West High School (Phoenix, Arizona)

Not to be confused with West Phoenix High School.
For the current school that occupies the same campus, see Metro Tech High School.
West High School
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Information
TypePublic secondary school
Established1949[1]
Closed1983[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,723 (1982)[2]
MascotThunderbirds[2]

West High School was a high school that formed part of the Phoenix Union High School District in Phoenix, Arizona.

History

West High School was one of five Phoenix Union high schools that were built between 1949 and 1957, the others being Camelback, Carl Hayden, Central, and South Mountain.[3]

The campus was designed by a group of local architects consisting of Lescher & Mahoney, Edward L. Varney, H. H. Green and Edwin Dwight Chenault.[4]

Declining enrollment during the 1980s resulted in the closure of West, along with North High School, Phoenix Union High School, and East High School.[3]

Metro Tech High School, then named Metro Tech Vocational Institute of Phoenix, was opened on the grounds of West High in 1985.[3]

Campus

The campus used to have an Olympic-sized swimming pool, but was later filled in. The site of the pool later became the school's cafeteria.[5]

The school also had a Foucault pendulum that was dedicated in 1959.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "About Us / About Us". Metro Tech High School. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Arizona High School Enrollment Figures (1912-2005)" (PDF). aiaonline.org. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "District Information / History". Phoenix Union High School District. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Edward Varney - Part of team designing West High School, Phoenix, AZ 9". Arizona Republic. 1947-09-12. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  5. ^ a b Creno, Cathryn (1 July 2014). "17 historic schools in metro Phoenix". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 3 December 2017.