Western Dubuque High School

Campus

WDHS is located at 302 5th Avenue SW in Epworth, Iowa, a town of 1,580 people. The campus is along U.S. Highway 20 and Jacoby Drive W, near Divine Word College. The one-story school building was built in 1962, and the campus includes its own football field. The school recently added a new addition containing two new gyms, a large commons area, two boys and two girls locker rooms, as well as a state-of-the-art wrestling room and weight room. During the 2014-2015 school year, the school will welcome a new office and a new auditorium. Plans have also been in the talk to build a new auto and manufacturing workshop which would be completed by the 2015-2016 school year.

Students

In the 2009-2010 school year, WDHS enrolled 747 students. Of those, 713 (95%) were White, 14 (2%) were Black, 2 (0.27%) were Asian, and none were American Indian. 11 (1%) students were Hispanic, and may be of any race. Additionally, 372 (49.8%) were male, and 375 (50.2%) were female.

Athletics

Western Dubuque High School offers a variety of sports for its students.

Team Mascot

Bobcat Name: Bruiser Bobcat

Women

Men

Band

Western Dubuque High School has had its ups in down in the music department. Early in the school history, WDHS was known for its excellence in music, particularly in marching band. The Bobcat Marching Band (under the direction of legendary band leader Phil Schmitz) has made several national appearances including: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Rose Bowl Parade, The Cotton Bowl Parade, Two Presidential Inauguration Parades, The Indianapolis 500 parade, as well as many more. The Bobcat marching band will make an appearance at the 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The band consist of 80+ members and has won numerous division I ratings at state as well as best drumline, flags, hornline, and drum majors. As well as marching band, WDHS offers concert band and jazz band, both in which have received division I at state contest.

Choir

WDHS has 3 choirs to choose from. There is concert choir that offers more literature pieces and have many performances throughout the school year. Western Dubuque has two show choir groups. The first is an all female junior varsity group called the "Aristocats". This group consist of 46 all female members that audition at the end of each school year. The group has several performances throughout the year and competes January through March around the state. The final group is called "5th Avenue". This group is a competitive co-ed varsity show choir group that consist of 42 singer/dancers, a band, and a crew that audition at the end of each school year. "5th Avenue" competes at the 3A level in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. This group has won numerous awards as well as made it finals in its 18 years of existence and continues to grow. "5th Avenue" is one of the well known and competitive 3A show choir groups in Iowa. They perform several times per school year and on top of their competition show they as learn a Halloween show which "5th Avenue" performs at their annual Halloween Hoot and a pops show which they perform at the end of the year. Both "5th Avenue" and "Aristocats" host 4 shows each year which include: the Halloween Hoot (an annual Halloween fair/show), the Holiday Cathedral Concert (an annual Holiday tradition which doesn't include dancing and held in a Basilica), the Winter Gala (Both groups first appearance with their competition shows), and they both host a show choir invitational called the MAIN EVENT which hosts many of the top show choir groups in the Midwest and has been well known ever since it started.