School in many years. ^[6] This program is designed to honor exceptional public high school music programs across the country.

• 2009: GRAMMY Signature Schools ^[6]
• 2008: GRAMMY Signature Schools ^[7]
• 2000: National GRAMMY Signature School ^[6]
• 1999: GRAMMY Signature Schools Gold ^[6]

Orchestra

Since the orchestral program was created in 1986, Sprague's Camerata Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra have won a combined 25 Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) State Championships, and the program flourished under the direction of Steve A. Nelson. In addition, Sprague is the only high school in Oregon to have won state championships in all four OSAA music categories (String Orchestra, Full Orchestra, Choir, and Band) in a single year (1998). ^[8] Beginning in 1993, and every fourth year until 2005 (1997, 2001, 2005), Sprague's Orchestra Program has traveled to Austria, where the Camerata has been named the "Top High School String Orchestra in the World" on multiple occasions after winning the Vienna Youth and Music Festival in 1997 and 2005. The orchestras are currently directed by Lisa Rael.

• State Championships:
• Full Orchestra: 1988, 1996–99, 2001–03, 2006, 2011
• String Orchestra: 1990, 1993, 1995–2000, 2002, 2004–06, 2009–11

Choir

Choir director Russ Christensen was named the Oregon Music Educator of the year for 2007. The choir placed or tied for first in OSAA state choir championships in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2017. The choir is now directed by Dr. Robert David Brown. ^[9]

Bands

Sprague High School Marching Band and Color Guard won the Oregon state championship in 1984, 1985, and 1986. They won the Kelso Highlander Marching band competition in 1983. The marching band competed in the California state championships in San Jose in 1984, coming in second place by only 3/4 of a point. They also took first place at the Bands of America regional championship in Moscow, Idaho in 1985. The color guard, named the Starlighters Winterguard, won the Western Dream Pageant Scholastic division with the highest score up to that point in 1986, having an undefeated season.^{[ citation needed ]} In 2017, under the direction of Dr. Richard Greenwood, the band won the 6A OSAA state championship for the first time since 2012.

• State Championships: 1998, 2001, 2003–07, 2009, 2012, 2017

The band is a member of Northwest Association for Performing Arts and Oregon School Activities Association.

Sprague has hosted the Pacific Coast Invitational, a marching band competition, since 1982.

Concert Band

Sprague band has participated in many Heritage Festivals ^[10] in Anaheim and San Francisco, California over the years. Below is list of the accomplishments by participation year:

Year	Event	Band	Ranking
2008	Heritage Festivals, Anaheim	Wind Ensemble	Gold 1st
2008	Heritage Festivals, Anaheim	Wind Symphony	Silver
2001	Heritage Festivals, Anaheim	Wind Ensemble	Gold 1st
2001	Heritage Festivals, Anaheim	Symphonic Band	Silver 1st
2001	Heritage Festivals, San Francisco	Jazz Band I	Gold 1st
2000	Heritage Festivals, San Francisco	Jazz Band	Gold 1st
2000	Heritage Festivals, San Francisco	Jazz Band	Gold 2nd
2000	Heritage Festivals, San Francisco	Wind Ensemble	Gold 1st
2000	Heritage Festivals, San Francisco	Concert Band	Gold 1st

Marching band accolades

The first two months of each school year is marching band season. To start the season off, two weeks in August are devoted to marching band camp. Members of Sprague Band assemble with the Color Guard practice drills, straighten lines and create a show for competition with other high school marching bands within Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho. Most are members of the Northwest Association of Performing Artists.

Year [11]	Event	Class rank	Class captions	Event rank	Event captions
2018	U of O Festival of Bands	3rd in AA	-	10th	-
2013	Pride of the Northwest	1st in A [12]	High General Effect High Visual High Auxiliary	1st [13]	High Music High Visual High Auxiliary
2013	McKenzie Classic	2nd in A [14]	High General Effect	8th [15]	-
2013	Southridge Spectacle of Sound	2nd in A [16]	-	12th [17]	-
2012	U of O Festival of Bands	3rd in A [18]	High Music	10th [19]	-
2012	Century Showcase	1st in A [20]	High General Effect High Music High Visual High Auxiliary	10th [21]	-
2011	U of O Festival of Bands	3rd in A [22]	-	13th [23]	-
2011	Century Showcase	2nd in A [24]	-	5th [25]	-
2010	U of O Festival of Bands (Championships)	7th in A [26]	-	-	-
2010	Pride of the Northwest	2nd in A [27]	High Music High Auxiliary	7th [28]	-
2010	Pacific Coast Invitational	1st in A [29]	High Music High Auxiliary	5th [30]	-
2009	OSU Marching Band Competition (Championships)	1st in A [31] Note: West Salem 1st in AA South Salem 1st in AAA Southridge 1st in Open	High Music High Auxiliary	9th [32]	-
2009	Pride of the Northwest	1st in A	High General Effect High Music High Visual High Auxiliary	2nd [33]	High Auxiliary
2008	U of O Festival of Bands (Championships)	2nd in A
2008	OSU Marching Band Competition	1st in A	High General Effect
2008	McKenzie Classic	2nd in A	High Music
2007	OSU Marching Band Competition (Championships)	2nd in AA	High General Effect
2007	Puget Sound Festival of Bands	1st in AA	High General Effect High Music High Visual High Percussion High Auxiliary	4th
2007	Sunset Classic	2nd in AA	High Music High Auxiliary	3rd	High Music
2006	Pride of the Northwest	2nd in AA	High Music
2005	U of O Festival of Bands			7th
2005	Sunset Classic	1st in AA	High General Effect High Music High Visual High Auxiliary	3rd	High Music
2004	U of O Festival of Bands (Championships)	1st in A
2004	Sunset Classic	1st in A	High General Effect High Music High Auxiliary

Athletics

Sprague now competes in the 6A Central Valley Conference, re-established in 2022. The other teams in the conference are also from Salem and Keizer: McNary, North Salem, South Salem, West Salem.

Sprague has won ten state championships in various sports, including six Directors Cup^{[ clarification needed ]} trophies for league standings in all sports throughout a school year.

During the 2004-2005 school year, Sprague won both the football and baseball state championships, marking the first time since 1998 ^{[34] [35]} that a major Oregon high school was a state champion in two of the "Big 3" (football, basketball, and baseball) in the same year. Sprague has also had a very successful tennis program. Between 2006 and 2009, the boys' tennis team won the team state championship and had a player in the singles final in three out of four years (2006, 2007, 2009).

Sprague has one of the best high school racquetball teams in the nation. They have 7 state and 6 national titles, along with numerous individual player titles. The team swept the state championship in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. They have been in the top 2 high school racquetball teams for over a decade.

State Championships

• Football: 2004 ^[36]
• Boys' tennis: 1977, 1993, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2009 ^[37]
• Baseball: 1995, 2005 ^[38]
• Softball: 2003
• Racquetball: 1998, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 (club sport)

National Champions

• Racquetball: 1998, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2019, 2020 (club sport)

State Championship Appearances

• Boys Cross Country: 1972, 1980, 1984, 1989–91, 1999-2000, 2004, 2022
• Girls Cross Country: 1978–81, 1986–87, 1989, 1992, 1996–97, 2007, 2015–17
• Volleyball: 2018
• Girls Basketball: 1989
• Boys Basketball: 1989, 1996–97
• Boys Swimming: 1974–78, 1986, 1990–95, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2011, 2015, 2017–18
• Girls Swimming: 1976–78, 1985, 1990–97, 1999-2000, 2002–15, 2017–18
• Wrestling: 1979-82, 1984–85, 1988, 1991–18
• Baseball: 1995, 2005
• Boys Golf: 1976, 1979–80, 1992–93, 1999–2003, 2007–08, 2011–12
• Girls Golf: 2000–01, 2007, 2012–14, 2018
• Softball: 1989, 1992, 1994, 2003, 2005
• Boys Tennis: 1974–79, 1982–83, 1985, 1988–18
• Girls Tennis: 1977, 1980–85, 1988, 1990–92, 1994, 1996–98, 2004–14, 2018
• Boys Track and Field: 1974–76, 1978–82, 1984–85, 1989–94, 1997, 2000–12, 2014–17
• Girls Track and Field: 1975–77, 1979–83, 1986, 1988–89, 1992, 1995–98, 2001–04, 2007, 2010–14, 2017

Notable alumni

• Joey Wong, baseball player ^[39]
• Bill Swancutt, NFL football player
• Teagan Quitoriano, NFL football player

References

1. "Sprague High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
2. "Sprague High School". Oregon School Activities Association. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
3. "Oregon School Activities Association". May 7, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
4. "Oregon School Activities Association". May 7, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
5. "School Attendance Areas - Salem-Keizer District 24J". salkeiz.k12.or.us. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
6. "GRAMMY in the Schools" . Retrieved July 14, 2009.
7. "2008 GRAMMY Signature Schools Finalists" (PDF). November 2, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
8. "1998 Championship Results" (PDF).
9. "OSAA Choir" . Retrieved July 14, 2009.
10. "Heritage Festivals - Your Partner in Music". Archived from the original on December 1, 2002. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
11. "Northwest Association of Performing Arts". August 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
12. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2013 PNW Prelims" (PDF). October 26, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
13. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2013 PNW Finals" (PDF). October 26, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
14. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2013 McKenzie Classic Prelims" (PDF). October 19, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
15. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2013 McKenzie Classic Finals" (PDF). October 19, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
16. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2013 Southridge Spectacle of Sound Prelims" (PDF). October 5, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
17. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2013 Southridge Spectacle of Sound Finals" (PDF). October 5, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
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24. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2011 Century Showcase Prelims" (PDF). September 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
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26. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2010 FoB Prelims" (PDF). October 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
27. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2010 PNW Prelims" (PDF). October 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
28. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2010 PNW Finals" (PDF). October 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
29. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2010 PCI Prelims" (PDF). October 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
30. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2010 PCI Finals" (PDF). October 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
31. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2009 Championships Prelims" (PDF). November 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
32. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2009 Championships Finals" (PDF). November 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
33. "NWAPA Recap Sheet 2009 PNW Finals" (PDF). October 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
34. "OSAA Baseball Champions" (PDF).
35. "OSAA Football Champions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2012.
36. "OSAA Football Championships" (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2011.
37. "OSAA Boys Tennis Championships" (PDF).
38. "OSAA Baseball Championships" (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2011.
39. "Joey Wong representing China in World Baseball Classic".