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Arapahoe High School (Centennial, Colorado)
Encyclopedia
Arapahoe High School is a public high school in Centennial
, Colorado
, United States
. Located in a suburb of Denver
, it is the flagship of the Littleton Public Schools District as the largest of three high schools with an enrollment of 2,229 students. The 254756 square feet (23,667.6 m²) high school has two gyms, a weight room, a library, kitchen, a 647-seat theater, 70 classrooms, a pool, tennis courts, baseball, football, and two soccer fields, as well as a track.
Arapahoe's mascot is a warrior
, and the school colors are black and gold. The school is known for its affiliation with the Arapaho tribe
of Wind River
, Wyoming
. Arapahoe consistently places "Excellent" on Colorado's statewide school accountability report, the only Littleton Public Schools high school to do so.
The school has a unique relationship with the Arapaho Tribal Nation. After complaints about the pejorative depiction of Native Americans
, Principal Ron Booth sought a direct relationship with the tribe by travelling to the tribe's location in Wyoming for a personal meeting with tribal elders. After an extensive process, the tribe and Chief Anthony Sitting Eagle approved a relationship between school and tribe, establishing relationship methodology through a specific declaration.
The original logo of Arapahoe High School more closely depicted a Pawnee Indian. On September 17, 1993 the Arapaho Nation and Arapahoe High School held the Arapahoe Warrior Assembly. This assembly dedicated the schools new, and current, Warrior mascot—created by Northern Arapaho Artist, Wilbur Antelope. Since then, the Northern Arapaho tribe has endorsed the name of the high school (as spelled with an "e" at the end) and its use of the current warrior mascot, provided by the tribe. Additionally, the large gym was refinished and renamed the Sitting Eagle Gymnasium (this is now the second gym) on December 9, 1995. According to the original agreement made by the school, the mascot is not to be put on the floor (where one could walk on it) or on any article of clothing, but whether through subsequent agreement or disregard on the part of the school the mascot can be found on a wide variety of clothing. However, it is not found on any football uniform (where it may be rubbed into the ground) and the school does not portray a Native American Warrior at any sporting event. Additionally, tribal members visit the school for important events, speaking every year at graduation, and every two years a larger group will visit the school to perform various traditional dances and speak about Native American culture.
exams in 2006: English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, French Literature, French Language, Spanish Language, Human Geography, Theory, European History, U.S. Government and Politics, U.S. History, Psychology, Physics B, Physics C, Computer Science AB, Biology, Chemistry, Statistics, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC. http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/co/other/1102#ap Additionally, AP Music Theory is offered in alternating years. http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/
Students at the school generally perform above average on standardized tests, including the ACT
and the SAT
. All teachers at Arapahoe have subject expertise and hold degrees in the subjects in which they teach.http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/forParents/SchoolProfile/tabid/1478/Default.aspx
, Grandview
, Cherokee Trail
, Smoky Hill
, Eaglecrest
, Mullen, and Overland
.http://my.highschooljournalism.org/co/centennial/ahs/article.cfm?eid=10870&aid=164964
Arapahoe athletics include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, dance, football, golf, lacrosse, marching band, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, winter guard, and wrestling. All athletics at Arapahoe are competed at the 5A/world level. The girls golf team won the Colorado State Championship in 2010. Arapahoe's winter guard has taken first at state for the past two years. The Arapahoe soccer program, known as ABK (Arapahoe Ball Kickers), holds 14 state championships; the girls' program has won 9 state titles and the boys' program has 5 state titles.
Pacemaker Finalist and went on to win a Pacemaker. The National Pacemaker Awards
have been called “the high school equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize
.” In 2005, the Arapahoe Herald received the Pacemaker as well as a Silver Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association. It is only the sixth high school newspaper in Colorado to win a Pacemaker in the award’s 100+ year history.
In 2007 Arapahoe Herald received the National Scholastic Press Association's All-American rating, Columbia Scholastic Press Association
's Gold Medalist Award, and in 2008 placed first in the American Scholastic Press Association's Newspaper Review and Contest. Arapahoe Herald is also included in the National Scholastic Press Association's Hall of Fame for ten consecutive All-American ratings. To date, the newspaper has earned 14 All American ratings since 1992. Arapahoe Herald won its second NSPA Pacemaker Award in November 2009. The Herald also received Gold Medal awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2008 and in 2010.
In 2009, the February issue of the newspaper gained statewide attention for a controversy over articles depicting teenage boys using alcohol to engage in sexual actions with girls, and young women objectifying themselves for attention.http://www.9news.com/seenon9news/article.aspx?storyid=109812&catid=509 Those interviewed used pseudonym
s to remain anonymous, and no one was punished as the publication remained infallible under the Colorado Student Free Expression Law. The use of pseudonyms was popularized in the publication for years prior, in articles about pregnant classmates, student jail inmates, and drug users.
An online edition of the Arapahoe Herald can be viewed at http://my.hsj.org/co/centennial/ahs/.
In the 2007-2008 school year, Arapahoe made a strong showing when qualifying over 15 people for the state conference and having many teams take first at the district competition. After the state conference, again 7 people qualified for the national level of competition.
Centennial, Colorado
The city of Centennial is a Home Rule City located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States, and part of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. The city was to have a total population of 100,377 in 2010 census. Centennial is the tenth-most populous municipality in the state of Colorado and its...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Located in a suburb of Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, it is the flagship of the Littleton Public Schools District as the largest of three high schools with an enrollment of 2,229 students. The 254756 square feet (23,667.6 m²) high school has two gyms, a weight room, a library, kitchen, a 647-seat theater, 70 classrooms, a pool, tennis courts, baseball, football, and two soccer fields, as well as a track.
Arapahoe's mascot is a warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
, and the school colors are black and gold. The school is known for its affiliation with the Arapaho tribe
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
of Wind River
Wind River Indian Reservation
Wind River Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation shared by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of Native Americans in the central western portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming...
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. Arapahoe consistently places "Excellent" on Colorado's statewide school accountability report, the only Littleton Public Schools high school to do so.
History
Arapahoe High School was built in 1964. Several additions have been made since that time:- 1965: A gymnasium, built by Morse, Dion & Champion, architects and Hollister, general contractor
- 1967: An addition of a pool, classrooms and theater, built by Morse, Dion & Champion, architects and Webco, general contractor.
- 1979: An addition of locker rooms, wrestling facilities and a gymnastics gym, built by Allred/Fisher, architects and Frank Hall & Co., construction management.
- 1987: An addition of administration and counseling space, by Culbertson & Associates, who served as designer and general contractor.
- 1997: The school's aging interior library was replaced with classrooms, and a new library and media center were constructed on the north side of the building. Accessibility was improved with the construction of an elevator adjacent to second-floor classrooms and a student-designed east entrance with wheelchair ramps and automated doors, nicknamed "The Bubble."
- 2005: The school underwent significant remodeling. A new gymnasium was added, several classrooms were redesigned and walls were rebuilt to meet fire code standards.
The school has a unique relationship with the Arapaho Tribal Nation. After complaints about the pejorative depiction of Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, Principal Ron Booth sought a direct relationship with the tribe by travelling to the tribe's location in Wyoming for a personal meeting with tribal elders. After an extensive process, the tribe and Chief Anthony Sitting Eagle approved a relationship between school and tribe, establishing relationship methodology through a specific declaration.
The original logo of Arapahoe High School more closely depicted a Pawnee Indian. On September 17, 1993 the Arapaho Nation and Arapahoe High School held the Arapahoe Warrior Assembly. This assembly dedicated the schools new, and current, Warrior mascot—created by Northern Arapaho Artist, Wilbur Antelope. Since then, the Northern Arapaho tribe has endorsed the name of the high school (as spelled with an "e" at the end) and its use of the current warrior mascot, provided by the tribe. Additionally, the large gym was refinished and renamed the Sitting Eagle Gymnasium (this is now the second gym) on December 9, 1995. According to the original agreement made by the school, the mascot is not to be put on the floor (where one could walk on it) or on any article of clothing, but whether through subsequent agreement or disregard on the part of the school the mascot can be found on a wide variety of clothing. However, it is not found on any football uniform (where it may be rubbed into the ground) and the school does not portray a Native American Warrior at any sporting event. Additionally, tribal members visit the school for important events, speaking every year at graduation, and every two years a larger group will visit the school to perform various traditional dances and speak about Native American culture.
School environment
Arapahoe uses the variable scheduling system, which allows students to build their own schedules from a master course list, and is designed to prepare the student for the scheduling found in most colleges and universities. There are 6 class periods per day, most of which last 59 minutes (3rd hour is 61 minutes to allow time for daily announcements). Between each period there is a 5 minute passing period. Lunch is staggered either before or after 4th hour, and referred to as "first lunch" and "second lunch", each lasting 35 minutes. Which lunch a student is assigned to is determined by the course scheduled during 4th hour. Students are allotted unscheduled hours during the day, and as the campus is open, students are free to do as they wish during this time. More than 98 percent of Arapahoe graduates continue their education. Students took the following Advanced PlacementAdvanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
exams in 2006: English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, French Literature, French Language, Spanish Language, Human Geography, Theory, European History, U.S. Government and Politics, U.S. History, Psychology, Physics B, Physics C, Computer Science AB, Biology, Chemistry, Statistics, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC. http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/co/other/1102#ap Additionally, AP Music Theory is offered in alternating years. http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/
Students at the school generally perform above average on standardized tests, including the ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
and the SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
. All teachers at Arapahoe have subject expertise and hold degrees in the subjects in which they teach.http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/forParents/SchoolProfile/tabid/1478/Default.aspx
Athletics
Arapahoe is part of the 8-team Centennial League that also includes Cherry CreekCherry Creek High School
Cherry Creek High School is the oldest of six high schools in the Cherry Creek School District in suburban Denver, Colorado. It is one of the largest high schools in the Denver metro area, with an campus and more than 3,700 students. Cherry Creek High School has been designated a Blue Ribbon...
, Grandview
Grandview High School (Colorado)
Grandview High School is the second largest high school in the Cherry Creek School District, with approximately 2,800 students. Grandview opened in 1998 as the district's fifth high school, built to accommodate a population boom in the district's growing southeastern region. Grandview is located...
, Cherokee Trail
Cherokee Trail High School
Cherokee Trail High School is a public secondary-educational institution located in the eastern portion of the city of Aurora, Colorado. It is the sixth high school in the Cherry Creek School District and the largest high school on the Western side of the Mississippi River...
, Smoky Hill
Smoky Hill High School
Smoky Hill High School is located in Aurora, Colorado and currently has around 2,600 students. Smoky Hill is part of the Cherry Creek School District and was the second high school built by the district in 1974.It goes by the short name 'Smoky'...
, Eaglecrest
Eaglecrest High School
Eaglecrest High School is located in unincorporated Arapahoe County, Colorado, near the cities of Aurora and Centennial. The school mascot is the Raptors, and school colors are red, black and silver. Eaglecrest was the fourth high school to open in the Cherry Creek School District, and it is a...
, Mullen, and Overland
Overland High School
Overland High School, located in Aurora, Colorado, and part of the Cherry Creek School District, opened in 1978.Overland High School is a comprehensive public, suburban, college-oriented institution. Overland High School is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and...
.http://my.highschooljournalism.org/co/centennial/ahs/article.cfm?eid=10870&aid=164964
Arapahoe athletics include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, dance, football, golf, lacrosse, marching band, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, winter guard, and wrestling. All athletics at Arapahoe are competed at the 5A/world level. The girls golf team won the Colorado State Championship in 2010. Arapahoe's winter guard has taken first at state for the past two years. The Arapahoe soccer program, known as ABK (Arapahoe Ball Kickers), holds 14 state championships; the girls' program has won 9 state titles and the boys' program has 5 state titles.
Student Journalism
Arapahoe High School is nationally recognized for its student journalism program, which consistently ranks as one of the best in the country. The unique program, which works at an academic level, goes beyond a school-sanctioned club or activity to provide the best education in journalism practice and ethics. Arapahoe's journalism program is both coveted and fostered by its recruitment of top students in this school. Students are selected competitively to participate in either Newspaper or Yearbook journalism each scholastic year.Arapahoe Herald
The monthly Arapahoe Herald newspaper is produced by journalism students. In 2005, Arapahoe Herald was named a National Scholastic Press AssociationNational Scholastic Press Association
The National Scholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization founded in 1921 for high school and secondary school publications in the United States. The association is membership-based and annually hosts high school journalism conventions across the country...
Pacemaker Finalist and went on to win a Pacemaker. The National Pacemaker Awards
National Pacemaker Awards
The National Pacemaker Awards are awards for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the "Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism."The National Scholastic...
have been called “the high school equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
.” In 2005, the Arapahoe Herald received the Pacemaker as well as a Silver Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association. It is only the sixth high school newspaper in Colorado to win a Pacemaker in the award’s 100+ year history.
In 2007 Arapahoe Herald received the National Scholastic Press Association's All-American rating, Columbia Scholastic Press Association
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
The Columbia Scholastic Press Association is an international student press association, founded in 1925, whose goal is to unite student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges, textbooks, critiques and award programs...
's Gold Medalist Award, and in 2008 placed first in the American Scholastic Press Association's Newspaper Review and Contest. Arapahoe Herald is also included in the National Scholastic Press Association's Hall of Fame for ten consecutive All-American ratings. To date, the newspaper has earned 14 All American ratings since 1992. Arapahoe Herald won its second NSPA Pacemaker Award in November 2009. The Herald also received Gold Medal awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2008 and in 2010.
In 2009, the February issue of the newspaper gained statewide attention for a controversy over articles depicting teenage boys using alcohol to engage in sexual actions with girls, and young women objectifying themselves for attention.http://www.9news.com/seenon9news/article.aspx?storyid=109812&catid=509 Those interviewed used pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s to remain anonymous, and no one was punished as the publication remained infallible under the Colorado Student Free Expression Law. The use of pseudonyms was popularized in the publication for years prior, in articles about pregnant classmates, student jail inmates, and drug users.
An online edition of the Arapahoe Herald can be viewed at http://my.hsj.org/co/centennial/ahs/.
Arapahoe Calumet
Calumet, the Arapahoe year book is produced by journalism students. Calumet received All American ratings in both 2005 and 2006 and was a Pacemaker Finalist in 2005.Arapahoe Band
The Arapahoe Band program is a prestigious program and includes a concert band, symphonic band, wind ensemble, marching band, jazz band, and a music theory course.Future Business Leaders of America
In the summer of 2007, Arapahoe saw its first ever FBLA national qualifiers go to the conference in Chicago, Illinois.In the 2007-2008 school year, Arapahoe made a strong showing when qualifying over 15 people for the state conference and having many teams take first at the district competition. After the state conference, again 7 people qualified for the national level of competition.
Art Club
"Frame It Up" (now Studio C Framing) across Dry Creek Road from Arapahoe High School has honored multiple 2008 seniors throughout the year as "Artists of the Month."http://my.highschooljournalism.org/co/centennial/ahs/article.cfm?eid=11207&aid=170432Drama Club
Drama Club is for students interested in acting, building sets, creating costumes, and organizing the many plays the school puts on. Each year there are three plays, one drama, one comedy, and one musical. In 2010 the drama club put on the musical Cinderella. Any student can join drama club. Many participate in a Thespian Conference downtown where scholarships and opportunities are awarded to various students.Muse
Muse is Arapahoe's Literary Arts Magazine. In 2007 the Muse placed eight in the National Scholastic Press Association's Best-in-Show, during the Denver Convention.http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/s07bs.html The Muse is a school-sanctioned activity that does not meet as a cocirricular publication, as other Arapahoe publications do.TSA
Technology Student Association at Arapahoe has had much success. Almost every member at the State Conference qualifies for the National Conference.External links
- Official website
- Littleton's high schools at Littleton.gov
- Denver Post article recounting school's relationship with Wyoming tribe