Medical Lake High School

Medical Lake High School is a four-year public secondary school in Medical Lake, Washington, the sole traditional high school in the Medical Lake School District (#326) in western Spokane County. West of the city of Spokane, the school district includes the base housing area of Fairchild Air Force Base to the north.^[4]

Medical Lake High School
Location
200 E. Barker St. Medical Lake , Washington 99022 U.S.
Coordinates	47.576°N 117.681°W / 47.576; -117.681
Information
Type	Public, four-year
Motto	Soaring into the future to create a better tomorrow
Established	1905, 1958 (current)[1]
School district	Medical Lake S.D. #326
NCES School ID	530495000755[2]
Principal	Chris Spring
Faculty	32 [3]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	520 (2022-2023)[2]
Student to teacher ratio	18.80[2]
Campus	Open campus
Color(s)	Cardinal & White
Athletics	WIAA Class 1A (District 7)
Athletics conference	Northeast 1A (NEA)
Mascot	Cardinal
Yearbook	The Cardinal
Information	[phone]
Elevation	2,420 ft (740 m) AMSL
Website	mlhs.mlsd.org/

History and enrollment

Medical Lake High School was founded in 1905, in Medical Lake, Washington. In 1958, the high school was refounded and moved into a new building, but then was added on to in 1970 to encompass the growing number of students being enrolled.

In 2017, a Medical Lake High school student was investigated for a Google Drive filled with sexually explicit pictures of other students with the youngest victim being 14.^[5] In February 2018, a threat was made against the school by a student and was investigated by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.^[6] A few months later in April 2018, a Medical Lake student was killed while three other students were injured in a car crash when headed to a track meet.^[7] This started the #MedicalLakeStrong movement in Spokane, with schools such as Freeman High School and Shadle Park High School offering their support and solidarity.

That June, the district announced that they had received a one million dollar STEM grant and that the high school students would be receiving their own personal Chromebooks that September.^[8] In November 2021, a bombing threat against Medical Lake High School was exposed.^[9]

Enrollment has declined within the Medical Lake School District^[3] and is expected to continue. A contributing factor has been the privatization of base housing at Fairchild Air Force Base; an increasing number of military families have chosen to live off-base and outside the M.L. school district. A building moratorium by the city of Medical Lake and a sluggish economy have also contributed.^[10]

MLHS grew in the 1970s from 487 in 1970^[11] to 650 in 1978,^[12] but declined in the early 1980s to below 500 in 1983 and athletics dropped from the 'AA' Frontier League and returned to the 'A' NEA in 1984.^[13] Enrollment was 675 in October 2007, but fell to 512 in four grades in May 2012.^[3] As of 2021, the current enrollment number is 517.^[14]

School administration

• Principal: Chris Spring
• Vice Principal: Justin Blayne
• Vice Principal: Lyra McGirk
• Athletic Director: Dawn Eliassen

Notable alumni

• Cedric Jackson, professional basketball player
• Paul Butorac, professional basketball player

Sports and activities

Sports

Medical Lake athletic teams compete in WIAA Class 1A in District 7. MLHS was a member of the Great Northern League (GNL) in class 2A since its inception in 1998,^[15] but dropped out of the GNL for football in 2010.^[10] The school dropped to class 1A in the summer of 2012;^[16] and returned to the Northeast 'A' League (NEA).^[17]

Fall sports

• Cross Country
• Girls Soccer
• Girls Volleyball
• Football

Winter sports

• Boys Basketball
• Girls Basketball
• Wrestling

Spring sports

Baseball Boys Golf Girls Golf Boys Soccer

Boys Tennis Girls Tennis Girls Softball Track and field

State championships

• 1992 "A" Wrestling Team
• 2004 "2A" Boys Tennis Team
• 2005 "2A" Boys Basketball
• 2005 "2A" Boys Tennis Team
• 2005 "2A" Knowledge Bowl
• 2013 "1A" Boys Cross Country
• 2014 "1A" Boys Track & Field
• 2014 "1A" Boys Cross Country
• 2017 "1A" Boys Cross Country

Activities

ASB Band Cheer Choir Knowledge Bowl FIRST Robotics Competition

Cardinal Players FBLA FCCLA Key Club National Honors Society Air Force JROTC

References

1. "School addition to begin in February". Spokesman-Review. January 23, 1970. p. 10.
2. "Search for Public Schools - Medical Lake High School (530495000755)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
3. "Medical Lake High School". State of Washington, Office of Superintendent of Public Intstruction. 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
4. "Boundary Map". Medical Lake School District. July 10, 2012. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
5. Hammer, Hawk (November 21, 2017). "New details emerge in Medical Lake High School explicit photo drive". KXLY. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
6. "SCSO investigating threat made by Medical Lake High School student". KHQ Right Now. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
7. "Medical Lake High track member killed, 3 injured in crash west of Airway Heights | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
8. "One to One Chromebooks – Technology – Medical Lake School District". www.mlsd.org. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
9. Press, Cheney Free. "Teen in custody over bomb threat". Cheney Free Press. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
10. Lee, Greg (February 4, 2010). "Cardinals drop GNL for football". Spokesman-Review. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
11. "School figures show changes". Spokane Daily Chronicle. September 8, 1971. p. 5.
12. Girault, Lorinda (November 22, 1978). "School unique in ROTC". Spokane Daily Chronicle. p. 20.
13. "Briefs: locally..." Spokane Chronicle. November 4, 1983. p. 15.
14. "Medical Lake High School". March 24, 2022.
15. "2010-2012 WIAA League Alignments". WIAA. 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
16. Eik, James (June 20, 2012). "Medical Lake school board holds recap of May meeting". Cheney Free Press. Retrieved October 3, 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
17. "2012-2014 WIAA League Alignments". WIAA. 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Medical Lake School District #326
• NEA League.org - Medical Lake athletics - schedules