George Walton Comprehensive High School


George Walton Comprehensive High School, also known as Walton High School, is a public high school located in Marietta, Georgia, United States. It is in eastern Cobb County and is a charter school in the Cobb County School District. It is a School of Excellence and the number one public school in the state. It is the largest high school in the East Cobb area.
For many years Walton has been among the top high schools in Georgia in SAT scores. In 2006, almost 800 Walton students took over 1,800 Advanced Placement exams, making it the school with the greatest number of test-takers in Georgia. Walton was also one of six featured "Outstanding American High Schools" out of 96 total by U.S.News & World Report in 1999 because of its high parental involvement and overall high level of achievement. In 2011, Walton was ranked 67 by Newsweek based on new factors: graduation rate, college matriculation rate, AP tests taken per graduate, average SAT/ACT scores, average AP/IB/AICE scores, and AP courses offered.

History

Construction of Walton High School began in 1973, and the school opened in 1975. Various sections of the school have been renovated, and entirely new halls have been added continuously, each time with their own distinct type of architecture and style. Throughout these many years of construction, especially in recent years, mobile classrooms, colloquially called "trailers," were added to accommodate for the classrooms rendered unavailable. A small number are still in use today, primarily for required Health classes and formerly for in-school suspension.
Walton has been a Georgia School of Excellence since the program's creation in 1984, and in the same year was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Walton became a charter school in 1998.

''Dumb & Dumberer''

Portions of the 2003 movie were filmed in the Walton auto shop, science rooms, and cafeteria. The basketball gym was painted over with the film's fictional logo, and to replace it, part of the film's budget went towards buying a new floor for the entire gym, which was removed in summer of 2019 as part of the renovations of the school. The logo of the old gym is framed near the entrance to the new gym.

Faculty

121 full-time and 15 part-time teachers are employed at Walton, as well as seven full-time and two part-time administrators. Including other special resource teachers and support staff, Walton has 174 full-time and 21 part-time employees. The student-teacher ratio is 20:1, above the state average of 14:1.

Charter

Walton gained charter status in 1998, which was renewed in 2003, 2008, and 2012. Walton's administration has made several changes to the school's policy and schedule, among other areas, through this. One of the changes is the Walton Governance Council, which replaces the original local council in matters pertaining to the maintenance of the charter and its renewal every five years. This larger and more diverse council was also a change given by the charter itself to better represent its stakeholders.
Possibly Walton's most noticeable change is the Walton Enrichment Block, or WEB, which shortens classes one day a week to provide students several hours to complete missed assignments, receive individual instruction, or simply leave early. WEBs only occur on weeks without any other events such as county-mandated teacher workdays or early releases.
Walton also allows students to take additional classes before and after school. Many students today take advantage of 0 Period to take an additional course each day before the normal school day begins. 0 period is also included in the "Flex Schedule," in which students may leave after 6th period by taking a 0 period class, thus still giving six classes and a lunch period. The 8th period adopted in the 2008 charter will likely serve similar purposes as 0 period.
The use of online grade, attendance, and discipline reports on the school's website is another long-standing addition. Parents are encouraged to visit the site to keep track of their student's progress and to maintain overall parental involvement in each student's education. Other changes to Walton's policy include using textbooks other than those specified by the county and having local control over funds given by the state.
One other significant change Walton makes, though not specifically regulated by the charter, is known as the incentive policy. If a student has A averages in any classes, he or she may exempt the final exams at the end of the semester for any two of them. The same is allowed if the student has a passing grade and two or fewer absences in that class. Tardies are also included in determining incentive, with three tardies equating to one absence. The student will also receive an additional 10% on each final taken with the attendance incentive.
The petition adopted in 2008 also proposes a new method of evaluating teachers called the "Collaborative Growth Model," a release from mandated End of Course Test days that conflict with AP exams, and recognition of Project Lead the Way courses as being worthy of half a quality point towards a grade point average.

Extracurricular activities

The school offers many clubs, groups, and societies exist for a variety of interests. Walton has a Beta Club, a National Honor Society, and a Habitat for Humanity group. It also has a Politically Active Citizens, and a Future Physicians Club. Aside from general interest groups, service clubs, and honor societies, students may participate in various sports, fine arts, and academic organizations.

Athletics

Walton has won the GADA Dodge AAAAA Directors Cup four times since its creation in 1999 for having superior overall athletic performance and five consecutive volleyball championships from 1999 to 2002. In recent years, it has won state championships in boys' tennis, led by outgoing team captain Mitch Lyons, girls' tennis,. Retrieved August 31, 2007. boys' soccer, and boys' baseball. Also in 2011, the men's lacrosse team had an undefeated year where they won the school's first lacrosse championship, and made a promising run in the 2014 season under new Head Coach Griffin Spotz, making it to the semi-finals. In 2004, the Walton Raider football team went undefeated in their region. The Raiders beat Valdosta High School in the state quarter-finals to advance to the state semi-finals at the Georgia Dome, before falling to Parkview High School. In 2007, the Raiders were again region champions, beating the previous state champion and nationally ranked Roswell High School, and the last undefeated team Martin Luther King, Jr. High School in the state quarter-finals to advance to the state semi-finals before falling to North Gwinnett High School at the Georgia Dome.
The boys' curling team, which was started in 2007, won its first state championship in 2008 after just one year of training. They went on to nationals, only to finish in last place.
The Raider rugby team, founded in 2007, won its third straight state high school championship in 2010. Raider Rugby is still a club team but is currently working on becoming a school-supported sport.
"Raider Valley", the home field of the Walton Raiders, went through some major renovations during the summer of 2010. The football team raised enough money to build a new stadium. The Raiders put in a new football field, along with a top-of-the-line Jumbotron score board. The renovations took place all summer; the new turf field is meant to be beneficial to all outdoor activities.

Academic

The Walton Academic Bowl team won the GATA varsity state championship from 2004 to 2006. It has won numerous prestigious awards, and its members won the American Academic Challenge in 1995.
The Science Bowl team won the state championship in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012, and also placed third in the 2005 national competition.
The Math Team has won the state championship nine times. The team has won numerous tournaments and awards in the past few years. Many of the members are also members of the Georgia ARML team. The Walton MathFest, a math tournament and conference for high school students, is hosted by the team in the spring.
Walton Mock Trial won their regional competition for four years consecutively, in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, with many individual students winning awards at both the regional competition and the state competition. The program continues to grow more competitive each year.
Other academic extracurriculars include Debate Team and the Raider Script magazine.

Notable alumni