About W.F. West High School

Hello, Bearcat families and community!

I am honored and excited to begin my first year as principal of W.F. West. I look forward to getting to know students, parents, staff, and community during the 2026-2027 school year.

At W.F. West, we understand that partnering with families and community is essential for reaching our full potential as a school. We strive every day to create a school environment where students, parents, and families feel seen, heard, valued, and welcomed. 

We are intentional in building positive relationships that will help us to know every student by name, number, need, strength, and story. We believe that “Everybody’s somebody in Bearcat Country,” and we work hard every day to live up to that motto.

This year’s theme, Bearcats on Purpose, Better Together, expresses the importance of students knowing and feeling purpose in their learning and in their school experience. It means that Bearcat staff are intentional in teaching with purpose, and it means we build student agency by creating meaningful student experiences and by listening to student voice and feedback. 

Let’s be Bearcats on purpose! Let’s work together as a school community to provide the highest quality education for each and every one of our students. Let’s partner to ensure that W.F. West is a place where all students and families feel a sense of belonging. 

I look forward to what we will accomplish in the 2026-2027 school year with the help of our community. Thank you for your support and partnership. We are truly better together! 

Go Bearcats!

At W.F. West High School The Bearcat Way is about school pride, academic excellence and helping every student discover and achieve their full potential.

We strive for career and college readiness for all of our graduates. We have a 95% graduation rate (higher than the state average of 82%) and we strive for 100% of our graduates to be equipped for their next leg of their journey, whether that be college or certificated program, military service, apprenticeship program or other career and life pathways.

Our core beliefs are:

• Teachers inspire and challenge all students and guide them toward achieving their full potential
• All students are unique individuals who have the potential to become positive contributing members of society. Learning how to learn serves students for a lifetime
• A positive school climate enhances learning
• Co-curricular activities enhance learning and develop self-worth, pride and leadership
• Schools are most effective when parents and the community are integral parts of the educational process

Beyond the classroom, our students show the same pride in activities such as music, clubs and athletics. While our students’ performance in these activities is often recognized at the state and national levels, we also strive for them to be good ambassadors for their school and community and for these activities to help them develop excellent character, strong leadership skills and unfailing work ethic.