Wauwatosa East High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school in the city of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wauwatosa School District. The school was originally known as Wauwatosa Senior High School until the opening of Wauwatosa West High School in September 1960. The first graduating class of Wauwatosa East High School was in June 1962. Today, the school is often colloquially referred to as Tosa East.
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History
The first high school in Wauwatosa opened at the site of the current Wauwatosa East building in 1871.
Originally known as Wauwatosa High School, the school's name was changed to Wauwatosa East High School in September, 1961 after a rival high school was built on the west side of the city. The older half of the current structure started being built in 1928, construction resumed in 1930 for it to be completed in 1931. The auditorium and original gymnasium were then completed in 1940. An underground tunnel was built to connect the high school to a middle school across the street, the middle school was built in 1906 but it originally served as Wauwatosa High until 1931. The tunnel allowed students of Wauwatosa High to go to the middle school across the street to use it for activities, the tunnel was decommissioned in 1958 when the middle school was torn down to be replaced with an addition for Lincoln Elementary.
The newer half of the current structure was built from 1973 to 1975. This resulted in substantial alterations to the original design of the building such as the closing of the school's third floor, small fourth floor, and basement lunch room in 1974, they were closed and replaced with the addition to modernize the building. The tower that stood on top of the original front entrance was removed in 1974. The Art Deco lobby below the tower contained tiled walls and New Deal era paintings, the paintings were painted in 1934 by Myron Nutting for the Public Works Administration. The murals, tile, and trophy cases were covered with plaster board which was added to make the historic lobby match the newer addition. The walls and paintings remained covered until the early 2000s where they were restored, the trophy cases are now used to display Tosa High School memorabilia and historical information about the building.
The sports teams are named the Red Raiders. They were once represented by a logo of a cartoon Native American brave in warpaint and a mascot dressed as a Native American. In 2006 this came under protest, which led to the logo being changed to a shield with the letters 'TE' on the front and crossed spears behind and the mascot being changed to a pirate known as Captain Red.
Athletics
The school has varsity level sports teams for both men and women, including volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball, soccer, football, golf, wrestling, tennis, swimming and diving, cross country, track and field, and the Poms dance squad.
Intramural sports include Ultimate Frisbee, IBA (basketball), and skiing.
State championships
1937: Boys' golf
1940: Boys' swimming and diving
1943: Boys' track and field
1944: Boys' swimming and diving
1945: Boys' swimming and diving
1946: Boys' golf, boys' swimming and diving, boys' cross country
1947: Boys' tennis, boys' swimming and diving
1948: Boys' basketball
1949: Boys' swimming and diving
1950: Boys' swimming and diving
1951: Boys' swimming and diving
1954: Boys' golf
1955: Boys' tennis
1956: Boys' tennis, boys' swimming and diving
1972: Boys' track and field, Class A
1974: Girls' volleyball, Class A
1975: Girls' volleyball, Class A
1980: Girls' volleyball, Class A
1981: Girls' basketball, Class A
1985: Girls' volleyball, Class A
1989: Boys' basketball, Class A; boys' volleyball, Class A
1990: Boys' soccer
Conference affiliation history
Suburban Conference (1925-1985)
North Shore Conference (1985-1993)
Woodland Conference (1993-1997)
Greater Metro Conference (1997–present)
Awards
In 2008, Wauwatosa East was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School.
Notable alumni
Antler (born 1946), poet and educator; poet laureate of Milwaukee, 2002–03
Hailey Danz (born 1991), American paratriathlete; gold medalist at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
Jovan Dewitt (born 1975), American football player and coach; NCAA Division 2 All-American player, NCAA Division 1 FBS Coach
Nancy Dickerson (1927–1997), pioneering radio and television journalist and reporter
Devin Harris (born 1983), professional basketball player (NBA)
Lucille Shapson Hurley (1922–1988), nutritionist
Tim Knoll, freestyle BMX rider
Mike Krol (born 1984), musician
Sd Laika (in memoriam, 2023), musician
Marcus Mbow (born 2003), professional football player for the New York Giants
John Morgridge (born 1933), businessman; CEO and chairman of Cisco Systems
Jeremy Scahill (born 1974), political writer and documentary filmmaker
Richard Schickel (1933–2017), film critic, author, and documentary filmmaker
Jerry Smith (born 1987), professional basketball player
Tony Smith (born 1968), professional basketball player (NBA)