River Ridge High School (Lacey, Washington)
| River Ridge High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
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350 River Ridge Dr. SE , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Motto | Learning to Live, Living to Learn, Learning to Soar |
| Established | 1993 |
| Principal | Karen Remy-Anderson |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Color(s) | Navy blue, Silver, and White |
| Mascot | Hawk |
| Newspaper | The Hawkeye |
| Yearbook | The Raptor |
| Website | River Ridge High School |
River Ridge High School is a grade 9-12 school located in the Hawk's Prairie area of Lacey, Washington and is one of three comprehensive high schools of the North Thurston Public Schools. Since its inception in 1993, the high school has carried on a unique house system of organizing classooms "school within a school", of which it has four houses: KAlama, Olympic (B), Cascade, and Durazno.[1] At one point the school building was also home to the experimental high school, New Century High School.
River Ridge's administration team includes Mr. Brian Hunter as Principal and Mr. Eddie George and Mrs. Karen Remy-Anderson as Vice-Principals. The school previously had an administrative system with two co-directors and one vice principle but has since been changed. It was announced in May of 2007 that the current principal Brian Hunter would not be returning. Making this the second year in a row where the principal only lasted one year. Since this has been last updated it was announced that Mrs. Karen Remy- Anderson, who is one of the current Vice- Principals would be taking over as Principal for the 2007-2008 school year.
Aptly named for its proximity to the ridge of the Nisqually River valley, River Ridge has a current enrollment of 1149 with 69 certificated staff members of which at least half boast a master's degree.[1] River Ridge was opened in 1993 and started out with a lot of difficulties with the student population but since 2006 has a drop out rate of 4.4% and 83% on-time graduation rate.[1] Several students barely manage to attend a four year college, choosing such academic challenges as University of Washington, or some opting for SPSCC.
Activities
A full-time teacher-librarian and two full-time library technicians help students and teachers until 3:30PM every weekday. In addition to nearly 20,000 print and non-print resources, River Ridge's library subscribes to a number of databases and on-line tools to help students and teachers with their work. [2]
Recent recognition has been due to the success of its athletic program. The school's track team, head-coached by Phil Lonborg.[3], has been known for winning league championships every year and has won back to back Girl's State Track and Field Championships in 1993 and 1994. Girl's Basketball and Volleyball have also been very successful from 2003-2007. In 2007, the Girl's Basketball team won the State 2A Championship while the Boys Basketball team went on to win 3rd place.[4]
River Ridge also has a diversity of clubs. You can find regilious clubs such as a Christianity based club. Also, one should take notice of their music and art programs. A current teacher by the name of John Theine conducts the jazz ensemble, wind ensemble and concert band. Extremely dedicated, he also conducts many fundraisers in order for these students to experience such trips like ones to Disney Land. There they can have the chance to record music like the professionals.
Notable Alumni
- Jerramy Stevens, tight end for Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Seahawk
- Mia Guzman, model[5]