The Bizarre Rule That Decides A Student’s High School Fate in One Wisconsin Town

West Bend, Wisconsin has a super weird way of deciding which high school students attend in their district, and now I have so many questions.

Birthdays Determine Your High School Fate?

Most cities and towns that have more than one high school determine which school incoming freshmen attend by which zone or district they live in, but not in West Bend, Wisconsin, they go by the student's birthday. Excuse me, WHAT?!?

First things first, the West Bend School District consists of 6 early learning sites, 3 head start sites, 5 elementary schools, one intermediate school for 5th and 6th graders, one middle school, and 2 high schools,  West High School (Spartans)  and  East High School (Suns).

Which West Bend elementary school a student attends is determined by the district they live in, but for high school it is determined by the student's birthday: even number birthdays for to East High School, odd numbers go to West High School.

So you fully understand the uniqueness of West Bend, Wisconsin's high school situation, take a look at this Google Map of West Bend's high school locations which I have circled with red...

Now, I may not be the best at reading maps, but to me that looks like both West High School AND  East High School are located in the same building? That's because they ARE!

Here come the big questions.

West Bend, Wisconsin's High School Situation Explained

I don't normally like to judge how other people do things, but West Bend's wacky high school attendance rules have blown my mind a bit.

Here are 3 big questions that come to mind:

1. Why are there two different high schools located in the same building? 

One Redditor said;  "it's so they can have two varsity teams in each sport." Hmm...is that true? West Bend School District's website says;

 Having two high schools in one building provides economies of scale that
results in more class choices, clubs, co-curriculars, and athletics that are not available
at most area high schools.

So, yeah. I guess it's true.

2. What happens if one sibling in a family has an even birthday and another has an odd birthday. Do they go to different schools? 

No.  "The high school to which students are assigned is based on the birthdate of the oldest child in the family."

3. Are East High School and West High School two entirely separate schools even though they are in the same building? Not exactly.

It appears that both schools share administrative staff, some teachers, and students from both schools take electives together.

Maybe this isn't such a wacky school attendance rule after all? If it benefits student education and experiences that has to be a good thing, right?