Walton High School

 Walton High School – East Cobb

Walton High School is a School of Excellence and one of the top schools academically in the state. With an enrollment of  2700 students, it is one of the largest high schools in East Cobb.

History and Upgrades

Walton was opened in 1975 and by 2015 work had started on a total rebuild of the school.    Walton students moved into a new $48 million classroom building in August 2017.  This allowed for demolition of the original 42-year-old building.  A new gymnasium and performing arts space is currently under construction.  This new 151,000-square-foot project will include main and auxiliary gymnasiums, a wrestling room, a weight room and locker rooms. A main theater, a black box theater and band, orchestra and choral suites are all included in Performing Arts space.

Feeder Pattern

Elementary Schools: East Side, Kincaid, Mount Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek, Timber Ridge.

Middle Schools: Dickerson, Dodgen

Academics

Most noteworthy at Walton is rigorous academics. The school offers a variety of courses and experiences that address the academic, physical and social needs of  students.  They have received national press attention for the intensity of student attitudes;  students often take an extra class before school (“zero period”). Every year, some take as many as seven classes, often skipping lunch to do so. A 4.28/4 is commonly the GPA cutoff for the top 10% of the class, and a 3.9/4 for the top 25%.

Walton High School has a well established Advanced Placement Program offering courses at all grade levels. They also offer accelerated courses, dual enrollment opportunities with local universities, a pre-engineering program based on the national curriculum of Project Lead the Way. Finally, a a STEM Academy and an International Spanish Academy round out their programs.  Walton students have the opportunity for international study including annual trips to Spain, France and Costa Rica.

Student Life

Students can participate in a variety of academic, enrichment and service organizations with 81 Clubs, 20 Varsity sports, as well as an internationally recognized Fine Arts program.

Walton Athletics has a rich history of winning both region and state championships. In fact, to date, the Raiders have won 250 region and 72 state championships in the 43 years since the school’s inception. In addition, 22 of 24 Walton varsity teams have won region or area championships and 14 have won at least one state championship.

The Fine Arts department includes Band, Chorus, Orchestra, Visual Arts, Marching Band,  Competition Band and Drama. These programs are active not only in their school community, but in the larger community as well.

Walton operates on a semester system with a traditional seven period day schedule.  An alternative schedule of a Walton Enrichment Block (WEB) provides time for students to have longer science labs, individual tutoring, speakers and other educational enhancements.