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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Plano West Senior High School
Plano West Senior High School (commonly West, Plano West, or PWSH) is a public high school in Plano, Texas serving high school juniors and seniors. Plano West is named after its geographic location within West Plano. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District, and enrolls students based on the locations of students' homes. Students at Plano West attended one of two high schools: Jasper or Shepton.

The combination of these two schools for 9th and 10th graders into the Plano West student body creates graduating classes of 1300–1500 students annually. Plano West was formed in the fall of 1999 as a newly renovated, former Shepton High School. Plano West is accredited by the Texas Education Agency, which designates the school as "Recognized." The school colors are royal blue, black, and white, and the mascot is the wolf, with the students recognizing the student body as "the wolf-pack."

History

Plano West Senior High School opened its doors for the 1999–2000 school year as the third high school in the Plano Independent School District (PISD), on property near a Polo ranch. Its opening foreshadowed the impending the population boom in Collin County over the next several decades. The following year, Plano West began fielding full teams for varsity sports, cutting into the talent pipeline to rivals Plano Senior High School (PSHS) and Plano East Senior High School (PESH).

Plano West attracted national attention in the summer of 2003, when Plano West baseball player Taylor Hooton hung himself. Hooton's suicide brought attention to teenage steroid use.

After a widely publicized and vitriolic battle, PISD in 2009 approved boundary changes that would potentially expand PWSH's enrollment from 2,000 to 3,400 students over 3 years, due to growth patterns in the area's middle schools, eventually making Plano West the largest in Texas. The plan was met with opposition from parents, as PWSH would have enrolled 44% of 11th and 12th graders in the school district. In the early 2010s, due to concerns about rising enrollment at PWSH compared to PSHS and PESH, the district considered options such as adding a fourth senior high school or spending $17 million to expand Plano West.

Academics

Plano West has a total enrollment of over 2,600 students and includes students in the eleventh and twelfth grades. After completing tenth grade at Jasper High School or Shepton High School, students matriculate to Plano West for the final two years of high school.

Newsweek ranked Plano West the 22nd best high school in the United States and the #1 comprehensive high school in Texas in 2016.

According to an analysis by PolarisList, Plano West sent the most graduates to MIT, Princeton, and Harvard of any public school in North Texas and the second-most of any public school in the state of Texas.

Plano West led the state with 77 National Merit Semifinalists in 2017, representing the top 1 percent of scores of high schoolers who took the PSAT.

In 2018, 1,223 Plano West students earned college credit through dual enrollment courses or by scoring high enough on Advanced Placement exams, the most of any school in Texas. The next highest was Allen High School, with 962 students earning college credit.

The class of 2021 had an average SAT score of 1163 out of 1600 and an average ACT score of 27.4.

Student life

Athletics

Plano West's mascot is the Wolves, and its colors are blue, white, and black. Starting in the 2023–2024 school year, the mascot and colors were aligned with its feeder schools of Jasper and Shepton. Plano West fields 13 varsity teams, including baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse, drill team, and cheerleading.

Tennis

The school is considered a team tennis powerhouse in Texas. The program has 18 state tournament championship appearances, winning five, the fourth most in UIL history. From the school's founding in 1999 until 2017, it won every district match it competed in, a total of 144 matches. Plano West won 20 consecutive district championships from 1999 to 2019.

Team Tennis State Championship Matches
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas) Class
2001 Plano West 10 El Paso Coronado 8 Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin 5A
2004 Plano West 10 Austin Westlake 5 Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin 5A
2005 Plano West 11 San Antonio Churchill 5 Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin 5A
2006 Plano West 11 Austin Westlake 6 Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin 5A
2016 Plano West 10 Houston Memorial 6 Texas A&M University, College Station 6A
2021 Plano West 10 Austin Lake Travis 3 Texas A&M University, College Station 6A

Football

The school's football team was coached by Mike Hughes from its founding in 1999 until 2015. Under Hughes, Plano West sent dozens of players to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, including David Lofton, Jordan Pugh, Kyle Bosworth, Jackson Jeffcoat, Soso Jamabo, and Auston Anderson. In 2012, the football team advanced to the fourth round of the Texas high school playoffs, the furthest in school history.

Boys Basketball

After beginning the 2014–2015 season ranked as the #5 boys' basketball team in the United States, Plano West won the 6A state basketball championship on a buzzer beater from D. J. Hogg. The team also included Division I recruits Tyler Davis, Mickey Mitchell, Soso Jamabo, and Chris Giles.

Boys Basketball State Championship Games
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas) Class Ref.
2015 Plano West 56 Clear Lake 54 Alamodome, San Antonio 6A

Girls Basketball

The girls' basketball team became a state power during 14 seasons under founding coach Don Patterson, winning 364 games including the 2006 state championship. The team also advanced to the state semi-finals in 2014.

Girls Basketball State Championship Games
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location Class Ref.
2006 Plano West 54 Rockwall 47 Frank Erwin Center, Austin 5A

Championships

Girls Soccer State Championship Games
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas) Class
2000 Plano West 2 Katy Taylor 1 Round Rock ISD Stadium, Round Rock 5A
2001 Plano West 3 Katy Taylor 0 Round Rock ISD Stadium, Round Rock 5A
2002 Plano West 3 Humble Kingwood 0 Round Rock ISD Stadium, Round Rock 5A
2007 Plano West 3 Deer Park 0 Round Rock ISD Stadium, Round Rock 5A
2012 Plano West 1 Katy Seven Lakes 0 Birkelbach Field, Georgetown 5A
2013 Plano West 4 Southlake Carroll 1 Birkelbach Field, Georgetown 5A


Hockey State Championship Games
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas)
2004 Plano West 2 Clear Lake High School 1 Deja Blue Arena, Frisco
2005 Plano West 1 Highland Park High School 0 Deja Blue Arena, Frisco
2007 Plano West 2 Allen High School 1 (OT) Deja Blue Arena, Frisco
2011 Plano West 4 Southlake Carroll 2 Starscenter, Farmers Branch
2012 Plano West 4 (OT) Arlington High School 3 Starscenter, Farmers Branch
2014 Plano West 6 Plano Senior 3 Starscenter, Farmers Branch
Baseball State Championship Games
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas) Class
2008 Plano West 10 Southlake Carroll 8 Dell Diamond, Round Rock 5A
Lacrosse State Championship Games
Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas) Class
2005 Plano West 13 Plano East 12 Houston, Houston,TX D2

Debate

The Plano West Debate Team has had many successes over the tournament season, with bringing home many awards. The most recent of which include 1st place at the National Speech and Debate Tournament in 2020, for the events International Extemporaneous Speaking and Big Questions Debate. The team has had repeated success in cross-country and in-state tournaments, receiving many scholarships and creating opportunities for younger debate students to learn as well, through the Plano West Debate Camp.

Music

The Plano West Chamber Orchestra is made up of approximately 40 musicians. It has won 1st place in the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Honor Orchestra competition (recognizing the top high school string orchestras in Texas) 5 consecutive times, in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 (TMEA rules prohibit a school from entering the competition the year after it has won), along with several top-5 finishes from 2011 to 2015. The orchestra received the TMEA "Honor Orchestra" designation again in 2016 and 2019. The orchestra has also been featured on the Disney Channel series "Totally in Tune" which aired in 2001. In 2005, the orchestra won a Cappie Award for Outstanding Pit Orchestra in a musical for the school production of Les Misérables.

The Choir Program performs at the annual Texas Music Educators Association Convention.

The Plano West Mighty Wolf Band has a marching and concert season and also has a winter guard program. In the 2009–2010 school year, the band had approximately 95 members; by 2015–2016, this had increased to about 195. The band was led by head director James Hannah from the school's founding until his retirement in 2017. Hannah was succeeded by long time Jasper High School band director Jackie Digby, who leads the band to this day.

Plano West has taught a jazz band alongside its normal band program since the school's opening. In 2018, due to increased membership, the school added a second jazz band. The Plano West Jazz Orchestra, directed by Preston Pierce, was named a finalist for the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition in 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The Jazz Orchestra was the invited high school Jazz Ensemble at the 2016 Texas Music Educators Association Convention.

In 2011, Plano West was named one of only seven Gold Grammy Signature Schools for its music program. The award recognizes top U.S. public high schools making an outstanding commitment to music education.

Notable alumni

See also