Westlake High School (Fulton County, Georgia)

Westlake High School is a secondary school located in unincorporated Fulton County, Georgia, United States. The school has an Atlanta, Georgia address but is outside of the Atlanta city limits. It is a suburban high school located in a predominantly middle class community.

History

As a part of the Fulton County School System consolidation plan, Westlake was formed in 1988 by the closing of Westwood High School and Lakeshore High School. The new school uses the old Westwood High School facility. It's motto is Quid Erimus Nunc Facimus Latin: We Are Now Becoming What We Are to Be.

Magnet Program

Westlake High School's Math/Science Magnet Program prepares students for the academic and career fields of math, science, engineering, and technology through rigorous instruction, relevant experiences and supportive relationships.

Goals

The magnet program at Westlake seeks to provide an academically rigorous foundation for math, science, engineering and technology based careers. The students are exposed to special courses that offer real world problems and inquiry based instruction. The program develops partnerships with universities and businesses so that sudents have access to relevant instructional and internship experiences in medical science, engineering and technology. Students are also encouraged to participate in academic, athletic, and artistic extracurricular activities that support their achievement.

Magnet programs of study

Westlake's magnet program is modeled after college programs in medical science, engineering and computer science. Each course of study has associated extracurricular clubs and teams as well as junior and senior summer research internship opportunities available at both Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Additionally, students attend monthly forums with guest speakers from college and industry on topics ranging from college planning to careers.

Recent achievements

• National 1^st place Biology Award in NAACP ACT-SO competition
• National 2^nd place Science Award in National Institutes of Health competition
• Regional Semi-Finalists Engineering Award in Siemens Westinghouse Competition
• Regional 1^st place Tri-Math-Alon Award in National Society of Black Engineers competition

Application requirements

Students wishing to participate in the magnet program must live in Fulton county and must meet academic crieria including having taken Algebra I in 8th grade, having a minimum grade of 80/100 in all math and science classes, no failing classes, and having a minimum cumulative average of 80.

Athletics

• 1999 GHSA Boys Basketball Champions
• 2002 GHSA Boys Basketball Champions
• Westlake was recognized by the National Football League in 2005 as having the most alumni listed as active players on NFL rosters..

New Facility

Construction for a new Westlake facility began in October 2006 and the facility officially opened in August 2008, housing over 2,000 high school students in 99 classrooms. The architectural firm of Gardner, Spencer, Smith, Tench & Hensley, P.C. designed the new building while H.J. Russell & Company handled the initial phase of construction. The school had previously been housed in the old Westwood High School building since its opening in 1988.

Notable Alumni

• Adam "Pacman" Jones
• Keith Adams
• Ian Allen
• Keyaron Fox
• Sean Jones
• Anthony Mitchell
• Kasim Reed
• Cameron Newton

References