Ralston Valley High School

Infobox School
name = Ralston Valley High School


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established = 2000
type = Public secondary school
affiliation =
district = Jefferson County Public Schools
grades = 9-12
principal = Jim Ellis
head of school =
dean =
faculty =
staff = 104 cite web|url=http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/pdf/2006_1420_7239_H.pdf |title=School Accountability Report |date=2006-12-12 |accessdate=2007-02-08 |format=PDF ]
students =
enrollment = 1388 [ [http://www.chsaa.org/schools/schools.asp?schoolId=566 Ralston Valley High School - Profile] . Colorado High School Activities Association.]
athletics = 4A
conference = Jefferson County League
colors = Navy blue, Columbia blue and Silver Colorsample|#000080 Colorsample|#75B2DD Colorsample|#C0C0C0
mascot = Mustangs
campus type =
campus size = 54 acres
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location = 13355 West 80th Avenue, Arvada, Colorado
country = USA
information = 303-982-5600
website = [http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/high/ralston/ Ralston Valley High School]

Ralston Valley High School is a public high school in Arvada, Colorado. Since it opened for the 2000 school year, its enrollment enrollment has grown to around 1400 students.

History

The 24th high school built in Jefferson County Public Schools, Ralston Valley's opening relieved Arvada West High School, which was serving so many students in 1999 it was on a split schedule. Groundbreaking occurred in March 1999 and the school opened in the fall of 2000 to students. [Bingham, Janet (1999-02-26). "District makes start on Legacy". "Denver Post ": pp. B-02.]

The mascot of Ralston Valley is the Mustang. It was decided based on suggestions from local Jefferson County School kids who would be attending. There were 3 other choices in the final decision with the vote in the end choosing the mustang. The logo is significant in the location of the school which now occupies a former ranch which raised and bred horses. Part of this ranch is still there on the cross road south east of the school.

Campus

The school building, situated on a 54 acre site in northwest Arvada, was designed by LKA Partners and won a Merit Award in 2002 from the Colorado chapter of the American Institute of Architects. [ [http://www.aiacolorado.org/beta/aiac_awards.m?id=179&PHPSESSID=d2b551c6c0bcf5c485d AIA Colorado - Awards] .]
In March 2007, the school finished renovations for expansion. This consisted of the addition of 47,700 sq ft of classroom and science labs to the east side of the building as well as 45,700 sq ft of classroom and more science labs to the south side. [ [http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/profiles/construction/high/ralston/index.html] . ] This renovation closed off the lower level in a full square to connect the science, math and (new) foreign language halls. Previously, the science and math halls were only connected in a horseshoe. Further renovations included the addition of 10,443 square foot resulting in an auxiliary gym with a bleacher mezzanine, weight room and expanded athletic locker rooms.
Additional improvements:
Darkroom
Orchestra Pit in the auditorium
Computer Lab
Expanded Student Commons
New athletic practice field
Expanded student, staff and visitor parking
Expanded Bus Drop-off and Pick-up points

The estimated budget was: $10,500,000.

tudents and faculty

The student-teacher ratio is 21.7 to 1.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Ralston Valley fields teams in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross county, football. golf, ice hockey, girls lacrosse, poms, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling in interscholastic competition.

State championships won by the school include [ [http://www.chsaa.org/about/pdf/champions.pdf State Team Champions] . Colorado High School Activities Association.] :
*Boys' basketball: 2003 (4A)
*Coed cheerleading: 2003 (4A), 2006 (4A/5A)
*Poms: 2004 (4A)
*Baseball: 2008 (4A)
*Softball: 2008 (4A)
*Girl's Swimming: 2007, 2008 (4A) [ [http://www.9news.com/sports/prep/article.aspx?storyid=86545] . Colorado Swim Title. ]

tudent groups

*CARE Team
*Drama Club
*FCCLA
*Instrumental Music
*Mock Trial
*National Honor Society
*Newspaper
*Ski/Snowboard Club(Shred the Gnar)
*Student Government
*Vive la France
*Vocal Music
*WHOA (Warm Hearts of Africa) Club
*Yearbook

Notable alumni

*Ben Wysocki, drummer for pop band The Fray. [http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/communications/key/2007/February/2007.02.13.html Key Communiqué] . Jefferson County Public Schools. February 13, 2007.]
*Dave Welsh, electric guitar player for pop band The Fray.
*Nick Fazekas (2003), University of Nevada, Reno basketball player, Drafted 34th to Dallas Mavericks [cite news |first=Chris |last=Tomasson |title= Tomasson: Nelson wouldn't mind being wrong |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sports_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_83_5422083,00.html |format= |work=Rocky Mountain News |publisher= |id= |pages= |page= |date=2007-03-16 |accessdate= |language= |quote= ]

References

External links

* [http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/high/ralston/ Ralston Valley High School official website]
* [http://rvmb.org/ Ralston Valley Music Boosters]