Kenmore West Senior High School

History

Founding

In 1938, a WPA grant of about $700,000 was received from the federal government toward the creation of a separate building for the senior high school on Highland Parkway, and the school district provided over $1M in additional funds. The 20 acre plot on which the school is situated cost $35,000. The school opened in the fall of 1940 with fifty faculty members and 1,250 pupils. In 1959, Kenmore East High School was opened as the district continued to grow. At that time, the Highland Parkway school officially became Kenmore West High School. Raymond Stewart Frazier (1901–1998) was appointed of principal of Kenmore West in 1952.

History of the land

The 20 acre plot is part of what used to be the Philip Pirson homestead, a 75-acre farm.

Building expansion and additions

The community continued to grow in the subsequent years, requiring a classroom addition to the west wing of school in 1967–1968. In the late 1990s, the school district proposed building a new library information center on the west lawn and an athletic complex east of the original gymnasium. Voters narrowly approved funding for the projects in 1997. The additions were designed by Duchscherer Oberst Design, P.C., an architectural firm in Buffalo. Joseph L. Kopec was the lead architect. The library was completed at a cost of about $10 million in the fall of 2000. The design won an award for educational architecture in the summer of 2001.

Another capital enhancement to the building occurred after a May 2002 fire in the cafeteria bay, causing a multi-month relocation of the cafeteria to the Old Gym while a new cafeteria was erected, opening January 31, 2003, to an appreciative student body.

Enrollment and leadership

Kenmore West's enrollment grew steadily through about 1970, and reached its peak in 1969 with over 3000 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Alan Hammon MacGamwell (1926–2004), a 1944 graduate of the school, was appointed its third principal in 1971, after serving as a teacher, coach and assistant principal in the Ken-Ton Schools. In that era, the school boasted large numbers of National Merit Scholarship winners. In 1969, Kenmore West, under coach Jules Yakapovich, won the Niagara Frontier League Football Championship and drew national attention as theoretical national champions, determined statistically by a computer match-up with a Florida high school team.

MacGamwell retired in 1980 and served the Ken-Ton District on the Board of Education. Another Kenmore graduate, Charles Kristich, class of 1955, succeeded him as principal that year. Douglas H. Smith became Principal in December 1994 and led the 9–12 school building until December 2005. Karen Geelan, former Assistant Principal in the West Seneca School district, was hired as the Principal of grades 9 and 10, and Smith would continue to lead grades 11 and 12. In 2007, Geelan became Lead Principal of the building. Smith transferred to Benjamin Franklin Middle School in 2008 where he was Principal until his retirement in 2010. Geelan earned an educational doctorate from the University of Buffalo in 2011 and left Kenmore West in June of that year to become the Superintendent of Allegany-Limestone Central Schools. Dean R. Johnson, who had been a Kenmore West Assistant Principal from 2008 to 2011, succeeded Geelan in 2011 as principal of Kenmore West. Johnson became principal of Herbert Hoover Middle School in July of 2025. Shawn Siddall, former Principal of Thomas Edison Elementary (and Assistant Principal at Kenmore East,) became the schools ninth Principal. Kayla Cappuccio, Kelly Lambert, and Dr. Denise Grandits are currently assistant principals. Nathan Bourke is the schools Athletic Coordinator.

Declining population

The Kenmore community, like the rest of Western New York, lost population between 1970 and 1990. Enrollment of Kenmore West dipped to a low of under 1,400 students in the early 1990s, and many teachers were laid off. The Ken-Ton population continues to drop, and teachers and support staff continue to be laid off as the district economic climate changes. In the 2016–2017 school year, after the consolidation of Kenmore Middle School, Kenmore West now houses eighth graders as well as ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders.

Academics

In 2013, Kenmore West Senior High School was ranked 74th out of 135 Western New York high schools in terms of academic performance.

International Baccalaureate Program

In January 2011, Kenmore West was designated as an International Baccalaureate (IB) School. They were the second public school in Western New York with this distinction. As of 2016, only two other high schools in Erie County offered the program: Kenmore East High School and City Honors School. By 2015, about 18% of Kenmore West students participate in the IB Diploma Program.

Notable alumni

• Anita Alvarez, synchronized swimmer and Olympic medalist
• Zach Anner, internet celebrity with cerebral palsy
• Wolf Blitzer, CNN journalist and author (who sent a video to the Class of 2009 graduation and visited Kenmore West on 4/9/10 to speak with the school)
• Jeff Czum, guitarist in the band Cute Is What We Aim For
• Frank H. Easterbrook, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Gregg Easterbrook, author and journalist
• Geoffrey Gatza, editor, publisher, poet
• Edward Gibson, Skylab astronaut (who spoke to the student body at the 2010 Homecoming rally)
• Green Jellÿ, musicians and theatrical group
• Beth Krom, two-term mayor of Irvine, California, and U.S. congressional candidate
• Dan McFall, NHL hockey player
• Jim McNally, former offensive line coach in the NCAA (1966–1979) and in the NFL (1980–2008)
• Gary McNamara Class of '73, former talk host at WGR and WBEN. Nationally Syndicated Talk Host, "Red Eye Radio"
• Neal Smatresk, marine biologist, former president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2009–2014), current president of the University of North Texas (2014–present)

School colors and mascot

The school's colors are royal blue and white, and the mascot is the Blue Devil. There are many different images used for the Blue Devil all throughout the school, and most have been designed by students. In recent years, the old mascot costume was replaced by a newer, more 'pumped-up' Blue Devil costume.

Athletics

The Blue Devils compete in the Niagara Frontier League (NFL) in most sports. Exceptions include the football team which competes in the Class AA North division and the gymnastics team which competes in the Erie County Interscholastic Conference (ECIC) Division I. The school's sports teams have produced numerous championships throughout the school's 60-year history. The Blue Devils have a long-standing cross-town rivalry with Kenmore East High School. Sports offered are:

Basketball

• Boys' basketball :: 1978: Advanced to the New York State Basketball Championship final game
• Girls' basketball

Football :* Voted #1 in New York by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1969 :* New York state champions: 1969 :* Cited as "National Champions" in 1969 by a computer calculation operated by the Junior Super Bowl

Flag Football :* 2025 Inaugural year, crowned Section VI Class A Champions with Head Coach Dan Hannon winning Coach of the Year.

Soccer

• Boys' soccer
• Girls' soccer

Swimming

• Boys' Swimming, NFL Champions 1998, 1999, 2025
• Girls' Swimming, NFL Champions 2020, 2021, 2022

Track and field

• Cross country
• Indoor track
• Outdoor Track & Field

Tennis

• Boys' tennis
• Girls' tennis

Volleyball

• Boys' volleyball
• Girls' volleyball

** Other**

• Golf
• Gymnastics- the program ended in June 2024.
• Boys' Ice hockey
• Girls Ice Hockey
• Field hockey
• Softball :* New York state champions: 2002
• Wrestling

Notes

References

References

1. "KENMORE WEST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics.
2. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=434CKs7tnvwC The Town of Tonawanda],'' by John W. Percy, [[Arcadia Publishing]] (1997), pg. 27
3. "Faculty / Faculty Directory".
4. "Ken-Ton Bee".
5. (7 August 2024). "Tonawanda's Anita Alvarez wins silver with U.S. artistic swimming team at Paris Olympics".
6. "1981 NHL Entry Draft -- Dan McFall".
7. (May 30, 2013). "Red Eye Radio hits 200 affiliates | Radio & Television Business Report".
8. [http://www.kentonbee.com/news/2011-06-08/Local_News/Kenmore_West_inducts_trio_to_the_Corridor_of_Honor.html "Kenmore West Inducts Trio to the 'Corridor of Honor,'"] {{Webarchive. link. (April 13, 2015 ''[[Bee Group Newspapers). Ken-Ton Bee]]'', June 8, 2011
9. [http://www.kenton.k12.ny.us/Page/2424 "A History of Kenmore West High School,"] last Modified January 12, 2012 (accessed April 6, 2015)
10. Buffalo Business First]]'', June 13, 2013
11. link. (April 17, 2015 last modified December 4, 2014 (accessed April 6, 2015))
12. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150924191554/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-25304384.html "Millions Back Zach's TV Bid; Kenmore Native With Cerebral Palsy Nears Win In Contest,"] ''[[Buffalo News]]'', July 2, 2010 (accessed April 6, 2015)
13. [http://www.newyorksportswriters.org/reference/football_polls.shtml "New York State 1969 Football Polls: All Schools — Kenmore West (8–0), #1,"] [[New York State Sportswriters Association]]
14. "Fire Cooks Up A Better Cafeteria," by Mary Pasciak, ''[[Buffalo News]]'', January 31, 2003
15. [http://www.ecidany.com/documents/ErieCounty_CEDS.pdf "Area Data," ''Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), Erie County, New York,''] {{Webarchive. link. (May 5, 2015 Erie County Industrial Development Agency, July 2011, pg. 1)
16. "Kenmore West High School, Athletic Complex".