West High School (Utah)

History

West High School traces its history back to 1890, when two public high schools were established in Salt Lake City. The East Side High School opened in rooms at a local Lutheran Church on September 22, 1890. The Fourteenth District building, which housed classes for the West Side High School, did not open until December 10 (on account of its construction going longer than anticipated). The two high schools were then combined into Salt Lake City High School during January 1891, which held its classes in the Fourteenth District building.

The high school outgrew its space in the Fourteenth District building and was moved to the Clayton building on South Temple street in 1892. In 1898, the high school moved again, this time into a newly constructed building that was part of the Oregon Shortline Railroad Company complex on Pierpont Avenue. The school remained in this location, until a large fire on September 10, 1901 destroyed several buildings and damaged the structure used by the high school.

Immediately after the fire, arrangements were made to the move the high school to Union Square. Here it would occupy the recently vacated University of Utah main building, along with making use of the nearby Deseret Museum building (originally built for the Church University).

Beginning in fall 1902, the high school was once again split between the West Side High School and the East Side High School. The west high school remained on Union Square, while the new high school opened in the Bryant School building, just east of downtown. However, the split was short lived, and the schools were combined in summer 1905. In May 1914, the East High School building was opened, officially splitting Salt Lake High School between east and west.

The old University of Utah main building was demolished in 1921 and a new, three-story high school building opened in 1922. As of 2024, the high school is still housed in the 1922 building, but is expected to move to a new structure after funding was approved in the 2024 local election.

In November 2019, then-principal Ford White was suspended after he used a student vehicle to drive two intoxicated female students to the residence of one of the students, rather than following district policy of reporting intoxication to law enforcement -- a decision which "shocked some of his colleagues" who reported the action. White claimed he was trying to prevent the students from getting involved with the legal system in accordance with restorative justice. He was placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation and ultimately fired from the job in early 2020, and White's professional license was suspended for one year. About 500 students staged a walk-out in support of White.https://www.deseret.com/utah/2019/11/19/20972724/west-high-students-walk-out-of-class-in-support-of-suspended-principal/

Manual and technical training

Beginning with the 1902–1903 school year, the local board of education established manual training. This training was meant to offer practical skills and vocational training, as opposed to the strictly academic training offered by the school system up to that time. On the west side of the city, these classes were held in the Union School building, also located on Union Square. The growth of these programs would result in the construction of the Technical High School from 1910 to 1912. There is some indication that after the opening of East High School, the West High School was meant to be strictly a technical school.

Athletics

West High has had multiple state sports championships, most prominently twenty-one for football (1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1915, 1925, 1927, 1973, 1975, 1980, 1984 and 1992); nine for boys' track (1912, 1922, 1929, 1932, 1933, 1951, 1953, 1954 and 1957); and four for boys' tennis (1992, 1996, 1997 and 2002).

The school maintains a Hall of Fame for prominent athletes.

Notable alumni

• Parley Baer, American actor
• Paul Bloomquist, American pilot and officer
• Shannon Bryner Hale, Author
• Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and bestselling author
• Nathan Chen, Figure skater
• Tony Finau, Professional golfer
• Helen Foster Snow, American journalist
• Earl Holding, Owner of Sinclair Oil and Grand America Hotel
• Tom C. Korologos, US Ambassador
• Leonidas Ralph Mecham, U.S. Court Administrator
• Thomas S. Monson, Former president of the LDS Church
• Dick Nemelka, Professional basketball player in the ABA
• Harold Ross, Co-founder of The New Yorker magazine
• George Von Elm, Professional golfer
• D. Frank Wilkins, Utah Supreme Court Justice
• Mark H. Willes, CEO of the LA Times and General Mills{{cite magazine |last=Carter |first=Edward L. |date=June 2001 |title=Mark Willes |url=https://marriott.byu.edu/magazine/feature/mark-willes |magazine= Marriott Alumni Magazine |location=Provo, Utah |publisher=BYU Marriott School of Business |access-date=April 12, 2025}}
• Dan Wells, author

Notes

References

References

1. [https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1605562462/slcschoolsorg/pyo2ajk0x4yckflqdjmn/westhandbook.pdf West High School Handbook]{{Dead link. (April 2025)
2. "Search for Public Schools - West High". National Center for Education Statistics.
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23. . (February 11, 1914). ["Board To Retain D. H. Christensen: Open School in May"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6xh4jjc/25001611). *[[Deseret News*.
24. . (May 30, 1914). ["New High School Formally Thrown Open for Inspection by the Public"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6tan8np/30951396). *[[Salt Lake Herald-Republican]]*.
25. . (July 7, 1921). ["Historic Structure Being Razed to Make Way For New High School"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6pp42hp/25525971). *[[Deseret News]]*.
26. . (September 23, 1922). ["New West High Is Model Of Convenience"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6pg6npn/25216406). *[[Deseret News]]*.
27. Stefanich, Logan. (November 5, 2024). "Here's how school district bond proposals fared across the Beehive State". [[KSL-TV]].
28. https://www.deseret.com/utah/2019/11/19/20972724/west-high-students-walk-out-of-class-in-support-of-suspended-principal/
29. https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2021/01/11/former-west-high/
30. https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/1/7/22219236/former-west-high-principal-educator-license-suspended-for-1-year-ford-white/
31. . (September 7, 1902). ["Manual Training in Salt Lake Schools"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s68s60sh/13602508). *[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]*.
32. . (August 29, 1902). ["New Features Provided For Coming School Term Which Begins Sept. 8"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6gf21pg/16717798). *Salt Lake Telegram*.
33. . (December 17, 1910). ["Utah's Schools in Front Rank of Progress and Efficiency: Progress at High School"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6cg4hcd/24982683). *[[Deseret News*.
34. . (September 3, 1911). ["Schools Once More Call To The Wild"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64bh2qn/31100994). *[[Salt Lake Herald-Republican]]*.
35. . (August 30, 1913). ["Schools To Open On Tuesday Next"](https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s64r2n90/24998875). *[[Deseret News*.
36. "UHSAA Title IX". Utah High School Activities Association.
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38. . (December 3, 2002). ["Utah-born actor dies in California at 88"](https://www.deseret.com/2002/12/3/19691853/utah-born-actor-dies-in-california-at-88/). *[[Deseret News]]*.
39. . (May 12, 1972). ["Frankfurt Blast Kills Utahn"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/deseret-news-frankfurt-blast-kills-utahn/170149935/). *[[Deseret News]]*.
40. De Groote, Michael. (November 27, 2010). "Clayton Christensen: Just a guy from Rose Park". [[Deseret News]].
41. . (January 9, 2014). ["Figure Skating: SLC's Nathan Chen wins national junior title"](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=57373810&itype=cmsid). *[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]*.
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