Fort Dodge Senior High School

Fort Dodge Senior High School (commonly abbreviated FDSH) is the only secular high school in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The school is located in the north-central part of Fort Dodge between Martin Luther King Drive and North 25th Street. It is a part of the Fort Dodge Community School District (FDCSD).

Fort Dodge Senior High School
Address
819 North 25th Street

Fort Dodge
,
Iowa

United States
Coordinates42.513°N 94.163°W / 42.513; -94.163
Information
TypePublic High School
School districtFort Dodge Community School District
SuperintendentJesse Ulrich
PrincipalStaci Laird
Staff72.65 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,145 (2017–18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio15.76[1]
Color(s)Crimson and Black          
MascotDodgers
RivalMason City
NewspaperLittle Dodger
YearbookBig Dodger
Websitewww.fort-dodge.k12.ia.us/index.cfm?nodeID=26113&audienceID=1

In addition to Fort Dodge, Badger and Otho are in the district boundaries, and therefore the high school's attendance boundaries.[2] The district also serves the Coalville census-designated place.[3]

History

Currently covering 248,300 square feet (23,070 m2), Fort Dodge Senior High School was built in 1958, replacing the 1922 building. The swimming pool and additional physical education areas were completed in 1974. The last addition, the vocational area, was completed in 1979. Its open-floor design and industrial-style architecture is representative of the spacious neo-futuristic school designs that originated in California and other warmer climates during the middle to late 1950s. In 2008 and 2009, the kitchen, cafeteria, and surrounding sections of the interior received extensive renovations, part of a five-year plan to improve the student environment and to update the decor. The band, choir, and orchestra rooms were remodeled in 2009. Additional renovations are planned to classroom areas as well as athletic/fitness facilities. These updates are expected to cost more than $50 million and are planned to be completed in short phases over many years.

Campus

In 2018 the district established a 19,865-square-foot (1,845.5 m2) "Freshman Academy" to allow for easier transitions of 9th grade students to high school, with sixteen renovated classes and two classrooms placed in the library. Multiple athletic facilities were also added: a 200-seat new 9,141-square-foot (849.2 m2) auxiliary gymnasium with three basketball courts and three volleyball courts; a 6,678-square-foot (620.4 m2) wrestling room; as well as four locker rooms in a 11,016-square-foot (1,023.4 m2) area with two each for male and female students, were established that year.[4]

Athletics
  • Dodger Stadium – new artificial turf installed in Summer 2008

Brick-walled Dodger Stadium is home to Fort Dodge Senior High football, baseball, soccer and track teams. It is also home to Saint Edmond Catholic High School and Iowa Central Community College football teams. It remains one of the state's best athletic facilities, with permanent seating for 5,000 persons in the two concrete bleacher sections. The stadium is located in the north central section of the community on an 18-acre (73,000 m2) tract of land. Built in 1939–1940, Dodger Stadium is a product of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to get depression-era America back to work. In 2008, the school district received just under $1,000,000 in pledges for private donations to renovate the stadium's locker rooms and grandstands and replace the natural grass playing surface with artificial turf. Work was completed on the turf in August 2008, with the inaugural game taking place on August 29, 2008. Renovation plans for the restroom and locker room areas have stalled due to lack of funding. Also included in the plan are new bleachers and a new scoreboard.

Fort Dodge Senior High School hosts the Iowa Girls' High School Athletic Union's state softball tournament and the Iowa High School Athletic Association's state cross country championships. The softball tournament is held at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex, while the cross country championships are located at Lakeside Golf Course at John F. Kennedy Park.

The Dodgers are members of the Central Iowa Metro League, and participate in the following sports:[5]

Music

Music has been a popular elective at Fort Dodge Senior High since the beginning of the 20th century. The famous march composer Karl L. King wrote and conducted the majority of his music in Fort Dodge from 1920 to 1971, making marching band a popular activity for students and the community. The All-American Dodger Marching Band performs at all varsity home football games and competes in several regional field marching competitions throughout the year. The marching band performed during halftime of the 2010 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX and the 2014 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The various school bands have received several awards and recognitions for excellence in concert music.

Choir has also been popular with FDSH students. In 1931, music teacher J. Howard Orth founded The A Cappella Choir, a concert choir for mixed voices. The choir has traveled and performed throughout the United States. In 2010 The A Cappella Choir was invited to perform at the Dorian Invitational Choral Festival at Luther College. Today the choir program offers four curricular choirs, two extra-curricular choirs, independent study in composition, and music appreciation.

Every Spring, FDSH's choir students perform a musical. These productions have taken place every year since 1927, making it the longest consecutively running high school musical theatre tradition in the United States. The Spring of 2018 marked the 91st annual musical with the performance of Beauty and the Beast. Senior High's 90th Annual Musical, The Pajama Game, gained multiple recognitions from the Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards, including Outstanding Musical Production. In 1990, The A Cappella Choir performed the amateur debut of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.

Notable alumni
  • Lisa Uhl – elite distance runner
  • Dale Warland – acclaimed choral conductor and composer
  • Steve Stark – television producer, production manager, casting, and actor
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References
  1. "Fort Dodge High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  2. "Fort Dodge" (PDF). Iowa Department of Education. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  3. "Elementary Boundary Map Final" (PDF). Fort Dodge Community School District. Retrieved April 5, 2020. - See text note on the lower left hand corner of the screen. Also see Map from the 2010 U.S. Census.
  4. Thompson, Chad (January 28, 2018). "Fort Dodge Community School District: Providing opportunity". Fort Dodge Messenger. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  5. "Central Iowa Metro League". Central Iowa Metro League. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  6. "Fort Dodge". Iowa High School Sports. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  7. "2020 State Tournament Stat Book Basketball" (PDF). Iowa High School Athletic Association. January 29, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  8. "All Time State Tournament Results" (PDF). Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. pp. 10–17. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  9. "2020 Wrestling Stat Book" (PDF). Iowa High School Athletic Association. January 29, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  10. "2020 IHSAA Baseball State Tournament Stat Book" (PDF). Iowa High School Athletic Association. June 10, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
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