Star Valley High School

About

Community Characteristics

Star Valley is a Wyoming mountain valley about 10-15 miles wide and approximately 45 miles long, running north and south along the Wyoming-Idaho border. The valley is bordered on the west by the Caribou and Webster mountain ranges and on the east by the Salt River Range.

Thus, locals refer to the northern part of the valley as the ‘Lower Valley,’ and the southern part as the ‘Upper Valley.’ The Upper and Lower Valleys are joined by a narrow fault in the rock formation known as the Narrows. The Salt River runs through the Narrows joining the Snake and Greys Rivers to form Palisades Reservoir near Alpine, Wyoming.

Star Valley is known for its long winters and heavy snowfall. Because of the shelter offered by the surrounding mountains, winter wind is not usually a problem, although temperatures as low as 30 degrees below zero are not uncommon. Winter weather usually lasts from late fall to early spring and creates a very short growing season of about 50 days.

Between Alpine and Smoot are the communities of Etna, Freedom, Thayne, Bedford, Turnerville, Auburn, Grover, Afton, Fairview and Osmond. The most dense population center is right in the town of Afton with approximately 1,840 residents.

Star Valley’s population for 2005 is estimated to be 11,580. Population is estimated to be growing at about 4.6% a year. As one would expect, Star Valley’s student population has also been on the increase for the last three years. 2005 saw a 5% increase in student population in Star Valley. If the continued rate of growth continues. Star Valley’s population is expected to be over 13,862 by 2009 which will also translate into more students attending school at Star Valley High School.

Student Characteristics

The SVHS student body is growing due to an extra large ninth grade class this year. The junior class is considerably smaller than the other three classes.

SVHS’ student population is 46.8% female and 53.2% male. This is quite a change from last year when the student body was nearly equally divided.

The student population is overwhelmingly white which accounts for 97.14 %. The next largest ethnic group is Hispanic which accounts for 1.5% of the student population.

The percentage of student considered economically disadvantaged, a statistic based on free and reduced lunch, is 20.4%

Staff Characteristics

SVHS’ staff is an older staff, with 58% being age 40 or older. In addition, 27% are age 50 or older.

Only 25% of the teaching staff has a Master’s degree. A full three-fourths have obtained only their Bachelor’s degree. This is due in part to the rural nature of Star Valley and the difficulties that presents in furthering one’s education.

55% of the teaching staff has taught 15 years or less. 22% of the staff has taught 5 years or less. On the other end of the spectrum, 16% have taught more than 25 years.

38% of the teaching staff has been in LCSD #2 5 years or less. In addition to the large number of staff new to LCSD #2, there are also 18 of the teaching staff, or 33%, who have been in the district more than 15 years. It is a good balance between old and new.