Wichita Heights High School Explained

Wichita Heights High School
Streetaddress:	5301 North Hillside Street
Zipcode:	67219
Coordinates:	37.7785°N -97.3006°W
Established:	1961
Ceeb:	173212
Principal:	Eric Filippi
Teaching Staff:	78.60 (FTE)
Enrollment:	1,110 (2017-18)^[1]
Ratio:	14.12
Athletics:	Class 6A
Conference:	Greater Wichita Athletic League
Nickname:	Falcons
Newspaper:	The Heights Highlighter
Footnotes:	^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7]

Wichita Heights High School, known locally as Heights, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12.^[8] The school principal is Eric Filippi. The school colors are red and black.

Wichita Heights is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 6A division and are known as the "Falcons". Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

History

Wichita Heights High School was originally approved, planned and built as Wichita Heights Rural School District Number 192, to serve the districts of Bridgeport, Kechi, Kechi Center, Riverside, and Riverview. No secondary school existed at the time for these districts; prior to its construction students were placed into other Wichita area schools. Construction of the school started in 1959, and was finished two years later in 1961 in time for the school year.^[9]

In July 1963, the school became part of the Wichita Public School District (Wichita USD 259). In 1983, Wichita Heights was designated an urban overflow school due to the increasing populations of other inner city schools.^[9]

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

The Falcons compete in the Greater Wichita Athletic League and are classified as a 6A school, the largest classification in Kansas according to the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Throughout its history, Wichita Heights has won twenty five state championships in various sports. Several graduates have gone on to participate in collegiate and professional athletics. The football team won a state championship in 2010 against Olathe North High School on November 27, 2010 by a score of 48–14.

State championships

State Championships^[10]
Season	Sport	Number of Championships	Year
Fall		1	2010
Winter			3	2015, 2017, 2019
		3	1968, 1976, 2011
		7	1977, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2022
		7	1979, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012
		3	2006, 2010, 2011
Spring		1	1988
Total		25

----Wichita Heights High School offers the following sports:

Fall

• Football
• Volleyball
• Boys Cross-Country
• Girls Cross-Country
• Girls Golf
• Boys Soccer
• Girls Tennis
• Cheerleading
• Pommies
• Debate

Winter

• Boys Basketball
• Girls Basketball
• Boys Swimming/Diving
• Boys Wrestling
• Girls Wrestling
• Boys Bowling
• Girls Bowling
• Winter Cheerleading
• Science Olympiad

Spring

• Baseball
• Boys Golf
• Boys Tennis
• Girls Soccer
• Girls Swimming/Diving
• Softball
• Boys Track and Field
• Girls Track and Field
• Forensics

Notable alumni

• Class of 1963: Dennis Rader, serial killer known as BTK
• Class of 1968: Stephen Hill, judge on the Kansas Court of Appeals
• Class of 1972: Cynthia Sikes, actress and former Miss Kansas
• Class of 1972: Ray Troll, Alaskan artist, musician
• Class of 1975: Mark Parkinson, former Governor of Kansas
• Class of 1977: Darnell Valentine, former NBA player
• Class of 1979: Antoine Carr, NBA player
• Class of 1990: Darren Dreifort, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher
• Class of 1996: Sheinelle Jones, NBC News and Today journalist
• Class of 1998: Danny Roew, film director
• Class of 1999: Shaun Smith, former NFL player
• Class of 2002: Mike Pelfrey, former Chicago White Sox pitcher
• Class of 2003: Xzavie Jackson, former professional football player
• Class of 2011: Dreamius Smith, former San Diego Chargers running back
• Class of 2012: Perry Ellis, former basketball player at the University of Kansas, 9th all-time leading scorer in school history

See also

• Education in Kansas
• List of high schools in Kansas
• List of unified school districts in Kansas

External links

• Official school website
• renovation plans
• new aquatic center

Historical

• Excerpts from A History of Wichita Public School Buildings, Wichita USD 259

Map

• Wichita School District - High School Boundary Map, valid starting fall 2012, Wichita USD 259
• Wichita School District - Boundary Map and Directory of Buildings, Wichita USD 259

Notes and References

1. Web site: Heights High. National Center for Education Statistics. March 26, 2020.
2. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:2497310 GNIS entry
3. http://usd259.org/ USD 259
4. http://www.suny.edu/student/search_highschool/index.cfm High School CEEB Code Search
5. Web site: School Search - Wichita-Heights HS . Kansas State High School Activities Association. 12 August 2011.
6. http://www.kshsaa.org/Public/Football/PDF/Football%20Classifications.pdf KSHSAA School Classification List
7. https://web.archive.org/web/20100923185747/http://kshsaa.org/Public/Football/PDF/FBAssignments.pdf KSHSAA School District List
8. Web site: Heights High School, Wichita, KS. publicschoolreview.com.
9. Web site: Heights High School . English . 2010-02-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100121135233/http://www.usd259.com/news/schoolloc/high/Heights/Default.htm . January 21, 2010 .
10. Web site: State Records & State Champions . English . 2010-02-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090421002909/http://www.catchitkansas.com:80/Global/category.asp?C=112444 . 2009-04-21 .