Mustang Mid High and Mustang High School are home to the school’s freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.  With a reputation for academic excellence, MHS provides the right foundation for students planning on college, a vocational career or to enter the workforce after graduation. Each graduating class includes more than 40 students who have earned a 4.0 grade point average. Mustang students also score consistently higher than the state and national averages on the ACT.

In the 2008-2009 school year, MMH and MHS implemented advisory time.  All students meet twice each week for advisory, a course designed to teach life skills and build relationships. Advisory will make it possible for every student to have an adult advocate to help guide them through high school and better prepare them for adulthood.

Twice a week for 35 minutes, students meet in groups of 15-17 with an assigned certified staff member. The curriculum for the course is extensive and varied; advisory lessons will cover everything from managing personal finances and decision making to test taking and team building. Teachers will also share information on tests like the PSAT, SAT, ACT and PLAN. The planning committee has also built all assemblies, meetings, and the dissemination of routine information into the advisory periods, which puts more instructional time back into core classes.

A group of MHS faculty members worked five days a week through June preparing the curriculum. MHS instructor Kris Green said the most important part of the program will be building relationships with the students that can be carried over from year to year.

“Most of the connections that a teacher makes that have an impact on kids are at an emotional level, not an academic level,” Green said. “One of the principals said it best: There are kids who step off the bus who don’t speak to anyone all day. Teachers are working to cover all the required curriculum, and they’re teaching from bell to bell. There’s no time to build relationships. We are building that opportunity into the schedule.”

Tom Garner, AP chemistry teacher, agreed.

“When I first heard about this concept, I was blown away,” he said. “Everything I saw, I could see how it was going to help some kids. It gives us another opportunity to help kids beyond polynomials and gerunds and chemical equations.”

Mustang’s athletic program is also respected throughout Oklahoma. At the secondary level, the district boasts more than 75 teams. Over the past two years, many of the district’s student athletes have signed partial or full scholarships with universities around the country.

Students also have the opportunity to pursue their interests in one of the school’s arts or specialty programs. Mustang’s woodworking program is one of less than a dozen left in the state and DECA, an association of marketing students, provides real-world experience through community projects. Mustang is one of the few districts in the state to implement a JROTC program. In addition, Mustang is also a leader in the arts, with students bringing home honors in band, choir, graphic arts and more.

Mustang students also spend time giving back to the community. In 2008, the entirely student-led Relay for Life event raised more than $70,000 for cancer research, setting a new school record for the event. Each Valentine’s Day, students lead up to the King and Queen of Hearts Assembly with a fund drive for a worthy cause. This year, Mustang’s high school students raised more than $4,000 for Gabby, the six-year-old daughter of a Iraq veteran. The child was born with failing lungs and has been hospitalized several times. Her dream is to go to Disney World. Thanks to the students at MHS, her dream is now possible.