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Vel Phillips Memorial High School
Address
Map
201 South Gammon Road

Madison
,
Wisconsin
53717

United States
Coordinates43°03′49″N 89°30′03″W / 43.06374°N 89.50079°W / 43.06374; -89.50079
Information
Former nameJames Madison Memorial High School (1966-2021)
TypePublic high school
Established1966 (1966)
School districtMadison Metropolitan School District
NCES School ID550852000937[1]
PrincipalMatt Hendrickson
Teaching staff124.50 (on an FTE basis)[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,065 (2021-2022) [2]
Student to teacher ratio16.65 [2]
Color(s)Green and White   
Athletics conferenceBig Eight Conference
MascotBruce the Spartan
NewspaperThe Sword and Shield
YearbookThe Olympian
Websitememorial.madison.k12.wi.us

Vel Phillips Memorial High School (formerly James Madison Memorial High School) is a public high school on the west side of Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was built in 1966 and is part of the Madison Metropolitan School District.

The school is named after Vel Phillips, an American attorney, politician, jurist, and Civil Rights activist, who served as the first female alderperson and judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as Secretary of State of Wisconsin (1979-1983).

Building

The building has two two-story main wings on opposite sides of the building that look very alike. The west wing, known as the "A-wing" has English on the downstairs and Social Studies on the upstairs. The east wing is known as the "B-wing", and the downstairs there has world language, and upstairs has science.

The front piece of the building, in front of the A and B wings, is symmetrical. There are two foyers, the A-wing foyer and the B-wing foyer. The A-wing foyer is the main entrance to the school. It previously looked like the B-wing foyer until 2012, when a welcome center was added. On the first floor of the front piece are the main office, student services, culinary classes, tutoring center, and the entrance to the library, accessed by stairs. The upstairs area is mainly math classrooms, accessed from either the A or B wing. This area also has four emergency exits leading straight downstairs to outside.

The library is in the center of the building. The floor is about halfway between the first and second floors of the library. Accessed from the lower front piece of the building, stairs are climbed to get there. There is a courtyard between the library and the B-wing and a mall-like area between the library and the A-wing, which opened in 2024.

The area past the center of the building is the main area of the school. It is halfway between the first and second floors. This area includes the commons, cafeteria, MMSD planetarium, auditorium, music department, small theater, business department, athletics, and art department. There is also a lower level of tech-ed classrooms on the far east end of this part. Most of this area is single-storied, except for above the auditorium, pool, and gym areas, where the dance studio and upper gym are.

The fieldhouse, built in 1992, is behind the pool and gym areas.

A staff-only hallway leading away from the cafeteria leads to the kitchen, custodial offices, loading zone, and boiler rooms. The boiler rooms are sunken, and provide access to a series of utility tunnels beneath the building.

History

The school was originally built in 1966 but received a major addition in 1967 because the school's population was higher than expected. The A-Wing housed the senior high and B-Wing the junior high. It was not until the 1970s that Thomas Jefferson Middle School (now Ezekiel Gillespie) was built. A fieldhouse was added in 1992.

On February 11, 2014, principal Bruce Dahmen unexpectedly died from a heart attack while on a field trip with students. A memorial service was held in the main gym.[3] The welcome center was named after Dahmen.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing schools across the nation to close and go online. All spring athletic seasons were canceled, as well as prom. The 2020 graduation was held online. Most of the 2020-2021 school year was all-virtual. The 2021 graduation was held in person. Graduation is generally held at the Kohl Center downtown, but this one was held at the Mansfield Stadium and was split into two ceremonies. The school was back to full-time in person in the fall of 2021, but several mitigations were in place, including that all students and staff were required to wear masks. Many mitigations expired during the year, but masking stayed mandatory for the whole year. By the fall of 2022, masks were finally optional.

Because the class of 2024 spent their freshman year online, the freshman-only day in 2021 doubled for sophomores.

Starting in May 2022, the school underwent major renovations as part of a referendum passed in the fall of 2020. This project includes upgrading the HVAC, accessibility, lighting, mechanical, and electrical systems as well as a new addition for the music wing, new arts/tech ed spaces, and adding all-gender restrooms. The art wing addition connected the main building to the auto tech building, after being previously detached. Starting in the fall of 2023, this became known as the "C-wing".

In 2022 the school was renamed as Vel Phillips Memorial High School by the Madison Metropolitan School District board after concern was raised by the public over James Madison's ownership of enslaved people, following a petition started by a student in 2017. Only one year later, the adjacent Thomas Jefferson Middle School was renamed as Ezekiel Gillespie Middle School. [citation needed]

Academics

Memorial offers classes ranging from Algebra 1 to Photography. Chinese, German, French and Spanish are some of their language classes.[4]

The school also hosts the Madison school district's planetarium and offers an Astronomy class.[5]

Small Learning Communities grant

In 2001, Memorial received a U.S. Department of Education Small Learning Communities federal grant to support a "neighborhood" reorganization.[6] The four neighborhoods are Rock, Wolf, Fox, and Wisconsin .[6] Each of the neighborhoods have a neighborhood center. The Fox Neighborhood Center is known by the students and staff as the "fishbowl".

School newspapers

The official school newspaper is The Sword and Shield and until 2014 kept all issues online.[7] Independent newspapers, The Spartacus and Aficionado existed at one time, but have all ceased distribution. The Independent was created after the 1990–91 school year by The Sword and Shield staff.

The Spork was an unofficial newspaper in 1996-1997.

Extracurricular activities

Memorial offers interscholastic sports[8] and extramural activities. The Spartans have won 64 state championships across all sports, ranking third in the state of Wisconsin.[citation needed]

Athletics

Baseball

Basketball (boys)

Cross country (boys)

Cross country (girls)

Football (boys)

Golf (boys)

Golf (girls)

Hockey (boys)

Soccer (boys)

Soccer (Girls)

Swimming and diving (boys)

Swimming and diving (girls)

Tennis (girls)

Track and field (boys)

Track and field (girls)

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ "Search for Public Schools - Memorial High (550852000937)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "NCES". NCES. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. ^ Madeline Anderson. "UPDATE: Thousands gather to remember late principal Bruce Dahmen".
  4. ^ "School profile". Archived from the original on February 1, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  5. ^ "Planetarium - Madison Metropolitan School District". www.madison.k12.wi.us.
  6. ^ a b Lackney, Jeffrey (July 6, 2001). "Forming Small Learning Communities: Implementing Neighborhoods in Existing High Schools". Archived from the original on December 9, 2002. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
  7. ^ "Sword and Shield - Current Issue: MARCH 2014". memorialweb.madison.k12.wi.us. Archived from the original on 2014-03-09.
  8. ^ "Spartan Athletics | James Madison Memorial High School". Archived from the original on 2015-09-11.
  9. ^ "BOX SCORE FROM 03-19-05 8:15pm".
  10. ^ "MADISON MEMORIAL vs RACINE HORLICK (03/21/09 at Kohl Center - Madison, Wisconsin)".
  11. ^ "DE PERE vs MADISON MEMORIAL (03/19/11 at Kohl Center - Madison, Wisconsin)".
  12. ^ a b c 2019 State Cross Country Meet Souvenir Program. Wisconsin Rapids, WI: Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. November 2, 2019. p. 26.
  13. ^ "Brookfield East vs Madison Memorial". www.wiaawi.org.
  14. ^ "2005 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Male Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  15. ^ "2006 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  16. ^ "2007 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  17. ^ "2009 WIAA Boys Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  18. ^ "2011 WIAA Boys Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  19. ^ "2012 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  20. ^ "2013 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  21. ^ "2013 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  22. ^ "2015 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  23. ^ "2016 WIAA Division 1 State Meet - UW Natatorium - Team Rankings - Through Event 12 - Boys - Team Scores" (PDF). wiaawi.org.
  24. ^ "WIAA 1999 State Girls Swimming & Diving Tournament - Nov. 13, UW-Natatorium, Madison - Div. 1 Event Results & Final Team Scores". wiaawi.org.
  25. ^ ".I.A.A. GIRLS' DIVISION 1 STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING MEET - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2000". wiaawi.org.
  26. ^ "W.I.A.A. GIRLS' DIVISION 1 STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING MEET - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2001".
  27. ^ "WIAA Track & Field State Championships - 6/6/2003 to 6/7/2003 - UW-La Crosse - Results". wiaawi.org.
  28. ^ "DIY success story". isthmus.com. 23 February 2017.
  29. ^ Borzi, Pat (2010-01-25). "The U.S. Women's Hockey Team Is Not as Battle-Tested as It Intended". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  30. ^ "Wesley Matthews". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  31. ^ "Jeronne Maymon Profile - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics". www.utsports.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-16.
  32. ^ "Robert Songolo Ngijol Player Profile". basketball.realgm.com.
  33. ^ "Jay Norvell, fired from Oklahoma, becomes new Texas WR coach".
  34. ^ Moe, Doug (May 3, 2015). "doug-moe-in-video-gaming-art-and-life-intersect". Madison.com. Retrieved August 15, 2015.

External links

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