James Madison Memorial High School is a public school located at 201 South Gammon Road, Madison, Wisconsin, 53715, serving students in grades 9 through 12. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan School District. One of four Madison public high schools, it is commonly referred to as "Memorial" or "JMM".
Academics
Due to Memorial's large student base of approximately 2000, the school can offer a wide variety of classes covering a vast number of topics.
Memorial offers Chinese, German, French and Spanish language classes.
The Memorial Art Department offers a wide variety of courses engaging a comprehensive array of media. The department also offers opportunities for portfolio development, artistic skill development and membership in art-based clubs (The Art Klub, Animation Club). Memorial student-artists compete in many visual competitions. The Art Department has supported the installation of art throughout the school, including ceramic murals, professional art, and student-created artwork found in the Memorial Art Garden.
The Memorial Science Department offers a wide variety of science courses. Integrated Science is the introductory ninth grade course. The Science Department offers several different AP courses including AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, and AP Physics. Courses in the Biological Sciences include Biology, AP Biology, Fundamentals of Biology, Conservation Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Forensics Science, and Molecular Biology. Chemistry courses are available at three different levels: AP Chemistry, Chemistry Honors, and Chemistry. Physics courses include AP Physics, Math Physics, and General Physics. The school also offers courses in Earth Science, including Earth Science 1, Earth Science 2, Astronomy, and AP Environmental Science. Other courses include Aerospace engineering and Mechanical World.
The school also hosts a planetarium and offers an Astronomy class.
Small Learning Communities grant
In 2001, Memorial received a U.S. Department of Education Small Learning Communities federal grant to support a "neighborhood" reorganization. Students would be assigned to "backyards" of approximately 20 students and a staff member, Backyards are then grouped to form "blocks", which are in turn grouped to form "neighborhoods". In total there would be 100 backyards which combine to form five blocks which combine to form four neighborhoods. The four neighborhoods are Rock, Wolf, Fox, and Wisconsin .
Begun during the 2002-03 school year, the goal was to create a smaller environment where students would feel connected to each other and staff members. Different from a traditional homeroom concept, students are assigned to "backyards" of approximately 20 students and 2 staff members (teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors, etc.) Students may not remain in the same backyard with the same students and teachers for their entire high school career, as some were broken up to form Freshman Backyards. Freshman Backyards are Freshman only, and are led by two non-freshman student leaders. Freshman Backyards were implemented at the start of the 2013-2014 school year. Backyard is receiving mostly negative reviews from students, and is under debate for improvement. Each neighborhood is assigned a vice principal to help ensure consistency in administration as students matriculate.
School newspapers
The official school newspaper is The Sword and Shield and since 2009 has all issues on line located at https://memorialweb.madison.k12.wi.us/node/1652. Independent newspapers, The Spartacus and Aficionado existed at one time, but have all ceased distribution.
The Independent was created after the 1990-91 school year by The Sword and Shield staff in response to censorship of the school's paper by then principal Carolyn Taylor. The Independent had a tradition of printing annual April Fool's editions, which were published under names such as The Inebriated, The Insolent, and The Indyan. Controversy over the April Fool's editions led to The Independent being temporarily banned, sparking the creation of The Spartacus in 2003.
Extracurricular activities
Memorial offers interscholastic sports and extramural activities. The Spartans have won 64 state championships across all sports, ranking third in the state of Wisconsin.
Athletics
Baseball
- 1990 State champion; beat Marinette, 8-7 (9)
- 1992 State champion; beat Oconomowoc, 10-8
Basketball (boys)
- 2005 State champion; beat Milwaukee Vincent, 63-55
- 2009 State champion; beat Racine Horlick, 56-41
- 2011 State champion; beat De Pere, 80-78 (3OT)
Cross country (boys)
- 1967 State champion; beat Antigo, 80-82
- 1991 State champion; beat Homestead, 65-97
Cross country (girls)
- 1980 State champion; beat Neenah, 98-114
- 1984 State champion; beat Neenah, 85-99
Golf (boys)
- 1972 State champion; beat Whitefish Bay, 611-618
- 1984 State champion; beat Madison West, 647-649
- 1990 State champion; beat Eau Claire North, 670-686
Golf (girls)
- 1977 State champion; beat Madison West, 710-739
- 1979 State champion; beat Appleton East, 710-728
- 1980 State champion; beat Appleton West, 729-785
Hockey (boys)
- 1976 State champion; beat Superior, 4-3 (3OT)
- 1977 State champion; beat Superior, 3-2 (2OT)
- 1979 State champion; beat Madison East, 3-1
- 1980 State champion; beat Rice Lake, 6-2
- 1985 State champion; beat Stevens Point, 3-1
- 1988 State champion; beat Madison West, 2-0
- 1998 State champion; beat Stevens Point, 4-3 (OT)
- 2000 State champion; beat Wausau West, 4-3
Soccer (boys)
- 2006 State champion; beat Brookfield East, 2-0
Soccer (Girls)
- 1986 State champion; beat Neenah, 1-0
- 1987 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 1-0
Swimming & diving (boys)
- 1980 State champion; beat Whitefish Bay, 112-90
- 1981 State champion; beat Homestead, 148-93
- 1986 State champion; beat Madison West, 260-204
- 1992 State champion; beat Madison West, 296-208
- 1994 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 282-280
- 1996 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 266-238
- 2005 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 269.5-222
- 2006 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 272-245
- 2007 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 257.5-212.5
- 2009 State champion; beat Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 200.5-182.5
- 2011 State champion; beat Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, 234.5-192
- 2012 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 326-234
- 2013 State champion; beat Madison West, 316-206
- 2014 State champion; beat Madison West, 319-216.5
- 2015 State champion; beat Madison West, 350.5-201
- 2016 State champion; beat Madison West, 314-202
Swimming & diving (girls)
- 1970 State champion; beat Menomonee Falls North, 128-121.5
- 1971 State champion; beat Menomonee Falls North, 127.5-116
- 1972 State champion; beat Madison East, 174-118
- 1974 State champion; beat Madison West, 230-179
- 1975 State champion; beat Madison West, 234-168
- 1976 State champion; beat Brookfield Central, 215-132
- 1978 State champion; beat Madison West, 176-153
- 1979 State champion; beat Brookfield Central, 210-114
- 1988 State champion; beat Madison West, 277-212.5
- 1993 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 325.5-311
- 1994 State champion; beat Madison West, 310-5-301.5
- 1999 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 313-242.5
- 2000 State champion; beat Arrowhead, 320.5-236
- 2001 State champion; beat Madison West, 295-267.5
Tennis (girls)
- 1988 State champion; beat Brookfield Central, 30.5-28
Track & field (boys)
- 1970 State champion; tied Racine Case & Whitefish Bay, 14-14
- 1973 State champion; beat Whitefish Bay, 21-18
Track & field (girls)
- 1972 State champion; beat Nicolet, 21-18
- 1973 State champion; beat Madison West, 24-18
- 1977 State champion; tied Madison East, 40-40
- 1979 State champion; beat Janesville Parker & Madison West, 46-30
- 2003 State champion; beat Waukesha West, Hartford, Cudahy & Waukesha Catholic Memorial, 34-25
Notable alumni
- Vander Blue, class of 2010; basketball guard in the NBA's development league
- Tyrone Braxton, class of 1983; former NFL safety
- Bill Foster (Illinois politician), class of 1972; physicist and Illinois Congressman
- Rick Graf, class 1982; former NFL football linebacker
- Tamara Grigsby, class of 1993; Wisconsin State Assembly
- Jack Ikegwuonu, class of 2004; former NFL cornerback
- Mark Johnson, former NHL player and gold medalist with the US Olympic Men's Hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympics; UW-Madison women's hockey coach
- Jennifer Korbee, class of 1998; singer and actress
- Wesley Matthews, class of 2005; NBA guard
- Jeronne Maymon (born 1991), former basketball player for Hapoel Eilat B.C. of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Jay Norvell, former NFL linebacker
- Jeffrey C. Sprecher, class of 1974; founder and CEO of IntercontinentalExchange
- Sherri Steinhauer, former pro golfer
- Saahil "UNiVeRsE" Arora, class of 2008; professional Dota 2 player for Evil Geniuses
References
External links
- James Madison Memorial High School - Official website.