Walled Lake Western High School

Walled Lake Western High School
Address
600 Beck Road Walled Lake , Michigan 48390 United States
Coordinates	42°31′48″N83°30′57″W / 42.53000°N 83.51583°W / 42.53000; -83.51583
Information
Type	Public High School
Motto	Academic Excellence for a Global Society
Established	August, 1969
School district	Walled Lake Consolidated Schools
Principal	Ali Hamka
Teaching staff	55.70 (FTE) [1]
Grades	9–12
Number of students	1,079 (2023–24) [1]
Student to teacher ratio	22.96 [1]
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Blue and silver    [2]
Athletics conference	Lakes Valley Conference [3]
Nickname	Warriors [3]
Rivals	Walled Lake Central Walled Lake Northern
Accreditation	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [4]
Feeder schools	James R Geisler Middle School Sarah Banks Middle School Walnut Creek Middle School
Website	western.wlcsd.org

Student assessments
2021–22 school year [5] Change vs. prior year [5]
M-STEP 11th grade proficiency rates (Science / Social Studies)
Advanced %	12.2 / 9.5
Proficient %	26.8 / 27.1
PR. Proficient %	16.9 / 44.1
Not Proficient %	44.1 / 19.3
Average test scores
SAT Total	997.9 ( −80.5)

Walled Lake Western High School (also known as "Walled Lake Western," "Western," or "WLW"), is a public high school of the Walled Lake Consolidated School District, located in Commerce Township, Michigan in Greater Detroit. ^[6] The school serves portions of the township, ^{[6] [7]} most of Walled Lake, ^{[7] [8]} most of Wixom ^{[7] [9]} and portions of Novi. ^{[7] [10]}

History

Opened in 1969, Walled Lake Western was the second high school in Walled Lake. Western's mascot is the Warriors, and the school colors are Royal Blue and Silver (Scarlet was integrated as a school color from 1983 to 2004). Kirsten Haglund, who graduated in 2006, was named Miss America 2008. The International Baccalaureate program started in the 2012–2013 school year for grades 11 and 12.

Academics

In 2009, Walled Lake Western High School was ranked in the top 5% of all schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine. The ranking is calculated by the "number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors." ^[11] Beginning in the fall of 2013, Western will begin the International Baccalaureate Diploma program for 11th and 12th grade students as an alternative to AP Testing.

Athletics

Warrior Stadium in the summertime.

Western used to belong to the Kensington Lakes Activities Association. In 1984, the Warriors baseball team captured the school's first state championship. The football team won the state title in 1996, and again in 1999 (USA Today 11th ranked in country). ^{[12] [13]} Western was also a State finalist in 1992 and 2016. The Warriors are 35-time Walled Lake City Champions. Western's football team has made the playoffs 26 times and is currently on its 14th year straight. Their field is known as Warrior Stadium due to the school's nickname.

Notable alumni

• David Booth – former NHL player ^[14]
• Craig DeRoche – former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives
• Kirsten Haglund – Miss Michigan 2007 and Miss America 2008
• Josh Jones – NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks
• Matt Koleszar – Michigan State Representative
• Cam Vieaux - baseball player ^[15]
• Cody White - NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Randy Huntington Track and Field Coach - Coach of Mike Powell and Willie Banks ^[16] - World Record Holders - Assistant Coach MSU -2005-2006 ^[17] - Head Coach for Chinese National/Olympic team 2013-2022 - Su Bingtian - Wang Chunyu - Wang Jianan ^[18]

Notes and references

1. "Walled Lake Western High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
2. "Walled Lake Western High School". Michigan High School Athletic Association. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
3. "MHSAA > Schools".
4. NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Archived from the original on March 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
5. "MI School Data Annual Education Report". MI School Data. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
6. "Zoning Map." (Map) Commerce Township, Michigan. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
7. "Western H.S." (Archive) Walled Lake Consolidated School District. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
8. "Community Facilities." (Archive) City of Walled Lake. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
9. "Street Map." (Archive) City of Wixom. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
10. "Elementary Attendance Areas." (Archive) City of Novi. Retrieved on November 8, 2012.
11. Murray, Diana Dillaber (June 13, 2009). "16 Oakland schools make Newsweek's top 1,500 list". The Oakland Press. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
12. "Yearly Champions, Baseball". MHSAA.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
13. "Yearly Champions, Football". MHSAA.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
14. "Profile: David Booth #7 Left Wing". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
15. "MSU's Vieaux settles in after two pro starts". Hometownlife.com. June 28, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
16. "One giant leap: Mike Powell's long jump record endures 30 years later". 30 August 2021.
17. "Men's Track and Field Hires Randy Huntington as Assistant Coach". 25 April 2005.
18. "For Hailey's Randy Huntington, timing is everything". 29 December 2021.