Wakefield High School (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Wakefield High School's building was completed and opened in 1999. For the 1999–2000 school year, the building was occupied by students from Sanderson High School, while their school was under renovation. For that school year, the name of the school was Sanderson High School at Wakefield. In 2000, Wakefield students inhabited the building for the first official school year of Wakefield High.[2]

The school year at Wakefield High School starts in late August and ends in early June. The class schedule, commonly referred to as "block scheduling", has four different classes each semester, each period being approximately ninety minutes long. This completes a course in one semester instead of one year, and provides four new classes in the second semester. Students take exams in mid January and again in early June.[3][4]

In the 2009–2010 school year, a different type of lunch period was created called "SMART" lunch. Instead of multiple 30 minute lunch periods, a single 55 minute period was established in which all students and staff would eat lunch together. Many school clubs were held during the lunch period. Teacher-help was also implemented at this time. This "SMART" lunch was removed in October 2016 by then principal Malik Bazzell, who said that "only nine percent of the students actually utilized SMART lunch on a daily basis and 91 percent were out and about doing whatever."[5] This decision by the principal was opposed by many of the students and some teachers, especially those who utilized the time.[6] As a replacement to SMART lunch, a new period called "Pride Time" was created which was a 35-minute block for students to remediate, as well as a time to help students get extra help in classes they may struggle in. Students who had a grade point average lower than 75 were required to go to Pride Time. Pride Time would also later be removed for various reasons in the 2021–2022 school year, and no substitute to this time would be made.[5]

Wakefield High School offers numerous Advanced Placement (AP) courses. AP classes offered at Wakefield include the following: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science A, Computer Science Principles, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, Government and Politics, Human Geography, Physics 1, Psychology, Statistics, U.S. History, Studio Art Drawing, Studio Art 2-D, and Studio Art 3-D.[7]

Wakefield's students compete in the NCHSAA 4-A classification in the CAP-7 conference. Wakefield's biggest rivalry in sports is with the cross-town Wake Forest Cougars and the Heritage Huskies. Another big rival is the Millbrook Wildcats.

Wakefield currently offers the following[8] sports programs:

Fall Sports - Cross Country, Men's Soccer, Football, Women's Golf, Women's Tennis, and Women's Volleyball

Winter Sports - Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Women's Gymnastics, Indoor Track, Swimming, Wrestling, and Diving

Spring Sports - Baseball, Men's Golf, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Men's Tennis, Track, Women's Soccer, Softball, and Stunt

Year Round - Sports Medicine, Cheerleading

The 2006 basketball team included former NBA player Darius Johnson-Odom, who went on to Marquette University.[9]

In 2012, Devan Caldwell became Wakefield's first state champion in wrestling in 4-A at 285lbs respectively.[10]

In 2022, athlete Shawnti Jackson broke the national 60m sprint record at the Millrose Games in New York City with a time of 7.18 seconds.[11]

As of 2022, Wakefield High offers the following clubs and organizations; Beta Club, Black Student Union, Book Club, Chick-Fil-A Leadership Academy, Creative Writing Club, Drama Club, FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America), FFA (Future Farmers of America), Frisbee Club, German Club, International Thespian Honor Society, Key Club, LGBTQ Pride, Mu Alpha Theta, National Achievers Society, National Art Honor Society, National English Honor Society, National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, Newspaper (The Howler), Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Student Council, Video Game Club, Wackos, and Yearbook Clubs.[12]

The school's student newspaper, The Howler, includes open student forums, opinion articles, students' life articles, and a "Fri-Yay" blog among other media. The mission of The Howler is to provide unbiased and accurate news coverage to the students and faculty at Wakefield and to the surrounding community.[13]The Howler won the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association’s Tar Heel award for excellence in journalism in 2016, 2019, and 2021.[13]

The school's theater program was founded at the same time as the school in 2000. The program was established to teach students about the performing arts, and to provide multiple opportunities for students to view each other’s dramatic work.[14] On average, Wakefield Theatre Company holds somewhere between four to eight plays a year. The program also organizes the schools Drama Club meetings.[14]

• Wakefield High School has 2,004 students, with a male to female ratio of approximately 27:23.[1]
• As for student demographics; 47% white, 29% Black, 16% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 3% Two or More Races, <1% American Indian/ Alaska Native, and <1% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander. 26% of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch.[1]
• There are 574 Freshmen, 496 Sophomores, 487 Juniors, and 447 Seniors that are registered as students.[1]
• The student teacher ratio is approximately 19:1.[1]

• Tim Adleman, former MLB pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds[15]
• T. J. Graham, NFL wide receiver[16]
• Justin Hughes, former professional soccer player[17]
• Darius Johnson-Odom, NBA player[18]
• Doug Polk, professional poker player[19]
• Tye Smith, NFL cornerback[20]
• Justin Willis, former professional soccer player[21]

• Official website