East Kentwood High School
| East Kentwood High School | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Address | |
|
6230 Kalamazoo Ave Kentwood, Michigan 49508 United States |
|
| Coordinates | 42°51′03″N 85°37′09″W / 42.8507°N 85.6193°WCoordinates: 42°51′03″N 85°37′09″W / 42.8507°N 85.6193°W |
| Information | |
| School type | public, secondary |
| Opened | 1969 |
| School district | Kentwood Public Schools |
| NCES District ID | 2620340 |
| Superintendent | Michael Zoerhoff |
| NCES School ID | 262034005721 |
| Principal | Omar Bakri |
| Staff | 146 |
| Grades | 10-12 |
| Gender | coed |
| Enrollment | 1884 (2009-10) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 18.04 |
| Campus type | Suburban |
| Color(s) |
red black |
| Athletics conference | OK Conference |
| Mascot | Freddy The Falcon |
| Team name | Falcons |
| Newspaper | The Talon |
| Yearbook | Skyliner |
| Website | official website |
East Kentwood High School (EKHS) is a public high school located just outside the city of Kentwood, Michigan, United States. It is part of the Kentwood Public Schools district, working together with the Crossroads High School, an alternative learning center.
East Kentwood High School was built in 1969. Since then it has undergone numerous renovations, including the addition of the West Wing in 1975 and the construction of the Freshman Campus in 1994. Further construction was finished in 1983, 1986, 1994, and 2006. The 1994 project included a renovation of the fieldhouse and expansion of the West Wing, which involved adding several new science classrooms. In the mid-1980s, a south corridor was completed to shelter students crossing each wing. East Kentwood is the only public school in the state of Michigan to have its own ice arena on campus, it is often referred to as the best ice arena in the state as well; East Kentwood also has its own competitive and community swimming pools, and a 1,600-seat Fine Arts Auditorium.
The original Kentwood high school, which is now Crestwood Middle School, opened in 1960. When the new site was built in 1969, the new school was named East Kentwood because there were plans to eventually build a second high school, which would have been known as West Kentwood a few years later. West Kentwood would have built on the same physical campus as East Kentwood. When the first vote for a second high school was turned down in the early 1970s it led to the construction of East Kentwood's first swimming pool as well as what was referred to as the Freshman wing. To this day, talks of building a second high school periodically resurface but have so far been turned down in favor of the economic advantages of running one large high school. Thus, East Kentwood continues to grow while West Kentwood remains the answer to a trivia question.
In 2003, a $85.5 million bond was passed that allowed new construction at the High School Campus. A new athletic stadium was built with a capacity of over 7,500 along with a new 38-meter pool and a 75-foot community pool. Further work was done at the Freshman Campus to build it to the supportable core of 1,450 students with the moving of office and support staff to a new highly visible wing, and renovation of the previous office space with six classrooms and adding onto the existing classroom wings with 10 rooms. Additional work was done at the 10-12 main campus with the addition of more performing arts space including new practice rooms along with work at the auditorium with more dressing rooms, staging areas, and a new lighting and sound system. Furthermore, the seating was also refurnished.
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