Decatur High School

Established	1973
Type	Public secondary
Principal	Tom Leacy
Students	1,699 (2005)
Grades	9–12
Location	Federal Way, Washington, USA
District	Federal Way School District
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Navy Blue and Gold
Mascot	Golden Gator
Website	[1]

Decatur High School is an American secondary school teaching grades nine through twelve. A part of the Federal Way School District, it was founded in 1973 in Federal Way, Washington. The school was built in 1976, renovated in 1987, then again remodelled in 2002.

Although sometimes assumed to have been named after Commodore Stephen Decatur, a War of 1812 and Barbary Wars naval hero, the school is in fact named after the USS Decatur, a ship named for Stephen Decatur that assisted settlers during the 1856 Battle of Seattle. A logo incorporating an image of the Decatur features prominently on the school's student identification cards.

Decatur was originally built as an "open concept" high school, where students were encouraged to study at their own pace in an open environment. Within the framework of this concept, there were few permanent walls built in the school's original structure. However, this experimental approach was scrapped after the 1976-77 school year when it was discovered that not all high school students were self-motivated enough to meet the district's education standards.

The school colors are navy blue and gold. The spirit color is orange. Contrary to rumors that that the orange color was purportedly selected when a clothing order for navy- and camouflage-colored garments was shipped with orange in the place of navy, the real reason for the color selection was because a group of students from the class of 1999 wanted to distinguish themselves from others by wearing orange jumpsuits around on spirit days and to sporting events. They eventually got the nickname "Orange Crush" for wearing those colors. The choice of color by the 1999 class stuck and is still in place today and is now considered "Gator Pride".

Contents 1 Student life 2 Academic and Student Programs 3 Athletics 4 Notable alumni 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Student life

Approximately 1,650 students attend the school.

[edit] Academic and Student Programs

• Annual/Yearbook
• Associated Student Body
• Athletic training
• Band: Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Pep Band
• Badminton Club
• Chess Club
• Cheerleading
• Choir (Jazz, Concert, and Women's)
• Creative Writing Club
• Dance/Drill
• Distributive Education Club of America (DECA)
• Drama
• Driver’s Education/Traffic Safety Classes
• Fashion Club
• FOCUS Photography Club
• French Club
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Future Community Career Leaders of America (FCCLA)
• Gator Nation
• Honor Society
• Horticulture
• International Club (Gators Taking Action)
• Key Club
• Leadership
• Math Team
• Newspaper
• Orchestra
• Odyssey of the Mind, Division III
• Reach Club
• Skills U.S.A.
• Special Education (consultant, Inclusion, resource room and self-contained)
• Speech
• SPSL sports – all programs
• Study Club
• VICA

[edit] Athletics

Decatur is part of the South Division of the 4A South Puget Sound League in Washington's West Central District (as of 2008-2009). Recent team finishes in State Championships include:

• 1st in '01 and '02 in boys soccer, at one point the team was ranked 7th('01) and 2nd('02) in the entire nation.
• 2nd in '07, 3rd in '06 and '09, 4th in '08 for Dance/Drill Team
• 1st in 2003 and '05, 3rd in '04, 4th in '02, and 7th in '01 and '06 for Boys Swim and Dive
• 2nd in '04, 3rd in '05, and 4th in '00 for Boys Tennis
• 2nd in 1996 for Boys Basketball
• 3rd in '00 for Girls Tennis
• 3rd in '04 for Girls Track and Field
• 4th in '05, 5th in '00, and 7th in '06 for Girls Swim and Dive
• 1st in '04 for Cheerleading
• Semi Finals in '08 for Boys Basketball lost to Federal Way High School

Other sports are Football, Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Gymnastics, Fastpitch Softball, Volleyball, Soccer, Wrestling and Golf.
Decatur's main rivals are the Federal Way Eagles.

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

[edit] Notable alumni

• Apolo Anton Ohno, Olympic speed skater and winner of 'Dancing with the Stars'
• Michael Dickerson, former NBA player
• Ben Henderson, MMA fighter WEC

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

[edit] References

• Decatur School Profile

[edit] External links

• Decatur High School Website
• South Puget Sound League: Decatur High School
• Decatur Boy's Basketball Website

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