East Kentwood High School - History

History

East Kentwood High School was built in 1969. Since then it has undergone numerous renovations, including the addition of the West Wing in 1975 and the construction of the Freshman Campus in 1994. Further construction was done in 1983, 1986, and 1994. The 1994 project included a renovation of the fieldhouse and expansion of the West Wing, which involved adding several new science classrooms. In the mid-1980s a south corridor was completed to shelter students crossing each wing. East Kentwood is the only public school in the state of Michigan to have its own ice arena on campus, it is often referred to as the best ice arena in the state as well; East Kentwood also has its own competitive and community swimming pools, and a 1,600-seat Fine Arts Auditorium.

The original Kentwood high school, which is now Crestwood Middle School, opened in 1960. When the new site was built in 1969, the new school was named East Kentwood because there were plans to eventually build a second high school, which would have been known as West Kentwood a few years later. West Kentwood would have built on the same physical campus as East Kentwood. When the first vote for a second high school was turned down in the early 1970s it led to the construction of East Kentwood's first swimming pool as well as what was referred to as the Freshman wing. To this day, talks of building a second high school periodcially resurface but have so far been turned down in favor of the economic advantages of running one large high school. Thus, East Kentwood continues to grow while West Kentwood remains the answer to a trivia question.

Current discussions for future development projects include creating a college-campus like setting with multi-storied buildings specializing in math and science, literature and the arts, and business and apprentice training (health, medical, etc.) programs. Included in the arts building would be a small theatre for dancing/drama productions.