Fayetteville High School (Arkansas)
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Fayetteville High School is a public high school located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The school is administered by the Fayetteville Public Schools system.
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[edit] History
The school was first opened in 1908, and its current building was built in 1950, with further renovations made in the 1980s. The current building, built adjacent to the University of Arkansas and just off of a major street, is also located on the Trail of Tears. The only evidence of this are two signs at the road side—one of them a government sign, the other a sign erected by the University. Additional renovations and a new wing on the east side of the building were completed in the mid 90s, with further renovations to meet Title IX compliance were done to the secondary gym and locker room around 2001. To meet growing demand for classroom space, the high school took over unused space in what used to be Bates Elementary, which was a building just down the hill.
The school was also the first school in Arkansas to voluntarily desegregate, and on September 11, 1954, African American students first attended the high school. The school's marching band was selected to go to the Tournament of Roses Parade for 2006, only the second time an Arkansas band has attended.
[edit] Academics
In 2006, Fayetteville High School was named the 413th best high school in the nation according to the Newsweek magazine's Top 1200 US Schools[1]. Public schools are ranked according to a ratio called the Challenge Index.
[edit] Publications
In 2005, despite plagiarism, Connotations, the school's literary magazine, received a Superior award from the National Council of Teachers of English's Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines[1].
In 1993, 1995, and 1997, Connotations won the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Magazine Pacemaker Award[2]. In 2006, Connotations was placed in the NSPA's Hall of Fame for receiving the highest rating that NSPA awards in its critique service twelve times in the schools' recent history[3]
In 1994, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded Connotations the CSPA's Scholastic Gold Circle Awards for its Overall Design, Cover Design (Two or More Colors), Title and Contents Page, and Typography.[4]
[edit] Athletics
The Fayetteville Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are highly competitive in the state's largest classification, AAAAAAA, and are members of the West conference of that classification. State championships include:
- 12-times Boy's Cross Country Running (1965-1986)
- 8-times Girl's Gymnastics (1998-2005)
- 7-times Girl's Golf (1973-2005)
- 6-times Boy's Golf (1950-2004)
- 3-times Boy's Cross Country Running (1988-2001)
- 1-time Girl's Basketball (1994)
- 2-time Boy's Basketball (1971 AAA)(1987 AAAA & Over-All State Champions)
- 2-time Baseball (2003)(2006)
- 1-time Softball (2006)
- 1-time Tennis (1970)
- 1-time Cheerleading (2006)
In 2006, Sports Illustrated ranked Fayetteville High School in the nation's Top 20 High School Athletic Programs,[5] stating:
"Located across the street from the University of Arkansas, this school has won a state-best 24 titles in 10 sports since 1996. The Purple Bulldogs’ girls’ gymnastics team has won eight straight state championships, and the girls’ soccer team took four straight from 1998 to 2001. Since 1996 the boys’ basketball team has made five appearances in the state semifinals and went to the title game in March. Fayetteville has also won four state championships in indoor track, which is not a recognized sport in the state. Alum Wallace Spearmon, currently a star at the University of Arkansas, is the top-ranked college 200-meter sprinter in the U.S."
[edit] Notable alumni
- Ronnie Brewer, UA basketball standout and current member of the Utah Jazz.
- Sarah Caldwell, notable American opera conductor and opera company director
- Nupur Lala, winner of the 1999 Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee and featured in the hit documentary Spellbound
- Jason Moore, director of Tony Award-winning Broadway show Avenue Q
- Wallace Spearmon, 2006 World Indoor 4x400m relay gold medalist
