Wilton High School is a public high school in Wilton, Connecticut, and considered "one of Connecticut’s top performers" in various measures of school success, including scores on standardized math and reading tests. In 2013 U.S. News and World Report ranked Wilton High School as the 6th best public high school in Conncticut and 292nd in the country.
The school's present, permanent location did not open until 1971. Since then the school experienced rapid population growth. From the height of the 1970s to 2006, the student body grew 7.5 times. In the Fall of 2001, a major multi-million dollar construction project was completed, significantly expanding the square footage of the school. Growth from 2001 to 2006 increased 29 percent. The demographics of the school is unusual for Connecticut. Compared to other high schools in the state, the student body of Wilton High School is affluent and non-diverse, as shown in the following table:
Ethnicity/economic status indicator. | Year | Wilton | Similar schools |
State | |
Eligible for free/reduced price meals | 2005-06 | 0.9% | 1.0% | 22.4% | |
Eligible for free/reduced price meals | 2002-03 | 0.6% | n/a | 17.6% | |
Juniors, Seniors working 16+ hrs./week | 2005-06 | n/a | 6.5% | 21.7 | |
Juniors, Seniors working 16+ hrs./week | 2000-01 | 15.8% | n/a | 31.7 | |
K-12 students, non-English home language | 2005-06 | 4.7% | 2.7% | 11.4 | |
White | 2004-05 | 92.7% | 67% | ||
Hispanic | 2004-05 | 1.9% | 15% | ||
African American | 2004-05 | 1.3% | 14% | ||
Asian American | 2004-05 | 4.0% | 3% | ||
American Indian | 2004-05 | 0.1% | >1% |
The school's current principal is Robert O'Donnell, who in 2011 replaced long-time-principal Timothy H. Canty (a Wilton high school graduate). Canty was involved in several high profile free speech disputes with students, before transferring to the Board of Education for two years and then announcing his departure from the school district in 2013.
Read more about Wilton High School: Notable Alumni
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“Someday soon, we hope that all middle and high school will have required courses in child rearing for girls and boys to help prepare them for one of the most important and rewarding tasks of their adulthood: being a parent. Most of us become parents in our lifetime and it is not acceptable for young people to be steeped in ignorance or questionable folklore when they begin their critical journey as mothers and fathers.”
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