Summit High School (Bend, Oregon)

Summit High School was the third traditional high school built in Bend, with construction completed in 2001. It joined Mountain View High School, which opened in 1979,[4] Bend High School, which opened in 1904, and Marshall High School, a magnet high school also located in Bend.

As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,526 students and 56.92 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 27.3:1. There were 297 students (19.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 45 (3.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]

In September 2007, the freshman class had about 320 students, a significant increase over the school's other classes, which had fewer than 300 each. The school hired more teachers to keep the numbers of students in each classroom below 30.[5]

In 2008, 86% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 319 students, 273 graduated, 39 dropped out, four received a modified diploma, and three remained in high school in 2009.[6][7]

Summit High School is located on a 48-acre (190,000 m²) site that includes 30 acres (120,000 m²) of solid ground amid an area which had been mined for pumice since the 1940s (by 1998 the mining had stopped and the land was sold). Another 18 acres (73,000 m²) over a former pumice mine were later bought for athletic fields. Rather than renovate the land so that it would remain stable, the school district decided to fix any problems as they arose. Construction was finished on the campus in 2001, with a total cost of $29.3 million.[8] After a December 2005 storm, the athletic field became riddled with sinkholes, requiring expensive fixes before it was again usable.[9] Additional storm damage occurred in classrooms, the gym, parking lots, and the theater.[8] At the start of the 08-09 year, Summit had finished its new field and turf stadium due in large part to a grant provided by Drew Bledsoe, ex NFL Quarterback and current Offensive Coordinator for the Storm football team.

The school installed a 32-panel solar power system in November 2004 that was projected to provide 7,315 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. The project was funded through a grant from the Energy Trust of Oregon.[10]

Summit's mascot has changed significantly throughout the high school's brief history. In the school's opening ceremony in 2001, Storm Man was revealed as a Batman look-alike with a large "S" emblazoned on his chest, a lightning bolt in one hand, and a shield in the other. In late 2003, the school changed its mascot to a Thundercat. The official team name is the Storm.

When Summit High School opened its doors in 2001, it joined the Intermountain Conference as an Oregon School Activities Association 4A classification school. In 2006-07, the OSAA changed from a four-tier (1A-4A) classification system to a six-tier (1A-6A); as part of that reclassification, Summit High School remained in the Intermountain Conference but was then classified as 5A. It has remained a 5A school until the 2018-19 school year where it became part of the 6A classification. It is now part of the Mountain Valley conference with Bend and Mountain View High-school, along with multiple schools from the Salem area. Their neighbors and rival high schools, Mountain View and Bend, are also part of the same conference and classification. From school year 2007-2008 through 2017, Summit has averaged more than six state titles every year in the field of athletics. They have won 17 track and field state championships.