Sun Prairie East High School

   MascotCurt the CardinalNicknameCardinalsRivalSun Prairie West High SchoolYearbookThe CardinalFeeder schoolsCentral Heights Middle School Patrick Marsh Middle SchoolWebsitewww.sunprairieschools.org/east-highSPEHS is one of 2 high schools created from the splitting of Sun Prairie High School in 2022, the other being Sun Prairie West High School

Sun Prairie East High School (SPEHS) is a public high school in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Sun Prairie Area School District, the other being Sun Prairie West High School. During the 2022-2023 school year, there were 1,365 students at Sun Prairie East High School. SPEHS is a WIAA Division 1 school and is a member of the Big Eight athletic conference in all sports except for football, in which it is a WIAA Division 2 school and a member of the Badger Conference.^[1]

In the summer of 2010, Sun Prairie High School moved to a new building in the southeast part of town. The former school became a combined 8th and 9th grade upper middle school and was named Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School. Cardinal Heights later became a 6th-8th grade middle school and was renamed to Central Heights Middle School. In 2022, the school split into 2 high schools, Sun Prairie West High School and Sun Prairie East High School, with SPWHS getting a new campus on Ironwood Drive and SPEHS keeping the Grove Street Campus.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Sun Prairie East includes a 4-court competition fieldhouse that seats 2,100, an 8-lane olympic-size swimming pool, a weight room, a cardio room, a wrestling room, and has an indoor track inside the fieldhouse.^[2][3]

Sun Prairie East hosts all home football, lacrosse, and some soccer games at Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium at Ashley Field, a multi-purpose stadium that seats 4,000. The stadium was built in 2022 to replace the original Ashley Field that was built in 1953 on the same site, 155 Kroncke Drive. SPEHS shares the venue with Sun Prairie West. The stadium features aluminum bleachers, team rooms, a multi-purpose synthetic turf field with team colors of both high schools, 2 concession stands, multiple restroom facilities, and ample parking.^[3][4]

The SPHS hockey team, a joint team with SPWHS, plays at the Sun Prairie Ice Arena on Grove Street.^[3]

State championships before split (as Sun Prairie High School)

• Baseball: 1974, 1994, 1997, 2005,^[5] 2006,^[6] 2012,^[7] 2013,^[8] 2014,^[9] 2021
• Bowling: 2015,^[10] 2016^[11]
• Cross Country (girls): 2016,^[12] 2017^[13]
• Football: 1995
• Golf (boys): 1991
• Hockey: 1997^[14]
• Softball: 2018

Academic Decathlon

Sun Prairie's Academic Decathlon team has placed in the top three at the Wisconsin state finals five times.^[15]

In April 2014, the Sun Prairie Academic Decathlon team represented Wisconsin in the Large School division of the National United States Academic Decathlon online national competition taking fifth place among the large schools.^{[citation needed]} They repeated this in 2016.^{[citation needed]}

Music

Sun Prairie East includes a Performing Arts Center (PAC) that seats 1,044. The PAC's 2,400 square-foot stage features a 23-line fly system with a full fly loft, an orchestra pit with a removable cover, and a custom-made Wenger Diva acoustical shell system. The PAC is also home to a Steinway D Concert Grand Piano.^[16]

The Sun Prairie High School Jazz I has been selected to compete in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Band competition in New York City 12 times since the festival's conception, most recently in 2023. When SPHS split into two, Jazz I became a joint extracurricular between Sun Prairie East High School and Sun Prairie West High School ^[17][18][19] The SPHS theatre department has been nominated for numerous Jerry Awards for both their cast and crew.

Notable alumni

• Gary Hebl, class of 1969 (before split); Wisconsin State Assembly, 2005-present
• John A. List, class of 1987 (before split); University of Chicago economist
• Thomas A. Loftus (Graduated before split); Wisconsin Legislator and diplomat; Ambassador to Norway, 1993-1997
• Steven Quale, class of 1984 (before split); Hollywood film director^[20]
• Andy Thompson, class of 1994 (before split); major league baseball player with the Toronto Blue Jays, 2000^[21]

References

External links

• Official website