Leon High School
Leon High School | |
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Address | |
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550 East Tennessee Street , 32308 United States | |
Information | |
Type | Publiccoeducationalsecondary |
Established | 1831 |
School district | Leon County Schools |
Principal | Michael Bryan |
Staff | 83.74 (FTE)[1] |
Grades | 9–12 |
Enrollment | 1,935 (2022-23)[1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 23.11[1] |
Color(s) | Red and White |
Mascot | Leo the Lion |
Newspaper | The Leon High Life |
Yearbook | The Lion's Tale |
Website | School website |
Leon High School in 2008 | |
Leon High School | |
Coordinates | 30°26′43″N84°16′32″W/ 30.44528°N 84.27556°W |
Architect | T.A. Monk, M. Leo Elliot |
Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival |
NRHP referenceNo. | 93000982[2] |
Added to NRHP | September 21, 1993 |
Leon High Schoolis apublichigh schoolinTallahassee, Florida,United States. It is the oldest public high school in the state, and is a part of theLeon County SchoolsSystem.
History
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Leon_High_School_rc00665.jpg/220px-Leon_High_School_rc00665.jpg)
Leon High School is one of the oldest high schools in the country. It was founded 14 years before Florida became a state. It was founded as Leon Academies in 1831 in Tallahassee,Leon County,and helped shape education in the capital city. In 1903 it became the Leon County Graded and High School, which was originally set as the first public high school in Florida,[citation needed]on the corner of Duval,Tennesseeand Bronough Streets.
In 1911, a need for more room for the growing student population led to the construction of a second Leon High School where the LeRoy Collins Public Library now stands.
The current building at 550 East Tennessee Street was built in controversy. Built by theWorks Progress Administration(WPA) for $500,000, citizens thought the school was too expensive, too far out of town and much too big with its three stories.
The architect wasM. Leo Elliott,designer of many public buildings of merit, including the Old Jail on East Gaines Street in Tallahassee.[3]The builder was Thomas Monk, who built dozens of high schools and commercial buildings around Florida, including the Monk Building in downtown Bradenton, renovated in 2000. In Tallahassee, Monk also built the Mayo Building in the Capital area, and a house in Los Robles for his daughter and son-in-law.
Until school integration and the closure of Leon County's black high school,Old Lincoln High School,in 1967, Leon High School was for whites only. TheFlorida Constitution of 1885mandated school segregation.[4]In 1954, theUnited States Supreme Courtdecided the case ofBrown v. Board of Education,which was not implemented inLeon County, Florida,until 1969. Effective January 7, 1969, the Florida Constitution of 1885 was superseded by a new Florida Constitution, which does not contain any requirement for racial segregation. In 2019 the enrollment at Leon High was 33% black.[5]
Athletics
[edit]Leon High School's mascot is the Lion, and their colors are red and white. They were one of the 29 original member schools of the FHSAA. They have been a member of the Association since it formed in 1920. Leon has teams in the followingFHSAAsports:[6]
- Basketball (boys and girls)
- Baseball (boys)
- State champions - 1940, 1944, 1951, 1998[7]
- Competitive cheer (girls) - 2016 2A State Runner-up; 2017 Regional Champion, 2017 Nationals- 7th place
- Cross Country (boys and girls)
- Flag football (girls)
- Football (boys)
- State champions - 1969, 1974[10]
- Golf (boys and girls)
- Lacrosse (boys)
- Soccer (boys and girls)
- Boys state champions - 1988[11]
- Softball (girls)
- Swimming and diving (boys and girls)
- Track and field (boys and girls)
- Tennis (boys and girls)
- Volleyball (girls)
- State champions - 2011[12]
- State champions - 2019
- Weightlifting (boys and girls)
Notable alumni
[edit]- Loranne Ausley,State Representative(Class of 1981)
- Ricky Carmichael,motocross national champion; three-time X-Games gold medalist
- LeRoy Collins,Governor of Florida(Class of 1927)
- Mary Call Darby Collins,Florida's First Lady
- Brad Culpepper,Tampa Bay Buccaneer; competitor onSurvivor(Class of 1987)
- Maddy Curley,actress (Class of 2000)
- Tommy Curtis,1969 Florida Prep/High School Basketball Player of the Year (Class of 1969)
- Faye Dunaway,actress (Class of 1958)
- Gwen Graham,member of U.S. House of Representatives, Florida's 2nd district (Class of 1980)
- Tony Hale,actor (Class of 1988)
- Cheryl Hines,actress (Class of 1983)
- Doug Jennings,MLBplayer (Oakland Athletics,Chicago Cubs) (Class of 1982)
- Allison Miller,actress
- Fondren Mitchell,American football player
- Michel Oksenberg,China scholar, member ofNational Security Council(Class of 1956)
- Tony Robinson,NFL quarterback (Class of 1982)
- Wyatt Sexton,Florida State Universityquarterback (Class of 2002)
- Jeff Shaara,New York Timesbestselling author (Class of 1970)
- Sonny Shroyer,actor
- E. Lee Spence,underwater archaeologist (Class of 1966)
- George Tabb,punk rock guitarist and songwriter, author, television host
- Tamarick Vanover,footballplayer (Florida State Seminoles,NFL)
- Bert Yancey,professional golfer (Class of 1956)
- Carrie Englert Zimmerman,1976 United States Gymnastics Champion in floor exercise and balance beam, member of 1976 U.S. Olympic team
References
[edit]- ^abc"LEON HIGH SCHOOL".National Center for Education Statistics.RetrievedMay 23,2024.
- ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.July 9, 2010.
- ^Lindsay Brown; Vivian Young; Barbara E. Mattick (August 2003)."National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Leon High School"(PDF).National Park Service.Retrieved2014-12-12.Photos
- ^Fla. Const. of 1885, Art. XII, s. 12
- ^"Leon High School".RetrievedApril 19,2019.
- ^"Leon Lions".c2cschools.com.C2C Schools LLC.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^"BASEBALL 2014-15 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS"(PDF).fhsaa.org.FHSAA. pp. 2–5. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 14 February 2019.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^"BOYS CROSS COUNTRY 2014-15 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS"(PDF).fhsaa.org.FHSAA. pp. 2–4.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^"GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY 2014-15 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS"(PDF).fhsaa.org.FHSAA. p. 5.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^"FOOTBALL 2013-14 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS"(PDF).fhsaa.org.FHSAA. p. 2.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^"BOYS SOCCER 2014-15 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS"(PDF).fhsaa.org.FHSAA. p. 2.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^"GIRLS VOLLEYBALL 2015-16 CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS"(PDF).fhsaa.org.FHSAA. p. 4.Retrieved21 January2015.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Leon High School
- Leon High School websiteat theWayback Machine(archive index)