La Follette High School
Robert M. La Follette High School is a public school located in Madison, Wisconsin, serving the city's far east side with its attendance boundaries including parts of the City of Madison, City of Fitchburg, Town of Blooming Grove, and Town of Burke, teaching students in grades 9-12. Founded in the fall of 1963, it is a part of the Madison Metropolitan School District, and is named after former lawmaker and 1924 presidential candidate Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Academics. La Follette offers diverse academic opportunities, drawing upon its 14 academic departments and more than  150 faculty offering instruction in more than 250 courses in 100 different fields of study. Courses are taught in a variety of academic settings, from traditional classrooms to community-based service experiences. Additional opportunities for growth and leadership are offered through involvement in numerous student organizations. The school began offering American sign language as a foreign language in 1998, and other schools have modeled their programs after La Follette's. Extra-curricular activities. Clubs. La Follette offers nearly four dozen extra-curricular clubs, spanning a wide variety of student interests, including academic, athletic, social, fine arts, science, health and others , such as gaming clubs. Athletics. La Follette athletics include girls' volleyball, boys' volleyball, girls' soccer, boys' soccer, boys' basketball, girls' basketball, wrestling, boys' track & field, girls' track & field, football, girls' swim, boys' swim, boys' cross country, girls' cross country, dance, cheer, hockey, girls' golf, boys' golf, baseball, softball, girls' tennis, boys' tennis. Club sports include basketball, rugby, bowling, ultimate frisbee and volleyball. Other activities and events. Arboretum. La Follette has one of the few on-ground arboretums in the state. It was designed to have three ecosystems, including prairie, woodland and pond. Board of visitors. La Follette's board of  visitors serves as an advocate for the school, and is the only school in the Madison area, and possibly the state, which has such a board. Drawing upon experiences and resources of alumni, parents and other patrons, the board's mission is to empower students and faculty while building community. The board assists in fundraising, business, community outreach, public affairs, student support and teacher support. Business. In 2011, Summit Credit Union began operations at La Follette High School. In ensuing years, branches were opened at other Madison-area high schools. The branch is staffed by interns from the La Follette  career internship class and is open during the lunch hour. Presidential visit. On September 28, 2010, the school was visited by President Barack Obama, who made an unannounced stop ahead of a late-afternoon rally on the UW-Madison campus. Publications. "The Lance" is the student newspaper for La Follette; its yearbook is known as "The Statesman"; "The Lancer Legend" is the parent newsletter.