Silver Lake USD 372


Silver Lake USD 372 is a Unified School District serving Silver Lake, Kansas and the Topeka metropolitan area.

History

In 1911, a new six room brick school building replaced the original two room structure and the first high school class was organized.
In 1928, that building became the elementary school.
In 1952, the high school burned and a new high school was completed in 1953.
In 1961, a new elementary school was completed in 1961.
In 2008, a new gym was built at the elementary school. It is three times the size of the original gym.
In 2010, USD 372 suffered major spending cuts, which included the art program, teachers, lunches, etc.

District

The superintendent for USD 372 is Tim Hallacy.

High school

The principal of the high school is Brad Womack.

Academics

Debate

The high school debate team won the Kansas State 3-2-1A 4-Speaker Tournament in 1996, 2013, 2014, and 2018. They also won the Kansas State 3-2-1A 2-Speaker Tournament in 1996, 1997, 2004, 2007, and 2013. Former coach Gail Naylor lead the school to seven of those championships, and current coach Michelle Taylor is responsible for the recent 4-speaker victories in 2014 and 2018.

Speech

Silver Lake had a remarkably successful speech team throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with championship teams in 1994, 1998, and 1999. The speech team dominated 3A competition in Kansas when they won four consecutive state championships in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004, marking the only time Silver Lake has had a "fourpeat".

Athletics

Football

The Silver Lake Eagles football team has made 18 appearances at the Kansas State 3A Football Championship including wins in 1981, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1997, 2006, 2010, and 2013.

Basketball

The only time the boys' basketball won the state championship was in 1981.
However, the Lady Eagles have won multiple championships including in 1983, 1984, 1988, 2002, 2012 and 2016.

Volleyball

Silver Lake's Lady Eagles have won seven state championships in volleyball.

Baseball

The first state championship ever won by the Silver Lake Eagles was for baseball in 1953. Coincidentally, the Eagles won the championship the next year in 1954, marking the first back-to-back state championships for Silver Lake.
Silver Lake subsequently won the 3A State Baseball Championships thirteen more times in 1970, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2011.

Elementary School

The principal of the elementary school is Ronda Pegram.
The elementary school team has also received titles for youth competitions and other events.