Shadle Park High School

History

In 1954 it was very apparent that a new school was needed on the north side of Spokane. In the spring of that same year the school board officials were presented with plans for a new Northwest High School to be named Shadle Park High. Once the plans were made, the dream finally became a reality.

The generous amount of land was donated to the city by Jessie Comstock Shadle, the widow of Eugene Shadle, for the city to build a park. Only a small fraction of this land was taken to build Shadle Park High School. In May 1956, the firm of Culler, Gale, Martell and Norrie started construction. The structure was completed in 1957 with the total cost coming to $2,787,475. This building was the first high school built in Spokane since 1932 and at the time of construction was the most expensive one in the area. In September, 1957, the first principal, William W. Taylor, with an excellent staff, was ready greet the very first enrollment of 1,331 students. During that first year, the group of students held an all-school election and chose green and gold as their colors and the Highlanders as their nickname. In 1960, the very first class held their commencement exercise for a graduating class of 403 Highlanders.

Eugene Shadle was a descendant of the Scottish Clan Henderson. This clan plays a major role in the traditions of Shadle Park. The school colors, green and gold, are derived from the Henderson tartan.

The crest, which represents Shadle throughout the school, was presented to Shadle by the class of 1964 . The symbolism on the crest is: a crescent and a star for Eugene Shadle and the Henderson clan; crossed Scottish thistle to portray the Highlander theme; a grouse foot from a game bird found only in the highlands; and the Henderson clan and the Spokane Falls landmark across the top.

In 2009, a major project was completed to expand and modernize Shadle Park High School. The modernization of Shadle Park High School was funded through the support of the Spokane community in passing the $165.3 million facility improvement bond in March 2003. Designed to serve 1,600 students and accommodate a vigorous career and technical education program, the project was conceived as a modernization with minor remodeling of the 1994 gym and new additions. Designed by NAC Architecture, the project retained, modernized and renovated the original 1957 building (202,969 square feet) and its recent addition (14,945 square feet), removed the portable classrooms and provided approximately 49,350 square feet in new construction. The total new size of Shadle Park High School is 267,264 square feet. The modernization of the facility included creating a public-friendly and efficient layout with many views towards the park to the west. The demolition of the vacant Field Elementary School, on the corner of Wellesley and Ash created additional parking spaces for visitors and staff.

During construction, students remained on campus. A multi-phased construction approach was utilized over the 24+ month modernization with extensive use of portable classrooms as well as the old elementary school (Field School) which was located on the north end of the property.

Traditions

The spirit potty is a green and gold toilet seat that a chosen senior student uses to motivate our students. The toilet seat is lifted to reveal a RAH! The senior lifts the seat and yells to a person or group of his choice "Give me a RAH!"

Mr. McTavish is the mascot embodied as a mannequin. McTavish was created by Pat Fisk in 1960. Pat Fisk worked on the 3-foot 10-inch Scotsman every morning for three months before revealing McTavish to the student body at a pep convocation. McTavish is dressed in a kilt of "Ancient Henderson," the official Shadle tartan, a sporran, clan pin, and tam and spats.

The victory bell was a present from the Shadle class of 1965. The first victory bell was named after Shadle's first principal, Mr. William W. Taylor. The history behind the bell demonstrates the first victory bell which was to be rung after any athletic or academic victory. In the year of 1967, during the winter, the bell was cracked by a victorious basketball team after a crucial game. A little while later, the same class gave another victory bell to keep that special school spirit going. During every school year the Shadle students keep that bell ringing.

Groovy Shoes is a spirit competition between Shadle and our rival school North Central High School. Two basketball games are played one between the boys' teams and one between the girls' teams. We have people from the community judge spirit competitions. The judges decide who deserves the Groovy Shoes, a pair of shoes that is made up of a shoe decorated by the art department of each school. The judges decide which school wins the shoe by evaluating each schools' spirit through their involvement in community service and their participation in cheers.

The Shadle Park High School Bagpipe Band and Highland Dance Team is a group of Shadle students keeping the rich traditions of the Scottish Highlands alive in our school. These select students strive to maintain the streak of pride that runs through our student body. The pipe band was founded in 1957 along with the school. Bill Thomas was the original pipe major and still works with the student pipers.basis. Dan Grimes is the current Pipe Band director and Brielle Balazs is the current Highland Dance Team coach. During the eighties, the pipe band tradition had died out and was rekindled in 1990 by Shelley and some students. This tradition will live on forever and future generations will look back with pride at the accomplishments of these future Shadle alumni.

Academics

Shadle Park offers a variety of Advanced Placement classes:

Principals

Notable alumni

Ted Farr Los Angeles Dodgers Catcher 1973-1977 . 1st round draft pick.