Provo High School

History

Provo High School was founded in 1912. It did not graduate its first students until 1921. The students originally met at Provo Center School before a specific high school building was built in 1920. The current Provo High School was built in 1956.

Move

In December 2015, the Provo City School District voted to sell the 25 acre property where Provo High School stands and move to a location in the western side of the city, rather than rebuild on the current site. It was later revealed that nearby Brigham Young University was purchasing the land for $25 million. The new high school site will be located on a 42 acre plot at 1300 N. Lakeshore Drive. The layout will include three-stories, three classroom wings, and two gymnasiums. The first semester at the new location is planned for Fall 2018.

Clubs and organizations

Soccer

The Provo High soccer team were the 3-A State Champions in 1988 and reached the semi-finals in 2007 and 2015.

The 1972 Provo High School boys' soccer team placed second in state 4-A.

Track and cross country

Both boys' and girls' track and cross country teams have consistentlybeen at the top of the region. Their achievements include multiple region and state titles; the boys' cross country and track teams most recently brought home the state title in 2005 and 2000 respectively.

Basketball

Provo High has won more Utah state basketball championships than any other school. PHS won their first state basketball championship in 1941, and after a number of wins over the years, the school basketball team most recently won the state championship in 2008. Provo won back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008, defeating the Payson Lions 43-37 to win the 2007 championship and defeating Bountiful 45-42 in 2008.

Wrestling

The 1997 Provo High wrestling team was one of 12 teams to complete a 14-weight-class dual meet with a perfect score of 84. The team accomplished the feat on January 22, 1997 against its cross-town rival Timpview High School. Provo High won its only state title in wrestling in 1970. In 2004 the team won the 4A Duals, an unofficial state title in the dual meet format.

Football

Provo High won the State Football Championship in 1983. They defeated Pleasant Grove in the championship game, led by quarterback Sean Covey.

Baseball

Provo High won the State Baseball Championship in 1997. In 2000 the team placed second. Provo High finished third in state in 2002, 2007 and 2009.

Girls' golf

Provo High's girls' golf team took state in 2014 and 2015. Naomi Suifua was the 4A medalist for both state meets. In 2015 she set the course record for all female players in competition at East Bay Reserve Golf Club with a score of 10-under par 62 and won her third individual state title in 2016, though the team finished fourth overall.

Choir

The PHS choir department is composed of five choirs: two beginning choirs, Ladies' Choir (SSA) and Men's Choir (TTBB), which are open enrollment classes that work as starters for getting into the program. The other three choirs are audition-only choirs. There is an Advanced Women's Ensemble, otherwise known by its new name, Bella Voice, which usually consists of 40 members.

There is also a Chamber Choir, a 28-member choir with seven tenors, seven altos, seven sopranos, and seven basses, referred to as "Chamber Singers." This choir has been invited to travel to New York and sing in Carnegie Hall as part of the National Youth Choir. They were also selected to be the featured choir for the performance and had their own 15-minute segment during the performance. While in New York, the Chamber Singers sang the national anthem on the Today Show on March 27, 2009. They also performed at the Empire State Building and Ground Zero.

The largest choir is the Concert Choir, ranging from anywhere to 50 to 110 members. During the Concert Choir's tour to Seattle in 2008, the Chamber Singers were selected to sing the national anthem at a Seattle Mariners baseball game. The concert choir in the 2007–2008 school year was the highest ranked choir in the state, receiving a 1,1 plus, and a 1 plus plus. They were voted the best high school choir in the state of Utah.

Drama

Productions by the PHS Drama department have included The Pirates of Penzance, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, William Shakespeare's Henry V, Sam Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and Little Women (musical). Each fall, a select group of Drama students compete at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.

Dance Company

Provo High Dance Company has won 1st place the last 2 years in a row at the Shakespeare Festival down in Cedar City. They are a amazing group of dancers who show there passion through there movements.

Ballroom

In 2008–2009, the Varsity team placed second in Division 1 at the National Amateur Dancesport Championships with their Mary Poppins Standard Medley. They also placed Fifth in Division 1 with their all new Queen Latin Medley, while the Junior Varsity team placed second in Division 2 with their Mission Impossible Latin Medley (which the Varsity team debuted back in 2001) and third with their Music of Majesty Standard Medley. The Varsity Team has placed first in National Amateur Dancesport Championships High School State Team Match for 10 years in a row, better than any other school in the state.

Both Varsity and JV teams have traveled on trips to St. George, Utah and Rexburg, Idaho, while the Varsity teams have traveled to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Sacramento, Long Beach and Catalina Island. They have also performed at Disneyland Resort in CA and at Disney's California Adventure.

Many of the alumni of this team have gone on to dance at Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University on their tour teams. A few PHS ballroom dancers performed on Dancing with the Stars during the show's 2010 collegiate competition.

Band

In 2013 the school band added a Winter Drumline, and added two Winter Guards in the spring of 2015 (a junior guard and a high school guard).

The 2012 marching band show was entitled One, and the 2013 show was Ghost Train.

In 2014 the Provo High School Marching Band won its first-ever 3A State Championships in St.George, Utah at the Red Rocks Competition.

In 2014 the Provo High School marching bands also received numerous first place, Music, Visual, Percussion, and Colorguard awards in the UMEA, Idaho, and USBands marching band Circuits.

Orchestra

The current program includes a beginning orchestra, Concert Orchestra, a Symphonic Orchestra, and a Philharmonic Orchestra.

PHS-BYU partnerships

Due to its close proximity to Brigham Young University, Provo High has long operated as an informal local training ground for BYU's student teachers. From 1996 to 1999, PHS and BYU entered into a formal partnership with two primary goals: to improve the student teacher program and to work at retaining ninth grade students, who are statistically most likely to drop out of school.

PHS automotive

Provo High School automotive has won a significant amount of automotive contests on a regional level as well as a state level. In 2008, Provo High School students took first place in the Weber State University Automotive Contest, beating 24 teams from Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.

Distance learning/concurrent enrollment

Provo High School offers 23 distance learning classes through the Utah Valley University (UVU) Live Interactive program. Courses are taught on campus and streamed directly to high schools. Distance learning is available for PHS juniors and seniors with a 3.0 or higher GPA. Sophomores with a 3.5 or higher GPA can participate in the program with parental permission.

With the concurrent enrollment program, Provo High School students are able to take a class and receive college credit from Utah Valley University. There are 37 classes available, and, depending on the course, students are required to have a 2.0+ GPA or a 3.0+ as a prerequisite. Students can earn anywhere from three to 30 credit hours. Jeri Marshall is the 2014-2015 coordinator for the Distance Learning and Concurrent Enrollment programs.

AP

Provo High School offers 15 Advanced Placement courses in English, Art, Science, Social Studies, and Technology. In May, students participate in AP exams given by the College Board. Scoring a 3 or higher gives the student a college credit for that subject.

In 2014, 46% of students who took AP exams passed with a score of 3 or more, with a total number of 412 tests taken. In 2013, 55% of students passed AP exams.

PUP

Provo High offers a "gifted talent magnet" program for 7th and 8th graders called Provo Unlimited Progress. PUP allows academically gifted students to attend classes at the high school all day. PUP students are kept in classes together for core subjects except in special cases where students require more rigorous coursework. To get in, 6th graders at any of the nearby middle schools participate in a special testing session (usually in November or December) and parents must submit an online application for the student.

Notable alumni