Accomplishments

Awesome Facts about Walton....

Academics:

The Class of 2016 included 309 students graduating with honor, having earned a weighted GPA of 3.5 or above.
Class of 2016 Top 20% weighted GPA ranges were 4.381-4.122 (Top 10% 4.487-4.389).
Walton has a long tradition of above average SAT scores and above average percentage of students testing. The Class of 2016 led the county and tied for third highest average in the state with a total score of 1730. In 2016, the top 10% of students scored 767 in Critical Reading, 775 in Math and 764 in Writing.
In 2016, Walton students had an average composite ACT score of 26.6 where the national average was 20.8
Walton has a nationally certified pre-engineering program. We are the only school in Cobb County offering this four year program through Project Lead the Way.
ISA at Walton is a rigorous Humanities-based program of study for students who are learning Spanish as a foreign language. In 2008 the ministry of Education of Spain named Walton an International Spanish Academy (ISA). The academy promotes the values of a multicultural education to foster international communication and respect among different cultures. ISA graduates receive nearly 30% of their course instruction in Spanish throughout their high school career. These students earn diplomas from the Cobb County School District and from the Ministry of Education of Spain.
On the 2016 Grand Concours (National French Exam), 6 French students scored in the top 10 both in the state and nation.
Last year, Walton has had 39 National Merit Semi-Finalists, the most in the state and the most in Walton’s history
In 2016, 384 Walton students earned the HOPE Scholarship.
Not including the Hope scholarship, the Class of 2016 was offered $10.8 million in scholarship monies.

Advanced Placement (AP) program:

71.3% of seniors have passed one or more AP courses.
Walton offers 32 AP courses. Our newest is the AP Seminar course which is part of the new College Board Capstone Program
May 2016, 1505 students took 3023 exams with 89.2% scored 3 or higher, 68.1% scored 4 or higher and 34% scored 5
Walton currently has 12 teachers who have participated as AP Readers for The College Board (9 in Social Studies, 1 in World Language,1 in Language Arts and 1 in Science)
Each year, AP Spanish students have an opportunity to study in Spain as part of their AP language studies through an immersion program developed by the school and tailored specifically for our students. The activities are often exclusive to our students and are led by professionals and experts in their field. Since 1999, over 1700 Walton students have studied at the Universidad Pontificia in Salamanca. In 2016, 40 students participated in a two week study and journey through Spain.
Walton student artwork was selected out of 50,000 portfolios to be displayed on the College Board website as exemplary examples of successful art. The same artwork was on a traveling exhibition and displayed at the AP National Conference in Pennsylvania and at the NAEA Convention in New Orleans.

Fine Arts:

Over 1000 students participate in our music programs—chorus, band, and orchestra and about 200 in visual arts every semester. All of these programs consistently receive the highest ratings at festivals & competitions.
Walton Chorus is the largest high school choral program in Cobb County and one of the largest in the southeast with 443 singers in nine choral ensembles. The choruses of Walton consistently earn the highest ratings in choral performance and music reading. Walton Chorus has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and in the Spivey Hall Young Artists Series. Three of our choirs have performed for the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conferences. Walton Tour Choir has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious places such as: Carnegie Hall, NYC, the Cathedral of St. Patrick’s, NYC, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, St. Mark’s Basilica, Venice, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, the American Church, Paris, the American Cemetery, Normandy, the Duomo in Salzburg, Austria, Melk Abbey, Austria, and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. Walton chorus students represent our school in the Governors Honors Program, the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Chorus, and the National Association for Music Education National Honor Choir. Choral students are scholars, athletes, leaders, actors and give hundreds of hours in community service. Choral students sing the National Anthem for school and community events such as the Braves Game and East Cobb Police Officer Recognition.
The Walton Band has participated in many prestigious events and parades through the years—Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, three appearances in the Tournament of Roses Parade, along with numerous Bowl game performances. They have been finalists many times at Bands of America Regional competitions, and, in 2006 and 2012, were semi-finalists at the Bands of America Grand National Championships. Most recently, the Band was recognized as a recipient of the prestigious Sudler Shield by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation. In 2015, the Walton Band was crowned Grand Champion at the McEachern Marching Invitational.
Walton’s Orchestra has performed at the prestigious International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic five times: 2000 (string orchestra), 2005 (string orchestra), 2009 (first high school chamber music performance), 2012 (symphony orchestra), 2016 (chamber music). In 2014 and 2015, the orchestra program won the National Championship in the Mark of Excellence competition. The Walton Chamber Orchestra has been invited to perform at the national ASTA conference twice (2009, 2012). In 2016, the Walton Orchestra Program performed at the state music conference for a record-breaking ninth time. The Walton orchestras have completed five European tours (2000, 2004, 2007, 2000, 2015).
In 2015, a Walton Art student was chosen from thousands of participants from grades 4 through 12 as the national winner in the State-Fish Art Contest, aimed at promoting wildlife conservation. Thanks to Wildlife Forever, student artwork is now available to buy in the form of a collector’s stamp and a souvenir sheet. All proceeds will contribute to wildlife conservation.
Walton’s National Art Honor Society club won 1st place in Wyland’s National “Water is Life” Contest in 2013 and 2015. They were featured in the National Arts & Activities Magazine as well as Wyland’s website
The Walton Drama Club has had multiple nominations for the Shuler Hensley Wards. Drama Club members have been accepted into competitive BFA programs such as Pace, NYU, Tisch and Harvard. In 2015 and 2016, the Walton Drama Club was invited to participate in the International theater festival in Scotland and London.

Clubs and Extra-curricular Activities:

Graphic Arts students have won 6 state championships for SkillsUSA in Screen-Printing technology in 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008 and a national championship in 2009. In addition, students place among the top schools every year in the National Gutenberg Print Competitions winning multiple 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards in various categories as well as a top award winner in PIAG’s (Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia) Print Excellence Awards annually. This year for the PIAG Print Excellence competition, Walton's Advanced Graphic Arts class was awarded a JUDGE'S CHOICE AWARD for our "Walton 2016 Art Calendar." We are proud of this very prestigious award. In addition, the results for the 2015-16 school year's national Gutenberg Awards are as follows: Walton took 1st place in 7 different categories, 4 2nd place awards in 4 categories, and 3 third place awards in 3 different categories. Most exciting is the FIRST PLACE and BEST of SHOW for "The Nature and Respect of Life" 80 page + cover book which was a collaboration between English, Art and Graphic Arts departments.
Walton Robotics has won numerous regional competitions and qualified for the FIRST World Championship for the 6th consecutive year in 2016. In 2016, the team won the State Championship and its 4th Chairman’s Award, the highest award in FIRST Robotics. At the Dalton District Competition the team won the Robot Competition and Chairman’s Award and seeded first. The team won the Gracious Professionalism Award at World Championships, the only Georgia team to win an award at Worlds.
Walton has won 9 State Math Team Championships. Walton is one of only 3 Public Non-Magnet Schools in the country to finish in the top 10. In 2015-16, the Math team placed 5th in the State Tournament. The team placed 1st in the Georgia Southwestern Tournament with the highest score in the 40 year history of the tournament, as well as taking the top 3 individual trophies. The team travelled to MIT to compete in the HMMT and placed 35th in this international challenge.
In 2011, both the Varsity and Junior Varsity Academic Bowl Team won the AAAAA State Championship (following other recent Varsity State Championships in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and 2009). In national competition, the team finished in the Top 10 in 2006, 2005, and 2004, and was a National Champion in 1995.
The Academic Bowl has competed in the Championship Round of WSB-TV's High-Q 17 out of the 30 seasons that it has been on the air. Walton holds the state record by winning 13 High-Q Championships (most recently in 2011).
Walton’s Latin program is nationally recognized for its excellence. Walton’s Latin Academic Bowl team (Certamen) won the state championship for the 4th straight year in 2016 and placed 2nd at the Harvard Tournament, the most prestigious certamen tournament in the nation. Walton’s Latin program consistently ranks #1 in the state and top 10 in the nation on the National Latin Exam, with students receiving 157 awards, including 94 gold medals and 9 perfect papers in 2016. Walton also won the championship at the Georgia Junior Classical League Convention for the 11th time in the last 12 years. A student from Walton was the overall highest scorer in academic contests at the National Junior Classical Classical League Convention at Indiana University in July. Walton is among the national leaders in results on the Medusa Mythology Exam, the National Classical Etymology Exam, the National Roman Civilization Exam, the CAMWS translation Exam, and the National Latin Vocabulary Exam. Students from Walton regularly attend GHP in Latin, including 2 this past summer
In 2014 and 2015, the Mock Trial team has come in third place at Regionals and qualified for the District Championships. Last year, 2 students earned "best advocate" and 1 student was recognized as a "best witness."
Model UN won the Helen Reddy State Championship Cup at KSU in 2016. The team also won overall delegation awards at GT, GSU, UNC and UGA.
Walton's Science Bowl Team won the State Championship in 2014, placed second in 2015 and competed against 67 teams at the National level, with 7 wins and one loss at the event. The Science Bowl Team has been in existence for 20 years and won first place at the regional competition for 14 years, and first place at the State competition 8 years. In addition, Walton has attended the national competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy 8 years, and made the championship round for 4 of those years.
Walton competed in the AAPT Physics Bowl Competition 14 of the past 21 years and been recognized 13 times for placing first or second in our region.
Walton Habitat for Humanity will build its 20th house this year and will celebrate its 21st anniversary. In these 21 years, students have raised over $800,000 dollars for the community. In addition to the funds they have raised, the homes that these students built have generated an additional $1.8+ million in revenue for the local economy because of increased disposable income of homeowners, which would not have been possible had they continued to be renters. In addition, Walton Habitat has expanded its service projects to include providing school supplies and a food drive for families at Powers Ferry Elementary, and helping Habitat families provide holiday gifts for their children. This year we were given a $20,000 grant from State Farm, which will play a pivotal role in achieving both our fundraising goals and our goal to expand our impact on the local community.

Athletics:

Walton offers 24 varsity sports and has won 74 State Championships and 256 Region Championships.
Walton has won the GADA Regions Directors’ Cup, representing the best overall athletic program in the state in Class AAAAAAA, 8 times in the 20 years the award has been in existence, including 2000, 2002, 2007-2009, 2013, 2014, and 2019.
During the 2018-19 academic year, 22 varsity teams made the state playoffs, 2 won state championships, 21 advanced past the first round of the playoffs, and 15 finished in the top ten in the state.
Girls Volleyball has won four consecutive State Championships, eight of the last nine, and a total of 13 titles since 1998, and finished ranked 1st in the country by Prepvolleyball.com and MaxPreps and 2nd by USA Today in 2017.
Boys Lacrosse won the State Championship in 2019, its second state title.
Girls Tennis won six consecutive State Championships from 2013-2018, 16 of the last 19, and 20 total, and holds the record for the longest winning streak of any sport in the state of Georgia (158-0).
Girls Swim & Dive won the State Championship in 2017, its 2nd title overall.
Girls Lacrosse won its first State Championship in 2016 and finished ranked 19th in the country by USA Today.
Baseball won the State Championship in 2016, its 3rd title overall, and finished ranked 6th in the country by USA Today.
Boys Tennis won the State Championship in 2015, its 9th title overall.
Boys Swim & Dive won back-to-back State Championships in 2014 and 2015, and has three total titles.
Girls Cross Country recently won consecutive State Championships (2010-2011) and has won six total.
Girls Track & Field recently won the 2012 State Championship.
Boys Soccer won the 2011 State Championships, its sixth state title.
Varsity Football played in the State Finals in 2011 and has won 7 Region titles (6 in the last 17 years).
Boys Golf was the state runner-up in 2019 and Girls Golf in 2014.
Other sports that have won State Championships include Fastpitch Softball, Girls Soccer (2), and Boys Cross Country (5).
In only its second year in existence, the Precision Air Rifle team won its first Area Championship and placed third in the state in 2016.
During the 2018-19 academic year, 37 senior student-athletes signed letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college.