Community
Located approximately 40 miles north of Anchorage, Colony High School is one of three comprehensive large high schools (schools serving 900-1,300 students) in the Mat-Su Valley and is situated between the cities of Palmer and Wasilla, less than seven miles from each. It is the newest building of the three, having first opened its doors to students in 1991 with only 375 freshmen and sophomores in a school designed for a capacity of 1,200. The first graduating class was the Class of 1994.
Enrollment
In the fall of 2011, Colony High School opened its doors to approximately 1,250 students in grades 9-12 with 65 certified staff and 45 support staff. Students from Palmer and Wasilla as well as the surrounding areas of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough are enrolled at Colony High School, an open-enrollment school which allows students to apply for boundary exceptions to attend this school known for high academic standards.
Academics
Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered in every subject area including AP Literature, AP Language, AP US and World History, AP Government, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP Art, and AP Music Theory, in addition to several world languages.
Colony High School offers an advisory program, providing time for students to connect with teachers as well as make up missing work or exams.The Advisory Program meets approximately one hour per week.
Because of its high expectations and a rigorous but broad academic program, Colony High School has among the highest test scores (HSGQE/SAT/ACT) in the state of Alaska. The math department proudly boasts the 2008 Alaska Teacher of the Year, Mr. Bob Williams, whose students score among the very top of all AP Calculus classes in the state on the Advanced Placement tests. The English department proudly boasts the 2010 Alaska Teacher of the Year runner-up, Mr. Trevor Townsend. The school's focus on literacy has resulted in 90% of all students taking the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Exam (HSGQE) scoring proficient or above-proficient in 2011.
Activities
Colony High School offers all of the typical co-curricular programs one would expect to find in a high school of its size: football, Flag Football, basketball, hockey, wrestling, volleyball, cross country running and skiing, swim/dive, Tennis, track/field, soccer, baseball, softball, Mock Trial, Student Government, Key Club, National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, Battle of the Books, drama, yearbook, and more. Colony High School has won numerous regional and state championship awards throughout the years.
Colony High School is also acclaimed for its exceptional music program offering numerous choir, band, and orchestra classes as well as being home to Thee Northern Sound,our famed marching band, the first in the State of Alaska. Thee Northern Sound is directed by 2008 Alaska BP Teacher of Excellence, Dr. Jamin Burton. The marching band has represented our state at the presidential inauguration parade, along with numerous parades and out of state performances. The school's fine arts program is polished off with a first-rate drama program which produces several plays per year including a major musical every spring directed by 2025 Alaska Teacher of the year Kelly Rentz.
“Colony High School established the first and only Army Junior ROTC program in the Mat-Su School District in 1992.
Colony JROTC offers multiple co-curricular programs to help us achieve our primary goal of ‘motivating young people to be better citizens’. This goal is achieved by teaching the value of community service, marksmanship, drill and ceremony, drone proficiency, and teamwork. Additionally, students are given the opportunity to challenge themselves by attending a week-long leadership camp that takes place annually on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson along with JROTC students from other schools. JROTC gives students interested in military service an advantage by earning credit towards various commissioning programs, gaining appointment at one of the service academies (e.g. West Point), and automatic advancement to E-3 if the cadet has completed three years in JROTC and wishes to enlist.
At its core, JROTC is a program designed to develop future leaders for the community. Colony JROTC has helped thousands of students achieve greater potential and make better life-choices by instilling discipline, promoting good human values and ethics, generating organizational pride, and challenging students both physically and mentally at every opportunity.
Please contact MAJ(R) Brent Richey or SFC(R) Peter Trevino if you would like to learn more!”
Career and Technical Education (CTE)
At Colony High School, our Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department offers a diverse range of courses designed to equip students with the skills needed for success in various career fields. Our programs include technical courses such as Small Engines and Technical Drafting, providing hands-on experience and practical knowledge.
We are proud to host a world-class welding facility, also serving as a district-wide center for the Welding Program. This state-of-the-art facility allows students to gain advanced skills in welding, preparing them for American Welding Society (AWS) industry certifications and careers in the industry.
In addition to technical training, our department offers a variety of business, computer science, pre-engineering, and education careers courses. Courses such as Accounting, Technical Applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), Personal Finance, Desktop Publishing, Web Design, Project Management “yearbook”, Digital Media, Digital Electronics, and Educators Rising.
Freshman students are given a chance to take Intro to Careers where they can learn about careers across 16 different career clusters. This course is foundational to them choosing their desired course of study, their interests, and aptitudes, and experiencing the endless job opportunities they can embrace as life-long learners and workers. Students can also attend district-wide capstone CTE classes as juniors/seniors to help them continue studies they have started at CHS and/or want to explore further. Because being able apply and demonstrate what they learn is what makes it real, CTE students can showcase their leadership and skills in a Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) such as SkillsUSA or Educators Rising which are advised by our department instructors. Students can even apply CTE directly to their Geometry studies in Geometry in Construction class.
CTE rigor is validated with many of the CTE courses aligned for dual-enrollment college credit.
Our CTE programs are designed to prepare students for both college and career paths, ensuring they graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the modern workforce.
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